Michelle Obama’s new portrait, showing her with extra-long braids, took over social media fast because people were not expecting such a simple look to make that big of an impression. The picture was part of an updated book project, and it started a wave of reactions about beauty and cultural styles.
When she posted it on her pages, the comments came in nonstop. The picture itself was low-key with jeans, a casual shirt, very little makeup, and braids that were longer than anything she had shown publicly before, but the response got louder by the minute.
One commenter joked and said: “What in the ‘Benjamin Button’ magic is this? She looks ‘mahvelous’, aging in reverse. I know Annie Leibovitz is a master of her craft, but Michelle Obama doesn’t need any help conveying what natural beauty is. This photo is stunning.”
Another person added a quick line and wrote: “And she has her clothes on” which was their playful way of saying she did not need anything dramatic to make an impact. Others focused on the feeling the image gave them.
Someone wrote: “Self-confidence exudes from this woman. Kinda want this to become the new womens movement poster. Gonna save this post pic for when I feel I’m not enough. Thank you.”
Someone else said: “OMG! So much said in this photo, and she never had to open her mouth! Grace, beauty, integrity, intelligence, and compassion! Absolutely beautiful.”
Her long braids also tie into things she has talked about before. She once explained how she felt pressure during her White House years to keep her hair straight because she did not want anything to distract from the work and she joked at the time, saying: “Let me keep my hair straight… Let’s get health care passed.”
Now that those years are behind her, she has taken a more relaxed and expressive approach to her beauty routine. She talked in an interview about why braids work for her and said: “When I am out of the public eye, I am swimming, I am playing tennis, I work out, I like to be active. I don’t want to have to have a stylist with me.”
Her newest look pushed that freedom further with fuller braids that had curly additions that made them soft and voluminous which gave the whole style a casual but clean feel.
She also mentioned her home life now that her daughters are grown. She joked about date nights with her husband and said: “We’ve been married 32, 33 years. When we’re both happy about date night, we’re at home. We are not getting dressed. We just have a nice dinner, candles lit, music, we talk.”
When talking about the braids, she said: “It’s freedom. Braids allow me to get them done, and then that’s one less thing that I have to think about.”
She also said she wanted her hairstyle to send a message that it is an appropriate and beautiful way for women in power to wear their hair.
