Michelle Obama gets raves for Tracy Reese dress

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — First lady Michelle Obama got rave reviews for the custom-made Tracy Reese pink and copper dress she wore while giving a tribute to her husband at the Democratic National Convention.

The sleeveless dress showed off Mrs. Obama’s famously toned arms and the length modestly skirted her knees. She paired the dress with pink pumps from J. Crew and her fingernails were painted a trendy blue-gray.

Reese described the dress as a “silk jacquard in an abstract baroque wallpaper patter” with a bodice in hot pink woven with rust and copper. It’s not the first time Mrs. Obama chose a design by Reese, an African American designer who is showing a new collection Sunday during New York Fashion Week.

In an email, Reese said the first lady “looked incredible and spoke beautifully; I am so honored that she chose to wear one of my designs for such a memorable occasion.”

Mrs. Obama’s fans gushed over the outfit on social media, with one admirer, Diane McEachern, getting into a friendly argument with a Facebook friend over who was going to “get the dress” when Mrs. Obama gives it to Goodwill. “I’m getting Michelle’s dress!” declared McEachern, who lives in Bethel, Alaska, population 5,000, where, she added, “no stores sell dresses.” To show how McEachern would look in the dress, her Facebook friend went so far as to doctor a photo of the first lady in the dress and put McEachern’s head on it.

Commentators also praised her look. “You may not be a fan of her politics,” Kate Hogan wrote on People magazine’s website, “but it’s likely that if you watched the Democratic National Convention Tuesday night, you were a fan of Michelle Obama’s elegant ensemble.”

Last week Ann Romney, wife of the Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, wore a bold red Oscar de la Renta outfit when she gave her speech in tribute to her husband.