Former First Lady Michelle Obama has a reputation for appearing at public events immaculately dressed, donning carefully-chosen dresses, accessories, and jewelry.
Of course, she didn’t exactly have a choice: any First Lady who wore the same designer dress two days in a row would no doubt be subjected to intense media scrutiny and judgment. Even Chelsea Clinton has been in the news lately for wearing… “frayed” heels (Maybe from, I don’t know, walking?)
Of course, this is not at all the case for men in the White House, even the most powerful man in the country.
Michelle Obama spoke at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference on Tuesday, Cosmopolitan reports, and she opened up about the clothing double standard, pointing out that former President Obama was a repeat outfit offender of the highest order (yes, that is a thinly-veiled Lizzie McGuire reference.)
She said that her husband wore the same tuxedo to formal events for “eight years” (!!!).
“Now, people take pictures of the shoes I wear, the bracelets, the necklace — they didn’t comment that for eight years he wore the same tux, same shoes,” she recalled. “And he was proud of it too. He’s like, ‘Mmm, I’m ready. I’m ready in 10 minutes. How long did it take you?’ I’m like, ‘Get out of here.'”
Wearing the same outfit every day can help people who have to make a lot of decisions by saving mental energy for more weighty decisions — Steve Jobs wore the same outfit every day for exactly that reason — but if Hillary Clinton were president right now, it’s difficult to imagine the public would extend her the same courtesy.