"It seemed that my clothes mattered more to people than anything I had to say. In London, I'd stepped offstage after having been moved to tears while speaking to the girls at the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson School, only to learn that the first question directed to one of my staffers by a reporter had been 'Who made her dress?'"
"I wore a sleeveless aubergine dress to Barack's address to the joint session of Congress and a sleeveless black sheath dress for my official White House photo, and suddenly my arms were making headlines."
"I paid for all my own clothes and accessories—with the exception of some items like the couture-level gowns I wore to formal events, which were lent to me by the designers and would later be donated to the National Archives, thus adhering to White House ethics guidelines."
"When it came to my choices, I tried to be somewhat unpredictable, to prevent anyone from ascribing any sort of message to what I wore. It was a thin line to walk."
"As a black woman, too, I knew I'd be criticized if I was perceived as being showy and high-end, and I'd also be criticized if I was too casual. So I mixed it up. I'd match a Michael Kors skirt with a T-shirt from Gap. I wore something from Target one day and Diane von Furstenberg the next."
"Optics governed more or less everything in the political world, and I factored this into every outfit. It required time, thought, and money—more money than I'd spent on clothing ever before. It also required careful research by Meredith, particularly for foreign trips. She'd spend hours making sure the designers, colors, and styles we chose paid respect to the people and countries we visited."
"I came to depend heavily on Meredith but also equally on Johnny Wright, my fast-talking, hard-laughing hurricane of a hairdresser, and Carl Ray, my soft-spoken and meticulous makeup artist. Together, the three of them (dubbed by my larger team 'the trifecta') gave me the confidence I needed to step out in public each day, all of us knowing that a slipup would lead to a flurry of ridicule and nasty comments."