Michelle Looks Bad in Shorts—Now You Can, Too

You know it's a slow week when news outlets track down "experts" to discuss the effect Michelle Obama's shorts will have on the White House, writes Belinda Luscombe for Time. The thing is, the shorts she wore on Sunday as she stepped out of Air Force One actually are important. “She just didn't look particularly good,” Luscombe continues. “Her arms are much admired. Her legs are just, you know, legs.” And that’s a good thing for the rest of us.

The first lady is a “fashion icon,” sure, “but it's not in her personal or political interest to hew too closely to that image,” Luscombe writes. “It separates her from the bulk of American womanhood, who do not have the wherewithal or energy to put it together perfectly every day.” For women, “Michelle's shorts were long on significance:” wear what you want.
(More Michelle Obama stories.)