First Lady Michelle Obama opted to wear a gorgeous neon yellow dress by Nepal-born designer Prabal Gurung and looked phenomenal as usual in the beautifully feminine chiffon dress by the fashion veteran who only became a United States citizen last year. Score one for immigrants! She accented the look with oversized gold earrings and gold bangles.
I must admit, though, that I yearned for her to dress in an African design especially given that her husband’s lineage directly links to Kenya. I do understand the importance of not necessarily playing politics and being neutral.
Dr. Jill Biden, the Second Lady and wife to Vice President Joe Biden, however, did go with an African wax print dress with origins to Congo. A Washington Post piece noted how Dr. Biden met many African women involved in textile trade as a means of earning money for themselves, their families and community, and wanted to pay homage to those women she met on her recent journey.
Bravo!
I thought to use this opportunity to highlight again one of my favorite local African designer Finda Onuigbo, a Nigerian immigrant who lives in Maryland and is the go-to designer for West African print ball gowns and dresses. She designs and hand crafts and sews each design custom-made for her clients and makes a living doing so. So can’t wait to see her take off to the next level.
Anyway, hat tip to my pals Marie Bangura of Millie’s Bites and Kay Savvy for putting me on to Finda.
If I had a say in the matter, I would’ve outfitted Mrs. O to dress in the stunning Finda Creations above, an orange top and skirt wax fabric dress with a blue sash at the waist, above, modeled by the gorgeous Sierra Leonean-American model Sarran Jabbie.
Here are a few other fave Finda Creations of mine:
