Melania Trump's sleeveless dress at Daytona praised even as Michelle Obama was always slammed for such outfits
When Melania Trump attended the Daytona 500 with her husband, President Donald Trump, she did so wearing a sleeveless dress - a similar attire that former first lady, Michelle Obama, was criticized for more than a decade ago.
However, in 2020, the mother-of-one was praised, instead of being slammed for baring her toned arms as she joined the POTUS on the stage at the car racing event on Sunday, February 16.
“Absolutely stunning and perfect! Melania never disappoints. She is the most beautiful First Lady ever,” one commented on the FLOTUS’ outfit, while another wrote, “You did great as always. Always classy."
As Melania's black and white polka-dotted sundress from Dior was being showered with love on social media, one user was reminded of how Michelle was trolled for wearing a sleeveless dress during the Obama presidency. "Look. Melania is wearing a sleeveless dress! Where is the outrage that Michelle O got for doing that?!?" the user pointed out.
At that, some users noted that Melania might have been granted a pass because of her modeling career in the past. At the same time, others poked fun, saying that people had seen the FLOTUS without a stitch in multiple nude photo shoots in the past, pictures of which surfaced days before the 2016 elections and hence sleeveless on her did not matter.
"At this point, people are relieved she’s even wearing clothes," one wrote, while a second said, "Well considering her baseline...which we have all seen, she is well covered up, by her standards."
Michelle irked her supporters when she posed in a black sleeveless dress for her first official photo as the first lady in 2009. She dared to show off her limbs in the picture that graces her website. Also for her President Obama's first congressional address, she chose a purple sleeveless ensemble, which led people to flock to Chicago Tribune's website at the time with complaints about her choice of outfit.
"Most of the complaints centered on the dress conveying a sense of informality on a serious occasion," Chicago Tribune style reporter Wendy Donahue, ABC News reported. "She's kind of faced some criticism for that in the past where people have said maybe [her clothing is] distracting from the central point, from what is going on."
There were also those who were surprised by Michelle's outfit because of the frigid February weather. "When she was at the non-State of the Union address and had the sleeveless dress on, that was a bit of a surprise and I got some e-mails from some folks who were, you know, they work on the Hill and they were like, 'Wow she's sleeveless,'" Politico White House reporter Malika Henderson said. "'Nobody else is sleeveless here and it is the winter.'"
Henderson added: "The sleeveless look is very much in keeping with what we've seen from Michelle Obama. It is very much her signature look, so I wasn't that surprised."