English 中文网 漫画网 爱新闻iNews 翻译论坛
中国网站品牌栏目(频道)
当前位置: Language Tips > Normal Speed News VOA常速

Michelle Obama stuns in Jason Wu gown

[ 2013-01-23 14:45]     字号 [] [] []  
免费订阅30天China Daily双语新闻手机报:移动用户编辑短信CD至106580009009

Get Flash Player

Download

All eyes are on the president on inauguration day, but it's the first lady who captivates the public's attention on inauguration night.

Michelle Obama dazzled in a ruby red gown at the inaugural balls Monday night.

The softly pleated dress was created by Jason Wu, the young Taiwanese-born designer behind the one-shouldered white silk chiffon gown that she wore to the inaugural balls in 2009.

That white gown is on display at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History in Washington.

"People have always looked at what the first lady wears," notes exhibit curator Lisa Kathleen Graddy. "She's a very public figure. She belongs to us. She represents us, and so we're interested in how she presents herself."

Laura Bush wore a silvery gown to celebrate George W. Bush's second inaugural in 2005.

The Smithsonian exhibit also features Hillary Clinton's beaded lace gown, worn in 1993. Also on display: the Hollywood glamour of Nancy Reagan's one-shouldered gown in 1981, so different from Rosalynn Carter in 1977, who wore a chiffon dress she had worn several years earlier.

But the fashion favorite is Jackie Kennedy's 1961 gown.

Public interest in the first lady's attire - and the designers who create those looks - dates back to the 1700s, says Graddy.

"Really, since Martha Washington [in the late 1700s] people have always been interested in what the first lady is wearing," the curator admits. "Newspaper accounts, accounts of social activity in Washington, would say what the first lady was wearing."

Inaugural ball gowns epitomize the celebrations that captivate the capital every four years.

"The inauguration is a combination of things. It's a very solemn civic ceremony, and it's also an amazing party," Graddy says.

This year, the partying was scaled back. There were two official balls, far fewer than the 10 for President Obama's first inauguration.

According to historian Richard Norton Smith, such festivities are driven by the need to recognize and reward campaign contributors and not presidential ego.

"And then, of course, the poor president has to do something he almost never otherwise does, and that is dance in public," Norton Smith says.

Luckily for President Obama, most of the attention is focused on his wife.

相关阅读

First lady's new hairstyle creates buzz

US economy faces another cliff

Soaring population, climate change stress resources

Inaugural festivities put the 'party' into political parties

(来源:VOA 编辑:Julie)

 
中国日报网英语点津版权说明:凡注明来源为“中国日报网英语点津:XXX(署名)”的原创作品,除与中国日报网签署英语点津内容授权协议的网站外,其他任何网站或单位未经允许不得非法盗链、转载和使用,违者必究。如需使用,请与010-84883631联系;凡本网注明“来源:XXX(非英语点津)”的作品,均转载自其它媒体,目的在于传播更多信息,其他媒体如需转载,请与稿件来源方联系,如产生任何问题与本网无关;本网所发布的歌曲、电影片段,版权归原作者所有,仅供学习与研究,如果侵权,请提供版权证明,以便尽快删除。
 

关注和订阅

人气排行

翻译服务

中国日报网翻译工作室

我们提供:媒体、文化、财经法律等专业领域的中英互译服务
电话:010-84883468
邮件:translate@chinadaily.com.cn