Will Michelle Obama’s Cardigan Become A Point Of Debate?

She does not have a perfect history with cardigans.

Image by Pool photo by Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call/MCT

Sandwiched between her Thom Browne coat and Thom Browne dress, Michelle Obama wore the same Reed Krakoff cardigan she wore yesterday to her husband’s swearing-in.

Image by Larry Downing / Reuters

Wearing a sweater two days in a row is very Michelle Obama — a down-to-earth touch that everyone notices, a reminder that she wears stuff twice like normal people. However, not everyone is a fan of the cardigan’s second coming.

Lene (@sparkilene) @sparkilene Follow

I know she doesn't want controversy, but Michelle Obama should have taken that blue cardigan off. The dress looks awesome.

6:12 PM - 21 Jan 13

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Michelle Obama needs to get rid of that tiny cardigan- it aint working with that dress honey.

— Winky Boo ®(@WinkyBoo) January 21, 2013

Though cute, well-coordinated, and practical, the cardigan has the potential to become a point of contention in the fashion press (the only place really where these things can become points of contention). When Michelle wore a black cardigan over her Narciso Rodriguez dress on election night in 2008, the Times offered: “The sweater seemed to throw off the dress’s proportions and obliterate its lines, detractors said.”

The Obamas on election night in 2008. Image by Getty Images

Michelle later said that she wore the cardigan because they were in Chicago — where it was cold.

And she was criticized for wearing a cardigan to meet Queen Elizabeth in 2009. “You don’t… go to Buckingham Palace in a sweater,” Oscar de la Renta, whose clothes the FLOTUS has noticeably never worn publicly, told Women’s Wear Daily. (The designer has quite publicly criticized the first lady’s fashion a few times.)

But probably as long as de la Renta resists offering his opinion, today’s cardigan will be just as celebrated as everything else Michelle wears. Because really, didn’t she look great?

Image by Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images