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During Joe Biden’s inauguration, former president and first lady Barack and Michelle Obama caught the attention of many also because of their outfits. It is with that same reason that Mrs. Obama gave a shoutout to the kids that went viral for recreating their looks.
The former first lady shared the four viral photos on Twitter, heaping praise on the kids that recreated hers and the former president’s inauguration day looks. “Ryleigh & Zayden, you nailed it!” tweeted Michelle. Mrs. Obama’s plum-colored outfit, designed by Sergio Hudson, turned heads during the event and even among supporters that were watching the inauguration at home. The former first lady’s stylist Meredith Koop explained that the outfit was more about the person who was wearing it. “It is about her and what she means to you and to America,” wrote Koop in a post on Instagram.
The mini-FLOTUS is 4-year-old model Ryleigh Madison Hampton, who posed in an inauguration-themed mini-photo op with her best friend Zayden Lowe. Ryleigh’s aunt Zoe Hampton told The Hill that she never expected the photos would go viral and that the former first lady would give them a shoutout on Twitter as well. “We absolutely loved the Obamas’ look for the inauguration. We are so happy we were able to recreate such an iconic look and to have Michelle and Barack Obama be such great role models for Ryleigh and Zayden,” said Hampton.
Throughout her eight years as the first lady during her husband’s presidency, one of the most memorable moments was during the Obamas’ visit to Buckingham Palace, where she was seen breaking protocol by touching the Queen herself. But according to Whoopi Goldberg, the Queen likely did not want to forget the occasion and wrapped her arm around Michelle as well.
Speaking on the 2020 documentary “Michelle Obama: After the White House,” Goldberg said that the moment felt symbolic and that the Queen probably never thought she would see the moment when the US elected the first Black president. “...Every now and then something happens where she goes ‘I’m going to mark this occasion...and nobody will ever forget this’”
The former first lady talked about this moment in her memoir “Becoming,” where she and the monarch started a conversation about their clothes. Michelle shared that the Queen looked down at her shoes and asked her if they were unpleasant, both of them admitting to each other that their shoes were beginning to hurt their feet.
