What Recession? Michelle Obama Wears $635 Shoes on $4000 Per Night Hawaii Vacation

Monday, December 28, 2009 | Kristinn

[kristinn]

Photo: Huffington Post.

Photo: New York Magazine.

Barack Obama enjoys living like a king, so why shouldn't Michelle Obama live like a queen?

The First Lady was photographed last night in Hawaii wearing $635 per pair designer shoes by Maison Martin Margiela.

The shoe style is called "Leather open toe flat pumps." It features a "thin nude leather strap across the top of the toe."

A woman lucky enough to have a job in this economy and working for the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour would have to work 88 hours (without taxes taken out) to make enough to pay for Michelle Obama's shoes. If she can get them on sale, they would only set her back $445 for 62 hours work.

The Obamas are staying at an $8.9 million estate for an estimated $4000 per night. To cover the Obama's ten night stay, the minimum wage worker would have to work two-and-a-half years (before taxes) to come up with the $40,000 Obama is reportedly laying out.

Obama has lectured Americans about how they can not expect to live their lives as indulgently as they have in the past. He has lectured businesses about their travel and pay. Yet Obama and his wife live like kings and queens.

The news media has yet to call him out on his extravagance when there is 10% unemployment with no sign of the employment picture improving this coming year.

H/T maggief

[RightField]

It features a "thin nude leather strap across the top of the toe."

Honestly, I'm genuinely surprised that she would even consider these shoes, given that the designer refers to the leather strap as being "nude." I would have thought Michelle would find offense in the description of the color of the strap as being "nude" in color. Didn't Crayola have to change the name of one of their crayons from "nude" to "peach-or-something" because Blacks said that the word nude had different meanings depending upon race?

It looks to me like these shoes are meant to be word by someone with much lighter skin than Michelle, and the strap is meant to be nearly invisible.

I just find it curious, that's all. Of course, I have little to no fashion sense myself ... loving jeans and sweatshirts as I do!

[rbmillerjr]

That girl has some serious combat legs.

[RightField]

"meant to be word" = "meant to be worn"

sometimes spell check is of no help

[JouleZ]

I’m beginning to think we are in a race and fashion war with MO and Palin leading the charge on each side.

[RoseofTexas]

DANG, I wanted a pair of shoes like hers but I couldn’t afford them...THOSE ARE ONE AWESOME LOOKING PAIR OF SHOES...Sarah has such awesome class in fashion!!

[Mo1]

Just think .. just one shoe would pay my heating bill for the month

[Duchess47]

If it’s a fashion war, Sarah is winning.

[Duchess47]

LOL - boy do I understand. I love her shoes.

[maggief]

# Sandals
# Maison Martin Margiela
# Spring Summer 09
$725

[maggief]

Glad to help. I thought those shoes resembled the “avant-garde” numbers pictured in post #12, (see also post #89).

[celtic gal]

She can wear expensive things if she or 0bama pay for it and not us taxpayers.
However, under the current circumstances with our recession, they should take a page out of the Carter workbook..set the WH temp at 60, and not be so showy....
but then again,,he is king and she is queen...in their own fantasy.

[JouleZ]

Yes, Sarah is winning but MO and the press don’t know that.
Or so it seems.

[Senormechanico]

At least those shoes are consistent. UGLY for an UGLY woman!

[Senormechanico]

My eyes! My eyes!

Almost as bad as a pic of Helen.

[caveat emptor]

I’ve worn some toe shoes (the pink ones) in my time, which have heavily plaster-reinforced toes. I have always been curious about the “ghilies” of your second photo, used in Celtic dancing. How do they work?

Former dancer? En pointe ballet steps require specially reinforced shoes (as you indicate). The second shoes are ghillies, worn by men and women in Scottish Country Dancing, and Highland Dancing. These are soft shoes, with no reinforced toe. It would take an amazing dancer to dance en point in these. In SCD women more often wear a ballet type shoe without the reinforcement needed for en pointe. Very good dancers sometimes bring their feet into the position shown in my post, but not while the feet are bearing their weight.

Both types of dance are done throughout the English speaking world and beyond. Both types of dance are fairly standardized, with the standards of Highland Dancing being generally higher, since it is competitive, solo dancing, while SCD is primarily social and not competitive. SCD is usually a great deal of fun and not so much hard work. Here is a sample of very glitzy SCD with a moderately high standard of dance done at some BBC event. Best viewed with high speed internet, though with time and patience you can use dialup, then replay. IIRC it's a Glasgow dance team, and should have very good dancers, but I would say the men seem a bit "wet" and do not have the "presence" of strong male dancers.

You don't have to be Scottish or have a partner to do SCD. Check out Scottish Country Dancing on YouTube and Freepmail me if you'd like to know more.

[Sarajevo]

HoHo!

HaHa!

The dumb $%&#** paid how much for those things? She should have invested in a manicure for those sasquatch feet!

---Now, why does my wallet feel $600 lighter?

[Sefton]

"How much do you pay for top of the shoe?"

That's funny! Maybe $635 for the bottom half isn't so bad when you figure the weight they're subjected to!

[DTogo]

Michelle Antoinette

[lonevoice]

*

[Badabing Badablonde]

Good God, she is such a Sasquatch!