Maria Pinto Closes Chicago Boutique. What's Michelle Obama to Wear? (M's designer goes bankrupt)

The StyleList ^ | February 15, 2010 | Lesley Kennedy

[Stoat]

Maria Pinto Closes Chicago Boutique. What's Michelle Obama to Wear?

by Lesley Kennedy  Posted Feb 15th 2010 at 4:26PM

 

(Image not included due to Free Republic rules pertaining to Getty Images)

Even designing dresses that turned Michelle Obama into a fashion trendsetter couldn't keep Maria Pinto in business.

The designer has closed the doors to her Chicago boutique, reports the Chicago Sun-Times, and she is expected to seek bankruptcy protection this week.

Pinto tells the Sun-Times "economic challenges and soft buying trends at the top end of the apparel market" contributed to her business woes. 

''I am confident that the 'Maria Pinto' name will not go away, but will merely take a break, before emerging in a new form," she tells the newspaper. 

"I plan on using the next several months to explore different avenues and opportunities for business, as economic conditions improve."

In addition to dressing Obama (see the purple sleeveless sheath dress she wore for the final primaries?), Pinto's customers also included Oprah Winfrey and several Chicago socialites and civic leaders.

Pinto studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and New York's Parsons School of Design and Fashion Institute of Technology, and worked for Geoffrey Beene in her first fashion job. In 1991, she launched her own line, which was carried in stores including Bergdorf Goodman, then she opened her Chicago boutique in 2008, according to the paper.

And, if there's any debate on Michelle Obama's style power, here's a look at her first 100 days of fashion.

[mojitojoe]

LOL LOL!!! One thing that is not in short supply is ugly pics of MO.

[mojitojoe]

LOL LOL LOL!!!! Now that’s funny.

[Stoat]

I’d figured ‘Chelle was after being Winnie Mandela.

Quite possible....I haven't seen reports of her political rivals being 'necklaced', however.....yet.

Profile of Winnie Mandela

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/special_report/1997/the_winnie_mandela_trial/33659.stm

 

 

" In 1986 she made a speech in which she talked about achieving liberation from apartheid by using "necklaces" - a reference to the brutal murder of suspected collaborators by putting tyres round their necks and setting them alight. "

[Tax-chick]

Give ‘em time.

[mojitojoe]

[Viking83]

Laura Bush was the prettiest First Lady ever.

It's not even close.

Jacqueline Kennedy by a mile.

Even when she grew a little older she was still a "looker".

[Arizona Carolyn]

I’d have to go with Jackie.

[Stoat]

Laura Bush was the prettiest First Lady ever.

She is indeed wonderful outside as well as in her heart. She provides a proper reference standard of what a modern First Lady should be.

It's unfotunate that some insist upon rejecting her fine example.

[Palladin]

To each his own.

I thought Jacquie had a mannish face, and she was very scrawny.

[mojitojoe]

Carla.... YEA!

[rabidralph]

Yes, someone photoshopped those other ugly shoes on her.

[ETL]

More Carla Bruni...

[ETL]

[Stoat]

The little animal in the pic at your post at #107 is particularly special. Is that a marmot? On one hand, he fits in with the image of another inhuman beast but on the other hand he appears unsettled and pensive....a bit unsure perhaps of what he’s gotten himself into and in fact what beast it is that he has been juxtaposed against.
All of your posts here are great, but that one in particular is rather special in that we’re reminded that some creatures simply don’t fit into any genus, phylum or brood.

[meyer]

It’s a shame - she was so heavily invested in the breast belt too!

Too many eggs in one breadbasket, I guess.

[mojitojoe]

It is a squirrel. Remember that photo of the tourists and the squirrel that went viral months ago? Someone set up a site where you could put a picture in and it would add the squirrel. It has since been taken down and I wish I had done more of them while it was up and running.

[Stoat]

It’s a shame - she was so heavily invested in the breast belt too!

Indeed she was! I recall quite a few photos at different venues where she had different vaiations on that theme.....some of them had large loops in them which were reminiscent of a bandolier, and so they were called 'bullet belts'. Being just a regular guy who is rather ignorant of the finer points of fashion, they always appeared completely out of place even to a fashion Neanderthal like myself. To me, they brought to mind the stereotypical nerd whose pants, and therefore his belt, is worn WAY too high. In her case it evoked a sense of an almost orthopedic accessory...some sort of medical strap arrangement designed to hold body parts together that are in danger of coming apart or to assist with walking, standing upright or breathing properly.

It tended to really stick in one's mind because it was SO out of place. Belts are 'usually' used to hold up a gent's pants or perhaps a lady's skirt....in other words, it provides a tangible, meaningful purpose in holding one's garments at their desired location. Given that she wore them so very high....right under her breasts....it was not only ugly but baffling because they served no apparent purpose other than "gee, I think I'll take an ugly, wide belt that looks somewhat like an ammo bandolier and wrap it around my ribcage as high as it will go. No reason, I just feel like doing it".

An accessory designed for a purpose yet used in a way that intentionally overlooks its purpose is baffling, at least to me, and is remembered for all the wrong reasons.

I think that's more than I've ever written about fashion before in my life.

Too many eggs in one breadbasket, I guess.

I recall reading that she has a mammoth WH staff....over a hundred? Such a shame that ONE of them didn't take her aside and whisper a helpful word to her.

[Krodg]

Looks like a dog marking it’s territory.

[ETL]

Lol! She does seem to be very “territorial”!

[Grizzled Bear]

The belt distracts the viewer from the disturbingly awful socks and crocks.

Even Allegra would have nothing good to say about those orange socks (See post 18)!