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

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

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

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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.

Men are the head of the household. Who cares what their wives think?

If you think a prominent and influential woman's politics don't matter, you really need to think again. The traditional family with the biological mother, the biological father and children have been a minority of the American population since 1967. Where have you been?

There are more women than men in colleges and universities today. Most university graduates vote Democrat.

Fewer children live with their fathers than at any time in U.S. history. There are more women-headed households than at any time in U.S. history, especially among blacks and hispanics, most of whom vote Democrat.

There are more women than men in the population; more women than men vote Democrat.

Women are influenced by big-name women splashed in the liberal media, particularly celebrities like Oprah, Jackie O, and on down the line.

I don't think these trends are good or healthy; but they are what they are. I'm not sticking my head in the sand as you seem to be doing.

Who goes downstairs to check out that noise in the middle of the night? If it's not your husband, you're not married.

Women in universities end up with teaching certificates and English degrees, not the difficult stuff like math and science degrees. Women are only allowed to advance in society because there are men willing to do the difficult work of actually building society.

Households headed by women are a drain on society.

The framers of the constitution knew better! Repeal the 19th Amendment!

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