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Home / Lifestyle

Michelle Obama reveals Barack wore the same tux for eight years and no one noticed

NZ Herald
7 Jun, 2017 10:08 PM3 mins to read

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Obama certainly got his money's worth on this suit. Photo / Getty

Obama certainly got his money's worth on this suit. Photo / Getty

Former First Lady Michelle Obama revealed during a candid conversation that her husband wore the same tuxedo to state dinners for all eight years of his presidency.

The mother-of-two shared the enlightening titbit during her appearance at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference in San Jose, California on Tuesday.

The 53-year-old Chicago native noted how she was photographed and scrutinised year in and year out for the dresses and accessories she sported for highly publicised state dinners.

According to the Daily Mail, she said the former President easily got away with wearing the same outfit every year to state dinners.

"This is the unfair thing - you talk about Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers - no matter what we do, he puts on that same tux," she said.

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"Now, people take pictures of the shoes I wear, the bracelets, the necklace - they didn't comment that for eight years he wore the same tux, same shoes."

She continued, "And he was proud of it too. He's like, 'Mmm, I'm ready. I'm ready in 10 minutes. How long did it take you?' I'm like, 'Get out of here.'"

The Harvard Law School graduate also shared the story behind the viral photo of her adjusting his bow tie just before they welcomed Chinese President Xi Jinping and wife Peng Liyuan during a state visit in September 2015 to the White House.

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She recalled that while waiting to greet the Chinese President and his wife at the North Portico of the White House, they were being photographed by "about 100 press people".

"So we're standing there waiting for the cars to roll in, and I was bored," she admitted.
"So I sort of thought, let me make sure my husband looks good."

During the private Q-and-A session with Applie vice president Lisa Jackson, the former First Lady also discussed several issues, including diversity in tech, Stem education, innovation and leadership.

"We [in the US] have been teaching math and science the same way for too long," Obama said. "How do we get them to love these topics at [ages] 10 and 11?"

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She said that the absence of girls and women in the so-called Stem fields has a deleterious affect on the tech industry.

"I'm very passionate about girls' education, and we still have a long way to go on equality and access," Obama stated.

"We have to teach young girls they are smart and can compete."

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