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On Tuesday night, at her final state dinner as first lady, Michelle Obama solidified her legacy as perhaps the most adept and successful practitioner of the art of political dressing that any administration has seen. Her choice of an Atelier Versace gown for the Italy state dinner was not only a nice bit of sartorial diplomacy — Versace being an Italian success story, a company often touted as a candidate for a public offering — but, coming less than a week after her magnetic speech in New Hampshire on women and respect, it went far beyond being simply an ambassadorial...

“Bittersweet” was the word of the night, the one often used to describe President Barack Obama’s final State Dinner. “We saved the best for last,” he said Tuesday as he welcomed Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and his wife, Agnese Landini, to the White House. He wasn’t joking. The final gala meant everything was big or bigger, from the personality of the guest chef (Mario Batali) who collaborated on the menu to the size of the white tent (huge) on the South Lawn where the soirée was held, to the guest list (nearly 400 people). […] Obama has held 13...

President Obama and first lady Michelle welcomed the Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and his wife to the White House on Tuesday The Renzis are the guests of honor at tonight's state dinner - the final one of the Obama administration The arrival ceremony marked the beginning of a daylong visit that will be capped with a glitzy state dinner catered by celebrity chef Mario Batali Singer Gwen Stefani will also perform at the star-studded event Michelle Obama dazzled the crowd at her final state dinner as first lady, in a floor-length rose gold chainmail gown. It was a 'bittersweet...

Another whimsical notion from the unflinching Daily Mail, this time regarding the frock Lady M chose for last night’s state dinner honoring Singapore: We're going to file this one under: BREATHTAKING.Michelle Obama stole the show at this evening's state dinner wearing a strapless gown that folded over at the neckline and cinched in her waist before it elegantly fell to the floor with its splendid statement cape. Would we expect anything less from the First Lady of Style? [ed.I couldn’t have put it better myself] [ed. Does anyone other than me think this “folded over at the neckline” look is...

Famous people and people just famous-for-Washington scored coveted invitations to Friday night’s White House state dinner honoring the leaders of Sweden, Iceland, Finland, Denmark and Norway. Will Ferrell, who famously parodied past President George W. Bush on “Saturday Night Live,” and Bellamy Young, first lady on the TV show “Scandal,” made the cut, as did recently retired late-night host David Letterman, “Girls” actress Allison Williams and actor-comedian Aziz Ansari.

Too bad for Canadians that flighty, frilly Uncle Justin doesn’t share Barack Obama’s obsession for golf because we’d never have to see him again If Malia and Sasha Obama had a Canadian uncle, he would look exactly like limousine liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. While grocery chains that provide discount items for shoppers on budget are called ‘No Frills’, the Canadian prime minister is ‘All Frills’. In any case, he’s frillier by far than any frills or do-dads on the $20,000 gowns Malia and Sasha Obama wore to the State Dinner their father threw for Pretty Boy Trudeau on Thursday.

For the first time since being elected, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visited the United States. The “quite good-looking Canadian delegation” was welcomed to Washington, D.C., by President Obama and his family with a state dinner at the White House. But the event wasn’t just a first for Trudeau — Sasha and Malia Obama made their state-dinner debut as well.

Meanwhile, not many see through the Trudeau-Obama LOL that the biggest joke of all is on us LOL. Laugh Out Loud, the contrived new meme for a Canada and U.S. under the control of a Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and a President Barack Obama soon to be replaced by Hillary Clinton. One LOL big joke. With both leaders on the same page, Obama ditching Reggie Love for Trudeau and their relationship having been identified as a “bromance” by Twitter, they’re laughing all the way to Utopia. What difference at this point in time does it make when the two celebrities,...

Canada’s new prime minister does not belong to Canada, but in governing style and execution, belongs completely to the anti-American president next door President Barack Obama spent more than the past seven years flagrantly dissing America. Now that’s he’s passing his mantle on to Hillary Clinton, Obama is using willing surrogates and satellites from outside of America to do his dissing for him: Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is coming to President Barack Obama’s State Dinner as an open and fully-fledged anti-American. With only 39 percent of the popular vote when top members of Obama’s campaign team helped bring him...

The White House says Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will attend a state dinner on March 10 in a visit intended to boost ties between the neighboring countries. Trudeau took office in November, just days before President Barack Obama quashed the Keystone XL pipeline. ...

Disney’s Bob Iger, Netflix’s Reed Hastings & Ted Sarandos + Jeffrey Katzenberg Guests At Tonight’s State Dinner For Chinese Prez EXCLUSIVE: Hillary Clinton is in town this weekend for another series of fundraisers but some of Hollywood’s biggest Democratic donors will be at the White House tonight. With investment opportunities and face time front and center, Disney chairman and CEO Bob Iger and wife Willow Bay, Netflix’s CEO Reed Hastings and Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos and DreamWorks Animation boss Jeffrey Katzenberg are among those breaking bread with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Madame Peng Liyuan at the state dinner,...

Plenty of things will be different at Friday’s White House state dinner for China, ranging from the setting to the decor to the post-dinner entertainment. But in trying to figure out what to change, the White House decided to keep one thing the same: Maine lobster is back on the menu. The lobster will be poached in butter and served with traditional rice noodle rolls embedded with spinach, shiitake mushrooms and leeks when President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, welcome Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife, Peng Liyuan to dinner in the East Room with a few hundred...

Simply Stunning– Michelle Obama’s dinner dress cost more than the annual poverty level in the US. Via Twitchy: Stu Burguiere @WorldOfStu Michelle Obama's dress = $12,000. US Poverty Level = $11,490.Last night the Obamas hosted a state dinner for French Socialist leader Francois Hollande. Michelle Obama wore a $12,000 dress – while the rest of America suffers through the worst economic recovery ever.

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: Last night the president of France, Francois Hollande, and the Obamas and 350 of their closest friends dined on caviar and quail eggs, dry-aged rib-eye steak served with blue cheese, charred shallots, oyster mushrooms, and braised chard. They dined in the gigantic tent lavishly decorated to replicate a Monet painting of spring in sunny France. Outside the tent, 17 degrees. For dessert, they enjoyed cake made with chocolate from Hawaii, Florida tangerines, and cotton candy dusted with orange zest. Michelle Obama wore a designer dress estimated to have cost $12,000, designed by Carolina Herrera. Today, President Obama...

One guest thought the cost of the dress was close to $10,000. "Well, first of all, I love the dress on her because I think it's so elegant and so simple. I mean, that shape is what we call the princess shape. It's got that sort of poof at the bottom that's very sort of billowy at the same time. It's strapless. I think we want to call that French blue, maybe," said a guest. "Some people might call it periwinkle and it's got this sort of jet bodice and everything, and I think it's realy pretty. But a dress...

The first lady chose a dramatic Carolina Herrera ball gown with a voluminous skirt and lace-overlay top. The blue and black gown is the first dress with sleeves Obama has worn to a state dinner. Previously she donned one-shouldered pieces from Peter Soronen and Doo-Ri Chung, and a strapless gown by Naeem Khan for the administration’s first official state dinner in 2009 for India. The dress includes a black hand-sewn beaded embroidery applique scallop-edged top over a liberty blue silk faille corset, according to a statement from the designer. A wide black velvet belt breaks up the top from the

Full title: 'Cheese artisans' will feed French premier at outdoor White House State Dinner, followed by Mary J. Blige concert – but please, no dancing: Hollande is sans date! French President Francois Hollande is going stag, but the Obama administration is pulling out all the stops to entertain him with a State Dinner full of pomp, circumstance, gourmet eats, and R&B music. The Bronx singer, rapper and record producer Mary J. Blige will perform after the meal, the White House announced Monday. L'affaire américaine will take place outdoors, in a tent on the South Lawn. Secret Service will have extra...

Obama, Hu toast 'strategic mutual trust' at state dinnerBy Christina Wilkie - 01/19/11 10:30 PM ET President Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao toasted U.S. and Chinese collaboration and mutual interests on Wednesday night at a festive state dinner for 225 guests at the White House. Their toasts marked the high point of an evening notable for its strict adherence to the protocol and symbolism valued in Chinese culture, but which, at the same time, managed to fulfill the Chinese delegation's request for a thoroughly American dinner party. Guests dined on a meal of pear salad, lobster, ribeye steak and...

According to the Washington Post, the Obama White House invited 362 people to its state dinner for the United Kingdom. One familiar face will be gracing the red carpet: Andrew Sullivan of The Daily Beast. For those who don’t remember, Andrew Sullivan is the once-conservative columnist who shifted dramatically to the left over the past few years – and reserved a special hatred in his heart for Sarah Palin and her special needs son Trig. Early on in the campaign, Sullivan suggested that Trig was not actually Sarah Palin’s son – he was Bristol’s son, and Sarah had claimed him...

There has been some debate -- and consternation among purists – over whether Wednesday’s White House dinner for British Prime Minister David Cameron is technically a “state dinner” because Cameron is not the British head of the state. True, the queen is the head of state. And Cameron’s visit therefore is not considered a “state visit” but rather an “official visit.” But the dinner is technically a state dinner because the president is hosting it, according to the office of protocol at the State Department. “When it comes to the dinner, as the chief of state, President Obama is hosting...