When Michelle Obama forgot to dress up for state dinner

Choosing a dress for a state dinner is possibly even more of an art than picking up one to wear to the Oscars. Ask Michelle Obama who has had mixed luck with that. The full skirted dress she wore to the dinner at Rashtrapati Bhavan is not winning her friends and influencing people, not in the least because it did nothing for her most famous feature, her fabulously toned arms.

The 51 year old who is 5 foot 103/4 inches doesn't believe in following fashion rules. She wears ballerina flats, bare legs, neon colours and sweaters, often all at the same time. But so far, she has had good luck with Indian state dinners. In 2009,  she wore a gold strapless sheath designed by Naeem Khan, the Mumbai born, New York-based designer. It put him on the map. When Michelle came to India in 2010, she wore a Rachel Roy tunic. Both were streamlined dresses that showed off the figure she works so hard on, with 90 minutes of exercise thrice a week, and healthy eating of kale and carrots.

Of course it is not enough for her critics at Fox News where Keith Ablow recently got into trouble saying she could drop a few pounds, suggesting she was a fattie. Ha. He clearly hasn't seen some of our political specimens.

Michelle's mixed luck could also be because the Obamas haven't hosted so many state dinners. The last time they did so, for French President Francois Hollande, she stirred a controversy by wearing a $ 12,000 Carolina Herrera dress, which was not only expensive but also not by an American designer.

Historically who pays for the dresses has been contentious. Jackie Kennedy's dresses were paid for by her father-in-law who didn't want her expensive tastes to cause a scandal for JFK. Her favourite designer, Oleg Cassini, who designed for her first state dinner for Tunisian President Habib Bourguiba, was on his payroll. Nancy Reagan borrowed designer clothes and sometimes forgot to return them.

A state dinner or gala dinner dress can enable careers to take off, whether it is the person who wears it or signs it. In 1985, Princess Diana danced with Hollywood actor John Travolta in a midnight blue velvet gown and wowed America. When Jason Wu designed Michelle's gown for the first inaugural ball, his career didn't look back.

Clearly, the Obamas didn't think the state dinner at Rashtrapati Bhavan mattered. Even Barack (first name only now) didn't wear a black tie. Sonia Gandhi seemed to be the only one making an effort, a hark back to the past, in a green tanchoi with an exquisite kani shawl. She was seated next to Michelle Obama, so I hope FLOTUS got a good look at how to rock a formal look with traditional wear. Or maybe since she was channelling The Good Wife's Alicia Florrick in a smart skirt suit at the state of the Union address, FLOTUS could just ask the actress Julianna Margulies.