British tabloids, The Sun, The Telegraph and The Daily Mail are reporting that First Lady Michelle Obama indulged in a $50,000 spending spree at luxury lingerie boutique Agent Provocateur late last year. The reports say she closed off part of Madison Avenue so that Sheikaha Mozah, the Queen of Qatar, and her could spend time shopping for luxury lingerie during a trip to New York City.
Is the FLOTUS working on a secret stimulus plan of her own? Slip under the velvet orange squiggle to flesh out the risqué details.
Mrs. Obama has come under fire from critics of late, who have taken issue with her taste for expensive designer labels and lavish parties when the country is in the midst of a recession.
From the Daily MailOnline:
The First Lady's striking cobalt blue Barbara Tfank dress, worn for last week's State of the Union address, is believed to be worth approximately $2,000.
While winning over the style set with the eye-catching look, some questioned whether her choice was appropriate, given that she was seated next to Jackie Bray, a single mother from North Carolina who put herself through community college to boost her career prospects after getting laid off from her job.
One comment on the
Naked DC site read: “She claims to be a champion of the poor and a fellow bargain shopper, but yet, here she is, sporting a dress that no unemployed American can afford. For someone who says she understands the troubles of the American people, who claims to shop at
Target, she certainly fails to show it.”
And here’s the Telegraph headline intended to get your knickers in a twist:
Agent Provocateur saw sales jump by more than 12%, helped by US First Lady Michelle Obama spending $50,000 (£31,794) in one shopping spree.
From the Telegraph article:
The First Lady – better known for shopping at more modestly-priced High Street stores – along with the Queen of Qatar, Sheikha Mozah, closed off part of Madison Avenue to spend time in the luxury lingerie shop. Their purchases contributed to a market-spanking 12.5pc lift in sales.
Agent Provocateur, which is styled on vintage Hollywood glamour, sells handmade Calais lace corsets that sell for up to £900, which could ruffle the feathers of more than just President Barack Obama in an election year.
Gary Hogarth, Agent Provocateur’s chief executive, refused to be drawn on the store’s closely kept “secret client list”. But he admitted the brand had attracted a high number of “unexpected famous names” – especially in the US, where sales have overtaken the UK.
Music superstars Beyonce and Christina Aguilera have been seen at Agent Provocateur stores in recent months, presumably purchasing frilly underthings which can run to as much as $1,990 for a single French lace nightie.
CEO Hogarth remained tight lipped about the First Lady’s visit. “Agent Provocateur never discusses any of its clientele or their purchases.”
The Telegraph claimed: “Michelle Obama has risked the wrath of cash-strapped Americans by indulging in a $50,000 shopping spree at Agent Provocateur...”
Is it really any of our business how much the First Lady spends on her underwear? It goes without saying that her lingerie-purchasing habits are something for only her and the President to know. But with all this mentioning of unmentionables, you might be getting at least a little curious about what a $50,000 shopping bender at this high-end lingerie shop will get you. Or better yet, is the whole idea of dropping that kind of coin on a little froufrou totally preposterous?
More than a few people have pushed a shopping cart through the aisles of Agent Provocateur's online store trying to find out. They do offer a one-off ultra luxurious napa leather and Swarovski crystal “Playsuit”, which at $24,000, is a steal when compared to Victoria’s Secret’s $2.5 million bra. Back on earth, most of their bras and panties hover in the $200 territory, but very few big-ticket items like corsets, playsuits and gowns run over $1000.
Agent Provocateur CEO Hogarth told Women’s Wear Daily that the line is popular in the Middle East and Russia and certain customers have spent “$20,000 to $30,000” in a single boutique visit, not that that would be much of a challenge with the brand’s price points but that's still well short of 50 large. According to their website, $50,000 can buy 455 "Birthday Suit" thongs, 135 of the company's classic corsets, or 102 sexy slips. It’s safe to say the First Lady would’ve had to leave the store with her hands rather full.
So let’s take a leap and say the FLOTUS went for a complete overhaul of her White House underwear drawer, which could believably result in a $10,000 tab, but somehow handing over one-eighth of BHO’s Presidential salary in a single shopping trip seems well beyond outrageous. I’m having trouble taking the story seriously. Is anyone really buying this?
Looking into it a little more, sourced facts are few and the contradictions are many. We are told the First Lady and the Queen of Qatar visited the store in NYC, but there is no specific date given. We don’t really know who bought how much of what, or if anyone even bought anything at all. It’s more likely a portion of the Agent Provocateur store was closed off rather than a portion of Madison Avenue, as some reports state. And somehow the British tabloids scooped every US news outlet with the story.
After the report surfaced, Kristina Schake, Michelle Obama's Director of Communications, told multiple outlets the story is "100 percent false."
"100 percent false." No parsing there.
Unsurprisingly, the White House Press Secretary Jay Carney dismissed the lingerie story when he was recently asked about it.
CNN:
Q: Jay, many people have heard the rumors about the First Lady’s purchases in New York. I know it’s British tabloids, but can you help us squash this rumor? In light of other -
MR. CARNEY: Neal, I‘m shocked that you’re the one to ask this question. But let me just answer and say that, at least when I was a reporter, usually the standard for British tabloid reporting was the assumption that it was false. In this case, it’s utterly false, and it’s irresponsible of an American news organization to repeat the story, even allowing that it could be true. So it’s wrong.
Q: Can you provide some evidence that it’s wrong? Because I’d hate to print some incorrect information.
MR. CARNEY: I’m sorry, can you provide – I’m not going to go there, Neal. It’s false.
Suddenly Agent Provocateur has more to say:
A spokesman for Agent Provocateur told Daily MailOnline: 'Recent claims regarding Michelle Obama and purchases made at an Agent Provocateur boutique are incorrect.
Many political and business insiders suspect that Agent Provocateur floated the rumor of Mrs. Obama’s shopping spree as a publicity stunt. The retailer was purchased by private equity firm
3i in 2007 for a reported $108.5 million. CEO Hogarth says they plan to be aggressive in the upcoming year, opening 11 retailers in the U.S. by summer and aiming to expand from 54 to 100 total stores worldwide in the next three years.
With the company's expansion in the U.S. already underway it conceivable they were looking to use these two high profile shoppers to boost their brand. Unfortunately, the reckless inaccuracies of the story are already being repeated to feed the meme that the Obama’s, like Romney and Gingrich, are too wealthy and out of touch to relate to the struggles of living on a working class budget.
11:41 AM PT: 1st diary after 4 years of commenting and 2 years of lurking before that. Thanks for the Recs! I added a few more question marks to the title as a bigger tip off for everyone that can't wait more than a few paragraphs for a punchline to arrive.