Michelle Obama's favorite dress (she actually wore it more than once, just like a real person!)

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Yahoo! News breathlessly reports that Moochelle Antoinette has worn the same frock seven times (something they call shopping one's own closet)!

Michelle Obama's Favorite Dress: How to Choose Your Own Go-To Frock
By Sarah B. Weir, Yahoo! blogger

Why mess with a good thing? Michelle Obama is known for recycling her favorite outfits, and there is one item she goes back to again and again: a bold wisteria print dress by designer Tracy Feith.

By our count, she's worn the dress (which retailed for about $720) at least seven times since she debuted it on January 21, 2009, the day after President Barack Obama's inauguration, at a nondenominational prayer service held at the Washington National Cathedral followed by a luncheon. On Wednesday, she donned it again to visit the historic Decatur House.

While we mortals might shop our own closets every day, many public figures shun recycling their own clothing. Joanna Douglas, Yahoo! Shine's senior Fashion and Beauty editor has a theory, "FLOTUS is very practical when it comes to dressing. She packs light for vacation and rewears the same dresses within a very short period of time, unlike celebrities who are afraid to wear the same thing twice. I think women appreciate that she just digs into her closet like anyone else."

What makes this particular dress so versatile? The ballet neckline, fitted bodice, and full, just-below-the-knee-length skirt are universally flattering and chic. While some women may shy away from a jazzy print, this one can actually be dressed up or down with the right shoes and clutch and doesn't require elaborate jewelry. The dark background adds elegance where a lighter color might be too girly for official events.

In a phone interview with Yahoo! Shine, Nikki Pennie, celebrity stylist and David's Bridal Style Council member, shared her tips for finding the perfect go-to dress.

Sleeve length: "The key element is the three-quarter-sleeve length, because you don't have to wear a jacket over it, which can look stiff," says Pennie, who has dressed celebs from Madonna to Kate Middleton. "If this was a sleeveless dress, I guarantee you she would have only worn it once." Pennie says three-quarter length is the most flexible, but long sleeves work better than sleeveless or capped sleeves.

Color: If you don't for prints, Pennie advises a rich color like navy or pewter. If you prefer lighter colors, she suggests the trend of lace for day, which can look modern in shades such as lavender. "People are moving away from black, especially for day."

Skirt length: "The length of Michelle's dress is perfect and ladylike," says Pennie. If you want a shorter dress, she says stick with a classic shift cut.

Comfort: "It's an effortless way of dressing," says Pennie. "Kate [Middleton] and Michelle are pioneering this trend, they don't have stylists, and they buy their own clothes, it's about being comfortable and hassle-free."

With prominent women like Michelle Obama and Kate Middleton shopping their own closets for public events, the rest of us might begin to feel less pressured to run out and buy an expensive new garment every time we have a special occasion. Colleen Sherin, fashion director at Saks Fifth Avenue tells Yahoo! Shine, "I love to see people wear things over and over. It's the way fashion is going. People want investment pieces that they can wear for years to come."

Sherin agrees that when powerful and famous women rewear their clothes, it sends a message it's OK to recycle. She adds that buying higher quality pieces and wearing them many times is part of a positive trend that is better for the environment and for the people who are employed in clothing manufacturing. "It's not about throwaway clothes."

She's just so wonderful.

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The event to which she wore the dress pertained to restoration of Decatur House. Thank goodness, it was all about her.

First lady lauds effort to preserve DC slave house
First lady lauds preservation of slave quarters near White House as vital to 'national memory'
By Darlene Superville, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Michelle Obama said Wednesday that stories of toil and sweat by slaves once held at a historic home within sight of the White House are an important part of U.S. history, including her own personal story, and are "as vital to our national memory as any other."

The first lady commented as American Express announced its donation of $1 million to the White House Historical Association to preserve Decatur House and pay for education programs for children. The nearly 200-year-old house is owned by the National Trust for Historic Preservation and operated by the association.

Most of the money will be spent to preserve the building's former slave quarters, where about 20 men and women "spent their days serving those who came and went from this house" and their nights "jammed together on the second floor of the slave quarters, all the while holding onto a quiet hope, a quiet prayer that they, too, and perhaps their children, would someday be free," Mrs. Obama said.

The red-brick, three-story townhouse built in 1818 has been home to many, including several secretaries of state.

Mrs. Obama, briefly invoking her ancestry as a descendant of a South Carolina slave, said even more history came from the back of Decatur House, where the slave quarters were located, "the kind of stories that too often get lost, the kinds of stories that are a part of so many of our families' histories, including my own."

"These stories of toil, and sweat, and quiet, unrelenting dignity — these stories are as vital to our national memory as any other," she said. "And so it is our responsibility as a nation to ensure that these stories are told."

The slave quarters is one of the few such dwellings in an urban setting, and the only physical proof that slaves were held near the White House. Decatur House is located one block north of the White House, on Lafayette Square.

Afterward, Mrs. Obama toured several rooms, including one that researchers concluded had been a kitchen because of the dark splotches on a brick wall they believe were made by an oven, as well as splatters of animal fat on the wall that were made during cooking.

She also visited with a group of sixth-graders from a Fairfax, Va., elementary school that was participating in an educational program based on the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation, including a 12-year-old dressed up as Abraham Lincoln. They weren't told about their special visitor and the jaws of several students dropped each time the first lady entered the different rooms they were in.

Decatur House was built for Navy Commodore Stephen Decatur. It was bequeathed to the National Trust for Historic Preservation in 1956. The National Center for White House History was established there in 2010.

Decatur House also is a National Trust for Historic Preservation site.

Lawdy Lawd, she looks like she's about to take a bite out of Abe Lincoln.