America's First Ladies
on Inauguration Day

I loved watching the fashion and color choice of Americas First Ladies this week at the Inauguration of the new President.

The eyes of the world have been on the USA and, as I'm not an American, it's not for me to comment on politics. But I have to say I watched with delight as the new powers laid out a program of what appears to be pure decency and family values.  

Am I allowed to say America's First Ladies?

Forgive me if I wrongly group together the 'First Ladies' but it seems to me that Joe Biden needs the support of both his lovely wife Jill at home and his running mate Kamala in the Oval Office in equal measures. And, of course, I have to include the fabulous fashion sense of former First Lady Michelle Obama.

Although the historic Inauguration ceremony was forced to scale down it certainly didn't lack atmosphere and emotion. All America's First Ladies wore head-to-toe color and, with their pick of America's designers and stylists, they didn't disappoint.

How America's First Ladies wear their Colors

Dr Jill Biden

Jill Biden chose a stunning teal blue dress and coat by New York designer Markarian. It was a perfect match to complement her turquoise/teal eyes.  

The delicately pretty Dr Biden appeared to strongly lean towards a Warm undertone with her golden blonde hair and turquoise blue eyes. In fact, she could easily have been mistaken for Spring Coloring, so I ran her photo through some of my images.  

Jill Biden is Warm

These are the 3 color families with a Warm undertone. Spring tones are a little too brash For Dr Biden and Autumn tones are definitely too heavy. 

She may well choose to wear some of the bright shades of Spring from time to time but, overall, the slightly more mellow shades of the WARM Color Family give her brilliant color with the elegance she would wish to portray.

She knows the colors that flatter, orange toned reds, soft yellow toned blues and the gorgeous periwinkle appear to be favorites, nothing too heavy for soft coloring. Her look is simple but classic in solid colors but her tailoring is feminine and fluid. 

Kamala Harris

Such an historic occasion as Kamala Harris becomes the first American Woman and the first Black Vice President to hold office. I don't think that noting her fashion sense in any way detracts from the solemn position she now holds.  

The striking purple dress and coat by Black designers Sergio Hudson and Christopher John Rogers on Inauguration Day, made a fabulous splash on a cold crisp Winter day.  

Kamala Harris is Autumn

With her strong coloring I expected that she would fit into either the Autumn or the Winter palette. After I looked closely at her amber eyes it was no surprise to find that she had Warm undertones and thus, she is a perfect Autumn. The cool tones of Winter looks very harsh against Kamala's soft complexion.

Actually Kamala prefers to stick to neutrals for her day job, probably not to detract from the seriousness of her profession. But lovely to see the brilliant jacket she sported for a less formal day out. She obviously chooses Autumn colors intuitively and the warm purple coat is perhaps the sign of more color to come.

Michelle Obama

Michelle Obama looked, as always, impeccable amongst America's First Ladies. 

She chose a striking ensemble of separates, turtle neck, pants and overcoat, in slightly different shades of burgundy, the purest sense of the word 'monochromatic'. 

Michelle Obama is Winter

As Burgundy is probably my no. 1 choice for Winter coloring, I fully expected her to respond best to that palette. There's no doubt that the crispness of Winter shows her amazing natural contrast to the best effect. 

Someone in the public eye does need to ring the changes and I've occasionally seen her wearing warm tones but they are not her best. 

How do I tell the difference?

One way to tell the difference between Warm and Cool is the eyes. Looking closely at Kamala and Michelle shows a remarkable color difference in their eyes. 

Kamala's eyes are almost amber with a yellow undertone definitely WARM while Michelle's are a pure soft brown with a grey rim indicating COOL. 

Warm eyes above, Cool eyes below

There are differences in skin tone too but that's not always immediately obvious until I do 'virtual draping' with images.