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US First Lady Donates Inaugural Gown to Smithsonian

   VOA News 09 March 2010
   First  lady  Michelle  Obama stands with the gown that she wore to the
   2009  inaugural  ball  as she donates it to the Smithsonian's National
   Museum of American History in Washington, 9 Mar 2010

Photo: AP

   First  lady  Michelle  Obama stands with the gown that she wore to the
   2009  inaugural  ball  as she donates it to the Smithsonian's National
   Museum of American History in Washington, 9 Mar 2010

   U.S.  first lady Michelle Obama has donated the white gown she wore at
   last year's inaugural balls to the Smithsonian Institution.
   She presented the gown to the Smithsonian at a ceremony Tuesday.
   The  dress  will go on display at the Smithsonian's National Museum of
   American History beginning Wednesday.
   It  will  be part of a gallery called "A First Lady's Debut" featuring
   11   inaugural  gowns  worn  by  first  ladies,  starting  from  Mamie
   Eisenhower, who became first lady in the 1950s.
   Mrs. Obama wore single -shoulder-strap dress to 10 inaugural balls the
   day  her husband, Barack Obama, was sworn in as president.  It was the
   first white inaugural gown worn in more than 25 years.
   The dress was designed by Jason Wu of New York, who attended Tuesday's
   ceremony.   A  group of aspiring designers studying at a New York high
   school was also slated to attend.
   Mrs.   Obama's   donation   follows   a   long-standing  tradition  of
   presidential  wives  giving some type of clothing to the Smithsonian's
   First Ladies Collection.

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