Prime Minister Modi’s outfits overshadow Michelle Obama in Indian media during visit

Prime Minister Modi’s outfits overshadow Michelle Obama in Indian media during visit

Michelle Obama started a media frenzy with her outfit, but Indian media seems more interested in what PM Modi wore

U.S. President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle Obama, arrived in New Delhi, India, Sunday, and as soon as they stepped off AirForce One the media turned their attention to the outfit Michelle Obama was wearing, a knee-length floral dress with a matching blue coat and black pumps. The First Lady’s outfits frequentlygain attention, but this one was particularly special because it was designed by an Indian designer named Bibhu Mohapatra. This is the second piece by Mohapatra worn by the first lady.

Indian designer Mohapatra comes from Rourkerela in Odisha, and currently resides in New York. He was so happy about what Obama choose to wear that as soon as Michelle Obama deplaned the designer tweeted that the First Lady and the President arrived in India with the first lady wearing “@bibhumohapatra #spring15 poppy.”

The real story here turned out not to be what the first lady wore. Instead, the Indian media had a field day reporting about what their own Prime Minister, Narendra Damodardas Modi, wore throughout the day. NDTV.com, based in India, went as far as saying that the Prime Minister was better dressed than the first lady. Despite being male, PM Modi made three outfit changes throughout the day.

Modi started the day by receiving the President and first lady wearing a kurta-pajama. A kurta is a shirt and it is typically paired with pants or pajamas. He also wore a traditional Nehru vest and complimented it with a bright red stole. A point to also be noted here is that the PM broke protocol by making the decision to drive to the airport.

When President Obama arrived for the ceremonial welcome at Rashtrapati, which included a 21-gun salute, he was received by the PM who was wearing a “bandhgala” pinstripe suit. This was his second outfit of the day and as mentioned before, the Indian media was there to click pictures and comment.

The PM made his final change in the evening when he attended a banquet hosted for the Obamas by President Pranab Mukherjee. It was again a bandhgala suit. He chose to wear a grey one this time.

Michelle Obama, who was not seen all day, wore another floral dress to the banquet, similar to the one that caused the media buzz when the Obama’s arrived.

When PM Modi traveled to the U.S. in September, three major U.S. publications – the New York Times, Time and the Washington Post all commented on what he chose to wear. Rajinder Raina tweeted that it is important that the prime minister of a nation look presentable, and that the number of changes in attire that they might make is completely personal.

One person, simply named Indian, summed up the whole affair by saying that he pities all those who are mocking the PM about his enthusiasm for his wardrobe. He says “Guys he is the Prime Minister of India”  so everyone should keep calm and focus on the things that are really important, rather than what people are wearing.

Be social, please share!

Facebooktwittergoogle_plusredditpinterestlinkedintumblrmail

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *