Both of the Obama daughters have excellent senses of style, as we've long since documented many, many times. But Malia Obama has particularly come into her own with her own excellent outfits.
One of the key tenets of good taste: does someone look cool even on a grocery run? In Malia's case, that's a big ol' affirmative.
Specifically, towards the end of September, Malia Obama was seen chatting with a friend while smoking a cigarette, dressed so sans effort chic that you'd have thought she was an off-duty model. You know, if she wasn't the daughter of a president and all that. I guess first daughters could be models too, huh?
Wearing her long hair down over a cropped cardigan, loose pleated pants, and a pair of hefty black shoes, 25-year-old Malia epitomized the kind of unbothered elegance that the kids are calling quiet luxury.
That kind of stealthily wealthy affectation is more of an attitude though its stylistic cues can be achieved by wearing elevated items in a casual manner — see the slacks that Malia wears with disinterested grace here.
However, Malia's chunky cardigan and heavyweight shoes grant her outfit a grunge edge, amplified by the je ne sais quoi disaffected cool afforded to most anyone who does that pose while smoking.
Look, genres of fashion are as fluid as genres of music so call it whatever you want but you gotta admit one thing: Malia Obama looks cool as hell.
And yes, smoking is bad for you. Who cares. Don't do it. I don't! But even I can acknowledge that the sole upside of smoking cigarettes is that it, well, looks cool. Vapes may be less harmful, perhaps (the science on that is up in the air [pun unintended]), but also infinitely less cool. You'd never see characters in noir films or Cowboy Bebop vape.
Anyways, you could make the argument that there's nothing cooler than healthy lungs, sure — when Malia's dad quit cigs over a decade ago, it was headline news — but we're talking pure visual aesthetics here so forgive me for the tangent.
To this end, from a stylistic angle alone, Malia Obama's look achieves the same kind of put-together tossed-on grace usually only tapped by high-style icons like Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen (another set of well-dressed sisters) or perpetually dapper Jennifer Lawrence.
No mean feat, especially for a kid just out of college. Hey, some things needn't be taught.
