Key Takeaways
- Michelle Obama avoided braids in the White House to prevent her hair from becoming a political distraction.
- Today, she uses her hairstyle to challenge outdated norms and embrace cultural identity.
- Her new book, “The Look,” explores how personal style shaped her public image and private self.
Michelle Obama is reclaiming her hair story — and making a statement while doing it. In a new cover story interview with PEOPLE, the former first lady reflected on why she didn’t wear braids during her eight years in the White House and what it means to rock them now.
“This is the first time in my life when every decision I make is for me,” she told the outlet, as she prepares to release her new book, “The Look.”
Braids have always been one of her favorite hairstyles, but it wasn’t until nearly ten years after Barack Obama left office that she felt free to fully embrace them again. “Braids allow me to get them done, and then that’s one less thing that I have to think about. When I’m out of the public eye, I am swimming, I am playing tennis, and braids represent that kind of freedom for me,” she shared.
Growing up on the South Side of Chicago, braids allowed her to run, play, and just be a kid without worrying about her hair. But during her White House years, she didn’t feel that same ease. “I wasn’t sure whether the country was ready for it,” she said about skipping protective styles as the first lady. “The CROWN Act hadn’t been passed yet, and just like fashion, I didn’t want my hair to become a distraction.” The legislation, titled by an acronym for “Creating a respectful and open world for natural hair,” launched in 2019 to protect employees and students from race-based hair discrimination.
That changed in September 2022, when she stepped out in braids for her and Barack’s official portrait unveiling in Washington, D.C. It was intentional. “I understood the significance of wearing braids to our portrait unveiling,” she explained. “I wanted to send a message, add to the discourse of Black women in places of power, saying, ‘This, too, is an appropriate and beautiful way to wear your hair.’”
And the message doesn’t stop with her. “This is what we understand about our hair, as women of color, that the way our hair naturally grows out of our head, is beautiful,” she said. “And if I want to wear it straight, if I want bangs, if I want braids, if I want them up, if I want to add a little color to it, let that be my business. Nothing is inappropriate.”
Michelle Obama opens next chapter with “The Look”
As she reclaims her voice through beauty and style, Michelle is channeling that journey into a brand-new project. The 61-year-old is gearing up to release “The Look” on Nov. 4, a coffee table book that chronicles her evolving style through moments that shaped her personally and politically.
In her June Instagram announcement, she explained why the book is so personal: “During our family’s time in the White House, the way I looked was constantly being dissected — what I wore, how my hair was styled. For a while now, I’ve been wanting to reclaim more of that story, to share it in my own way,” she wrote.
Michelle added that the book is about confidence, identity, and “the power of authenticity.”