Will Michelle Obama Save Retail, next Oprah?

Michelle Obama is one stylish lady and she doesn't spend thousands dollars to get the look.

The dress she wore on "The View" sold out in minutes, now the J. Crew ensemble she wore on "The Tonight Show" is about to fly off the shelves. She's got the Oprah-touch.

Mrs. Obama surprised J. Crew when she wore one of its outfits on her Oct. 27 appearance on “The Tonight Show With Jay Leno.” Dressed in a $148 pencil skirt, a $148 yellow and brown tank top and a $118 yellow cardigan, she seemed to be promoting both fiscal prudence and the overlooked appeal of mustard-colored clothing.

“I want to ask you about your wardrobe,” Mr. Leno told her, alluding to the news media reports that Sarah Palin had a campaign clothing budget of $150,000. “I’m guessing about 60 grand? Sixty, 70 thousand for that outfit?”

“Actually, this is a J. Crew ensemble,” Mrs. Obama replied, to cheers from the audience. “Ladies, we know J. Crew. You can get some good stuff online!”

A spokeswoman for the J. Crew Group said the company had no idea Mrs. Obama would wear J. Crew until it began seeing teasers of her “Tonight Show” appearance. But it moved quickly to capitalize on it.

Marketers bought “Michelle Obama” keywords on Google, Microsoft and Yahoo, built a page on the jcrew.com Web site that promoted her outfit, and told call-center representatives how to handle queries about Mrs. Obama’s fashion.

Source NYT