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Is Obama Sister-In-Law Wearing PLO Fashion Garb At Inauguration- Not So Says Designer

January 25, 2009

What was Obama sister-in-law Kelly Robinson wearing at the Inauguration? Couture designer David Schoen dispels such rumors...


by staff writer

WASHINGTON, D.C. (RushPRnews) 01/25/09 -- When the TV cameras panned across the VIPs sitting behind Michelle Obama during the recent Inauguration Day festivities at the U.S. Capitol building, what some people saw, in addition to Mrs. Obama's lovely outfit and Aretha Franklin's groovy Detroit-designed hat, was a woman sitting right behind Michelle wearing what at first glance "appeared" -- to some curious minds -- to be some kind of Middle Eastern-motif outfit. They could not have been more wrong, and the few bloggers who picked up on the mysterious fashion "sighting" were quickly corrected and told they were seeing things that were just not there.

It was all a kaffiyeh in a teapot.

Here's the story. Never before reported before anywhere in the known universe. Read it with a chuckle and a smile.

Kelly Robinson is the wife of Craig Robinson, the OSU coach who is Michelle Obama's brother. So that makes Kelly, Robinson's second wife, the sister in law of Michelle and Barack. And of course, Crag and Kelly were invited to the Inauguration and were seated right behind the First Lady and her handsome president husband who was about to take the oath of office.

TV cameras panned around the audience. If you looked closely, and the scene can still be seen on many videos of the event online, Kelly Robinson was wearing a beautiful outfit designed (by Heidi Pomeday of Albany, Oregon) which included an eye-catching jacket made of black-based silk wool blend with ercu and egg-shell stripes.


To some viewers around the world, the collar of the jacket "appeared" to some viewers at first sight to look a bit like a kaffiyeh scarf that is popular in the Middle East and now very trendy among New York and London young people.

However, Robinson's jacket had nothing to do at all with any Middle Eastern fashion trend, and after a friendly email exchange with the designer in Oregon, it can now be revealed that, well, let Heidi Pomeday, speak for herself. In an exclusive interview with RushPRnews, she told this reporter by email:

"The jacket people around the world saw on TV is on the first page of my website. It is a jacket made of a black-based silk wool blend, with ercu and egg-shell stripes.
It was picked because the client likes the colors, and there was never any intention of any political or religious affiliations. The dress was a silk kimono sleeve top with a pencil-fit wool bottom, both in black, and the jacket was a custom-designed silk wool blend with ecru and egg shell stripes. There was no scarf. Please refer to the website for pictures.
Thank you. I think what was said on some fashion blogs was a far stretch and completely not true at all."

In article in the Corvallis Gazette-Times in Oregon headlined "Albany woman designs inaugural outfits," spilled the background information on Ms Pomeday's day in the sunshine. Noting that "Heidi Pomeday of Albany has a special interest in today's inauguration and this evening's festivities in Washington, D.C.," reporter Cathy Ingalls went on to report that "Pomeday, 29, designed and made the daytime suit and the inaugural gown .....worn by Oregon State University basketball coach Craig Robinsonss wife, Kelly. Craig Robinson is Michelle Obama's brother. Pomeday's husband, Nate, is one of Robinson's assistant coaches."

How did the outfit come to be, and how did Pomeday get the designing gig? The Gazette-Times reported: "Through their husbands' work, Pomeday met Kelly Robinson, and Pomeday mentioned she had owned a couture wedding gown business while living in Chicago. She made custom gowns for six years but had to put her business on hold for back surgery and because she was moving to the West Coast, away from her clientele."

"Kelly said she was having trouble finding something to wear, so I asked if I could put some sketches in front of her face to see what looked good on her and to get a feel for what she liked in a gown for the inauguration," Pomeday was quoted as saying in the Oregon newspaper. "She liked two of the sketches, so I told her we could get some muslin and put a dress together so she could see exactly what her gown would look like."

According to news reports, once Kelly saw the dress, she was committed.

Ingalls added: "So the two went fabric shopping in Portland. The style selected has a black silk base, an A-line cut, and a top of navy blue ruched taffeta with iridescent black that matches the base. Robinson's suit had to be both attractive and warm, to keep her comfortable during the outdoor swearing-in ceremony. Her silk kimono-sleeve dress has a bottom of black wool and a jacket lined with fleece."

Pomeday, who was raised in Philadelphia, went to Columbia College of Chicago and studied art design with an emphasis in fashion. The clothes she designed for Kelly can be seen at www.davidschoencouture.com.

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