The Evolution of Michelle Obama [UPDATED]

We’re screaming happy birthday to Mrs. Obama, who celebrates her 59th birthday today. But you wouldn’t know it by looking at her. In honor of her special day, Mrs. Obama’s husband, Former President Barack Obama posted a beautiful image of the couple sharing a sunset on Instagram. “You make every day brighter,” Obama captioned the post, “and somehow keep looking better!” We couldn’t agree more. Ok, let’s really start at the beginning. 

Michelle LaVaughn Robinson was born on January 17, 1964, in Chicago, Illinois. Her father, Fraser Robinson, was a city-pump operator. Her mother, Marian, stayed at home to raise Michelle and her older brother, Craig. Education was very important in the Robinson household. Michelle and Craig both excelled in school. Michelle graduated from Chicago’s Whitney M. Young Magnet High School in 1981 as the salutatorian of her class.

Miss Robinson continued her streak of academic excellence in college. After high school, she went to Princeton University, where she graduated cum laude with a B.A. in Sociology in 1985. She received her J.D from Harvard Law School in 1988. In her memoir, she writes about the pressure she felt to succeed at these Ivy League institutions on behalf of all Black people. “If in high school I’d felt as if I were representing my neighborhood, now at Princeton I was representing my race. Anytime I found my voice in class or nailed an exam, I quietly hoped it helped make a larger point,” she wrote.

After graduating from law school in 1988, Michelle was hired to work as an associate at the corporate law firm Sidley Austin, where she specialized in marketing and intellectual property. In the summer of 1989, she met Barack Obama, who was hired as a summer associate. Despite his attempts to get a date, she tried to stay professional and kept him in the friend zone for a while. But Michelle eventually gave in, and after two years of dating, Barack Obama popped the question. The couple was married on October 3, 1992, at Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago.

In a 2018 interview with ABC’s Robin Roberts, Mrs. Obama shared the couple’s struggles to start their family. After suffering a miscarriage, they used in-vitro fertilization to conceive their beautiful daughters, Malia and Sasha. Even though the girls grew up in the public eye, the Obamas with the help of Michelle’s mother, did their best to keep their girls protected. And it paid off. Malia, 23, graduated from Harvard in 2021. Sasha, 20, is currently a student at the University of Michigan.

Michelle Obama was a hospital executive when her husband decided to run for president. A career she put on hold to support him wholeheartedly. And although she was confident in his ability to win, she says the campaign trail was exhausting. In her memoir, Mrs. Obama says maintaining an image of being polished without being intimidating was even more important for the first Black presidential candidate and his wife. “I was getting worn out, not physically, but emotionally. The punches hurt, even if I understood that they had little to do with who I really was as a person,” she wrote.

All of the campaigning paid off when on November 4, 2008, Barack Obama became the first African American elected President of the United States. Michelle would assume her role as the first African American First Lady. And when she danced with the new president at the Inaugural Ball in a Jason Wu gown, Michelle Obama created one of many memorable fashion moments.

During her time as First Lady, Michelle Obama was busy implementing several campaigns around issues that were important to her, including education and support of veterans and military families. One of her key initiatives was the Let’s Move Campaign, which encouraged physical activity and putting an end to childhood obesity. Mrs. Obama’s initiative prioritized providing healthier food options to schools and underserved communities. She also brought local students to help care for a fruit and vegetable garden on the White House South Lawn.

During her years in the White House, Mrs. Obama did not come to play when it came to her style. And while she could be seen in high-end looks from Atelier Versace and Alexander McQueen, she was just as comfortable and fabulous in a casual dress from J. Crew. Mrs. Obama also loves supporting up and coming designers like Jason Wu. She she wore his designs to both of President Obama’s inaugural balls.

Barack wasn’t running for anything during the 2016 election cycle. But Michelle still found herself on the campaign trail. This time, she was gathering support for the Democratic Presidential nominee, Hillary Clinton. The campaign got ugly, as the Republican nominee (who we won’t even talk about here) had no problem hitting below the belt with his rhetoric. But in a speech at the 2016 Democratic National Convention, the former first lady would coin a phrase that has definitely kept me cool when people take me there, “when they go low, we go high.”

In 2018, book-lovers everywhere did a happy dance when Mrs. Obama released her highly-anticipated memoir, “Becoming.” The book gives readers an extremely personal look inside Mrs. Obama’s childhood, how she balanced work and family and managed to raise successful daughters while the entire world was watching her every move. There is also an adapted version of the book for young readers.

In 2020, Mrs. Obama decided to give podcasting a try. On The Michelle Obama podcast, she allowed listeners to eavesdrop on some intimate conversations with her close friends and family about topics including marriage, family and the importance of having a mentor. The former President even makes a special guest appearance in the premiere episode.

The former first lady chose Baltimore-based artist Amy Sherald to create her official presidential portrait. The portrait will travel to museums across the country from June 2021 through October 2022 before making its permanent home at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington D.C. In an interview with Time, Sherald says she was honored to be chosen as the first Black woman to paint an official first lady portrait and loves that her work will help more people become interested in art. “There are people who don’t normally go to museums that are interested in art now. They are seeing themselves in different ways. That’s the most important part and focus for myself,” she said.

After the success of “Becoming,” Mrs. Obama blessed us with a follow-up book in November 2022. In “The Light We Carry: Overcoming in Uncertain Times,” she shares her best advice for overcoming obstacles and adversity. Lord knows she had a lot of practice during her eight years in the White House.

As she’s hit the road to promote “The Light We Carry,” Mrs. Obama has been doing the damn thang with her fashion. Without the constraints of the First Lady title, she has been free to experiment with her style. We love that she has not shied away from color and that she is embracing natural hairstyles to the fullest. Check out our slideshow of favorite looks.