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Michelle Obama reveals double standard of her husband’s eight-year tuxedo

Barack Obama with wife Michelle and comedienne Cecily Strong at the White House Correspondent's Association Gala in 2015.

Barack Obama with wife Michelle and comedienne Cecily Strong at the White House Correspondent's Association Gala in 2015. Photo: Getty

Former first lady of the United States Michelle Obama has revealed that her husband Barack Obama wore the same tuxedo for all eight years of his presidency. Without anyone noticing.

In a speech at an Apple developers conference, Ms Obama was making a point about the double standards women in the spotlight face, when she made the revelation.

“Now, people take pictures of the shoes I wear, the bracelets, the necklaces – they didn’t comment that for eight years he wore the same tux, same shoes,” she said.

“This is the unfair thing – you talk about Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers – no matter what we do, he puts on that same tux.”

Ms Obama said her husband was “proud” of his ability to wear the same suit and be ready in 10 minutes.

During her time as first lady, Ms Obama’s fashion sense was the subject of thousands of articles, analyses and tweets.

Her choice to wear a sleeveless top in her first official photo as first lady, for example, caused an uproar in the United States.

Obama’s tuxedo reminiscent of Karl Stefanovic’s blue suit

Mr Obama’s single tuxedo has drawn comparisons locally to Today Show host Karl Stefanovic who wore the same blue suit on air every day for a year.

Stefanovic said he was conducting an experiment to see if he would draw the same criticism he saw heaped on his female colleagues for their fashion sense.

“I’m judged on my interviews, my appalling sense of humour, on how I do my job basically,” Stefanovic said at the time.

“Women are quite often judged on what they’re wearing and how their hair is.”

Stefanovic was nominated for an award for services to New South Wales’ LGBTI community last year after he made an “earnest” apology for using the offensive slur “tranny” on air.

Describing himself as an “ignorant tool”, Stefanovic said it was time for outdated, offensive terms to be thrown “in the bin”.

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