Malia Obama Is Power-Layering, '90s-Style
Could Malia Obama be any cooler? Or so Chandler Bing might say. In early April, Sasha gave a masterclass in combining statement jewelry with airport sweats and just days later, older sister Malia gave one on the art of layering.
Seen en route to an acting class, Malia Obama, who now professionally goes by Malia Ann, epitomized Y2K streetstyle with a long white shirt under another, equally large green button-up shirt with wide, washed-out jeans, black boots, and a massive black shoulder bag.
Malia's long hair was tossed up in a half up, half down ‘do, with the front strands pulled around to frame her face.
If she wasn’t one of the faces of Gen-Z street style, she could have been teleported straight from 1997. In fact, that's exactly why Malia is on the cutting-edge of Gen-Z style.
Also... do you think those are her dad’s shirts or is Malia Obama thrifting these days? Surely the latter but, hey, you never know. She's definitely tapping into the senior Obama's love of dad jeans.
Malia and Sasha Obama’s everyday styles are somewhat similar in that much of what they wear seems, surface-level, to be picked-up off the floor last minute. But a trained eye can tell that they're actually dressing with intention.
Sasha’s airport sweatpants, statement silver necklace, and chunky black boots mirror the way that Malia masterfully layers her baggy shirts.
It's all about showcasing interesting patterns, proportions, and silhouettes by way of obviously purposefulness.
The trick is that whereas Sasha leans towards no-brainer day-to-day style, Malia is more of the fashion-forward set — you might see her wearing Collina Strada or the clog of the moment.
Whereas Sasha epitomizes ease, Malia's outfits read a bit more directional; you can read more into the angle Malia's hitting, usually, whereas Sasha is simple consistently comfortable.
President Barack Obama used to famously say that he took the Steve Jobs approach to dressing or, in other words, having very similar basics on hand so as to not have to think too hard about getting dressed.
His daughters seem to have taken the opposite approach, throwing some of the seemingly most disparate basics into a blend of great consequential effect.
We should all aspire to be so effortlessly cool.
