>> This morning, Isabel Toledo received an unexpected big boost in the national eye — Michelle Obama wore the yellow coat and matching dress Toledo specifically designed for her to the inauguration, paired with green Jimmy Choo Glacier pumps.

Toledo didn't know for sure that Obama would pick her designs — which thirteen people in her studio worked on over the Christmas holidays — until this morning, when she turned on the television.  "We had no idea. We hoped she would wear something because she has bought Isabel's clothes before. We never know what's going to happen," her husband Ruben Toledo said.  "It's just another shock, but a great shock."

The dress and coat are made of Swiss wool lace, backed with netting for warmth and lined in French silk.  As for the choice of color?  "I wanted to pick a very optimistic color, that had sunshine,” Isabel Toledo said. “I wanted her to feel charmed, and in that way would charm everybody."

While she's long been critically well-received, Toledo has long flown under the radar, particularly since she was pulled from her acclaimed run at Anne Klein two years ago.  She said this morning that she didn't even have a PR person to help bring her designs to Mrs. Obama's attention, so perhaps this turn of events will provide the bump she needs.
*image: source