Michelle Obama has revealed what it was really like raising teenage girls in the White House and the public eye, sharing that she and her husband Barack "had a deal" with daughters Malia and Sasha when it came to their fashion choices while attending public-facing events. Malia and Sasha were 10 and seven, respectively, when their father entered the White House as President in January 2009, and during the following eight years went through formative teenage years. The girls are known for their individual fashion sense, with Malia adopting a chic street style vibe that features classic cuts and loose styles, while Sasha is often pictured in cool and effortless, earthy looks.
Michelle has now revealed that the girls were already finding their style as teenagers, but that the Obamas had to balance that desire for their children to lead normal lives with White House protocol. "Kids, growing up, have their own style. And what's in for a 13-year-old is not acceptable walking down the staircase of Air Force One to a formal greet with President Medvedev, right? There's protocol that is different. And so they knew that," Michelle, whose new style book The Look, will be released in collaboration with her long-term stylist Meredith Koop.
"We had a deal," Michelle told People magazine. "When they did things with us, the deal was, you work with Meredith when you were dressing for public events… What I didn't want them to be is part of the negative cycle of 'what were they wearing', and 'how dare they wear that.' There'd be smoke coming for my little girls, and it's like, 'You don't want the smoke, just put the sweater on.'"
But Michelle revealed that despite the deal, the girls still pushed the boundaries. "[Meredith] would sit down with them and have conversations about what they liked. And she had those fights with them about, 'No, no, pull that down. That hem is going to be a little bit longer.'" However, more often than not, the girls were not interested in the events or public appearances that their parents attended, and Michelle said that many of their fashion arguments were over classic fashion concerns all parents have.
"Like any [parents] of teenagers, a lot of times you're like, 'Oh, you're going to wear that out?' Barack would be like, 'Those shorts seem really short.' And I was like, 'Don't say anything. Let them cook. Let them learn,'" she revealed.
It's been almost 10 years since the Obamas left the White House, and in that time Malia and Sasha have walked their own paths. Malia interned at The Weinstein Company film studio in New York City the summer between high school and college, before she began her freshman year at Harvard University.
She graduated in 2021 and moved to Los Angeles, where she has become a filmmaker and writer, working in the writer's room for Donald Glover's Prime Video television series Swarm, and directing the short film The Heart under her stage name Malia Ann.
Sasha graduated high school two years after her old sister and moved to Ann Arbor to study at the University of Michigan in 2019. In 2021, she transferred to the University of Southern California to be closer to her sister; she graduated in 2023 with a degree in sociology, and her parents and her sister were all in attendance to watch her walk across the stage.
Sasha's name appeared in the credits of the TV series Couples Therapy, leading many to believe she was entering the entertainment industry like her sister. However, she has since returned to school where it is believed she is obtaining her masters degree.
During an appearance on The Jennifer Hudson Show, mom Michelle shared: "They are amazing," of her girls, adding: "Sasha is in school, Malia has a budding career in film. They are smart, they're funny, they're wise in their own ways and I love spending time with them."