Obama leading a very coordinated fashion parade in a navy-silk, checkered-patterned coat and dress by Thom Browne that were inspired by a menswear necktie.
In "Ivy Style: Radical Conformists, " out last month from Yale University Press, fashion scholar Patricia Mears traces the history of the modern sport coat to the interwar years, when Princetonians liberated tweed jackets from their matching bottoms.
For her morning outfit at the inauguration, Michelle Obama chose a navy silk jacquard coat and dress from Thom Browne, a designer known among fashion circles for his close cropped silhouettes, floodwater pants and wild and zany fashion shows.