Jenice Armstrong: Michelle's dress: I hated it . . .

I WAS ALL but drafted to write about the dress.

You know the one — that bold red-and-black number by Narciso Rodriguez that Michelle Obama wore to her husband's victory speech.

Yesterday morning, we in the newsroom were sharing impressions on everything from the transformative to the trivial — dissecting what it means for America, chatting about the Rev. Jesse Jackson's tears and debating whether Michelle's dress was a fashion hit or miss.

For the record, my personal go-to guy, celebrity fashion stylist Anthony Henderson, declared it "just wrong."

"I was just, like, she came out in a sweater and dangly hoop earrings," he said, incredulously.

It was not Michelle's finest moment. When she strode onstage for President-elect Barack Obama's victory speech, I found the print distracting and unflattering. The waist seemed too high. And, in my head, I could hear my mother questioning why, once again, Michelle didn't have on a jacket.

She was wearing low kitten heels, which I can relate to. Had I been in her position, I would have worn low heels as well so as not to tower over my guy and everyone else onstage. And, like her, I wouldn't have given a darn what the fashion police had to say about it. This was America's night — a chance to savor a hard-won victory and to be hopeful about the future — not a time for the future first lady to mince around in stilettos.

As you can see, there's a reason why I'm not a fashion writer. There's only so much pontificating I care to do about what someone has on at an historic moment.

Tuesday night was one of those seminal moments in our history: The 47-year-old son of a white mother from Kansas and a black father from Kenya who campaigned on a message of change and hope had been elected president of a country still coping with the vestiges of racism.

I'd be lying if I didn't admit to being transfixed at the image of Michelle striding onstage, bringing with her those adorable daughters. The future first lady, whom Obama had just described as "the love of my life," was especially radiant.

For every professional black woman in a stable relationship who has looked to the media for positive reflections of themselves and come up wanting, there one was standing before us.

She even had hips.

Michelle Obama is eminently relatable — she has good-hair days and bad-hair days just like the rest of us. And, unlike Cindy McCain, who always dresses impeccably, Michelle sometimes flubs it.

But she has young daughters to worry about. And now, more things on her to-do list than getting overly worked up about how she looks or what armchair critics have to say about the pattern on her dress.

Ever since she began wowing crowds, people have been referencing the Camelot era and calling Michelle the next Jacqueline Kennedy. I think not. Although they both have tremendous style, I think Michelle's legacy will wind up being about something totally different — more along the lines of helping her husband usher in some profound changes in Washington.

If she hasn't already, Obama would be wise to hire someone to tend to superficialities such as clothing, if she can't be bothered. Henderson suggests designer Angela Dean.

But back to the dress: I hated it.

But I loved every second of everything else. *

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