No Take-Backs: Simon Doonan Butters Up MOBama, Disses D.C. Style

We get it — everyone says things they regret. But when you're Simon Doonan, people tend to remember those words, and that's where things get dicey. A few months ago, Doonan praised First Lady Michelle Obama for her ease, warmth, and beauty — but pointedly said he would never call her "chic." (To his credit, Doonan explained that, to him, "chic" implies an awareness of one's appearance that would be frowned upon in a first lady.) Naturally, the all-about-semantics dig got blown out of proportion, so in a recent interview with The New Republic , Doonan eats a bit of humble pie and declares that MObama is quite chic, but "not in a vain, self-involved way." Okay, point taken.

And here's where we all learn an important lesson in knowing when it's time to stop talking. Doonan goes on in the interview to say that "public servants aren't supposed to be wasting time indulging their vanity and their sense of fashion" — which makes us wonder if he's getting "public servants" mixed up with "members of the clergy." Because shouldn't everyone be able to express themselves in some way? Later in the interview, Doonan makes this decree: "Everyone should flaunt themselves at least once a day." Wait — everyone except public servants, right? We at R29 happen to think that style is an equal-opportunity game, and we're a bit surprised that Doonan doesn't seem to agree.

(Oh, and don't think we missed the fact that the outspoken author and Barneys ambassador says that D.C. should "definitely" embrace our image as "an unfashionable town." We're not even going to touch that one.) (The New Republic)