Michelle Obama’s Guide to "Power Pearls"

With such buzz around Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, it’s hard to believe that Bam could be upstaged. But, recently, his wife, Michelle Obama, has managed to turn some of the most judgmental heads with her picture-perfect fashion sense.

In the ultimate coup on June 8, the Style section of the New York Times wrote approvingly of Michelle’s shift dresses and preppy hairdo, titling their piece, "She Dresses to Win.” (Well, actually, maybe impressing Vogue would be the ultimate coup.)

A hallmark of Michelle’s look? One (or two!) strands of huge (fake?) pearls.

Pearls have always denoted a classy broad. Actress Audrey Hepburn wore a pearl choker for her iconic role as Holly Golightly in Breakfast at Tiffany’s and more recently Blair Waldorf on Gossip Girl (CBS, TWX)and Carrie Bradshaw in the Sex and the City (TWC) film adorned themselves in pearls.

Political wives can always be counted on to wear long, droopy strands. Think of Senator Hillary Clinton, and of course, Jackie O. “It’s very much a First Lady thing to do,” says Tony Alcindor, a New York City-based stylist and publicist for fashion house Ports 1961.

“Power pearls,” are what Jack Lynch, a wholesaler at Sea Hunt Pearls in San Francisco, Calif., calls the gobstopper-sized pearls that Michelle Obama favors. (The nickname comes from the big marble-sized candies also known as "jawbreakers.") Women who wear these mean business.

Gobstopper-sized pearls are favored by powerful women like Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, and Senator Dianne Feinstein, says Betty Sue King, a wholesaler at King’s Ransom in Sausalito, Calif. The irony is that “power pearls” connote wealth and power, but the larger ones may actually be made of plastic!

What makes a “gobstopper?” In the pearl business, a large pearl is 9.5-10mm at the most, because that is about the limit an oyster can handle, says King.