First Lady Michelle Obama is well known, among other things, for her fashionably forward sense of style. She has a knack for being able to mix high end design, with low end practicality. But at the White House’s official Halloween festivities, Mrs. O’s ability to be stylish on a budget might have gotten her mixed up in a little case of ‘did she, or didn’t she’ wear a designer knockoff.

The First Lady donned an orange and black striped dress, perfect for the holiday, paired with black tights, black knee high boots, and a black coat.

On first glance, the dress appears to be from the Diane von Furstenberg Fall 2011 collection. It has the same black, gold, and orange color scheme, and the same diagonal stripes.

Look a little closer though, and you’ll notice a few details on Mrs. O’s dress are off. The orange on her dress is brighter, the width of the gold stripes on the DvF dress vary in size, whereas the gold stripes on her dress are all the same. And Mrs. Obama’s dress has a high circle neckline, but the DvF dress has a boat neckline.

It appears the First Lady is in fact wearing a ‘designer inspired’ dress from online retailer ASOS. You can see the dress in question pictured to the right, and it’s an exact copy of Mrs. Obama’s dress. It wouldn’t be a surprise if Mrs. O was wearing the ASOS dress, as she’s worn the brand on several different occasions. With their reasonable prices, it’s easy to see why she’s a fan.

Her ‘Midi Body-Conscious Dress in Metallic Stripe’ is available from ASOS for $72, versus the DvF dress’ pricetag of $498 at Neiman Marcus.

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