Fashion experts see her as a woman who can inspire fashionable apparel aimed at middle-aged women often overlooked by a youth-obsessed industry, Gannett News Service says.

Designers and executives, The Wall Street Journal reports, "are holding up Mrs. Obama as their baby boomer pinup girl."

Retailers are said to be hoping mother of two young girls is just the ticket to sell frocks like Elie Tahari's "Michelle Dress," a $598 purple floral sheath. But, she also looks good in a no-name white shirt, cropped pants and flats. She favors dresses -- no pant suits.

On the print side, big fashion magazines are reported competing for cover space, hoping Michelle Obama will be another Princess Diana insofar as helping the struggling magazine industry.