Michelle Obama rocks thigh-high Balenciaga boots and Twitter approves

When you’re scheduled to be interviewed by one of most lauded fashion icons of the small screen, the sartorial stakes will be high.

Which might be why former first lady Michelle Obama wore a pair of glittery £2,935 thigh-high Balenciaga boots to discuss her new book, Becoming, with Sex and the City star Sarah Jessica Parker on Wednesday.

The interview was the last date on the first leg of the author's 'Becoming: An Intimate Conversation with Michelle Obama' tour which sold out at arenas across the US.

For her appearance at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York City, the 54-year-old teamed a bright yellow shirt dress with a pair of spring/summer 2019 boots from the French fashion house’s read-to-wear collection.

Explaining her decision behind the boots, Obama told host Parker that following her role as first lady from 2009 to 2017 she is now “free to do whatever”.

“There is no message,” she added. “The boots are telling you no message. They were just really cute. I was like, Those some nice boots!"

Hours later, the boots were trending on Twitter with social media users praising the former first lady on her choice of footwear.

One user wrote: “Michelle Obama in thigh high sequinned Balenciaga boots is something I never knew I needed.”

“Omg, Michelle Obama in Balenciaga – those boots,” wrote another.

During the event, Obama discussed the decisions behind her most memorable outfits during her time in the White House.

“I did know that my clothes were making a statement, I knew that was the case,” she told Parker.

“So [longtime stylist Meredith Koop and I] decided why don't we use this platform to uplift some young new designers who normally wouldn't get this kind of attention, because you can change their lives, which is one of the reasons why we chose Jason Wu for my inaugural gown.”

For the 2009 ball, Obama wore a custom silk chiffon gown designed by the Taiwanese-Canadian fashion designer.

Obama – who has become the first person of colour to top the UK’s Christmas book chart with Becoming – also revealed Wu didn’t expect to be asked to create her gown.

“You can change their lives: He's young, his story was amazing, he didn't expect it, [and] he didn't feel entitled to it,” she explained.

“Because you learn there are people in this scene who feel entitled to these things because they've done it for a while. And I sensed that feeling of, like, Oh, you think this is just yours? There are a lot of people out here trying to make it; young people, women, Black folks, and immigrants.”

She also opened up about why the personality of a designer mattered to her.

'I didn't want to wear the clothes of someone who didn't have a good spirit, and you could hear these things, you could hear how they treated my staff or how they treated their works, so everyone I wore as far as I knew had a good spirit as well,' she said.

During their conversation, Obama also took a thinly veiled jab at US President Donald Trump and his choice of White House staff.

Becoming sold 92,000 copies in the UK last week, unseating author David Walliams' The Ice Monster by more than 10,000 copies, according to Nielsen BookScan figures.