Michelle Obama: A Professional Mom

She's not out in T-shirts much (though she did sport one under her sweater when dining with former first lady Nancy Reagan), but that doesn't stop T-shirt designers from trying to dress first lady Michelle Obama. And they occasionally get a nice thank you for their efforts. Take Promom Couture founder Vicki Stern-Brown, who received a letter, posted below, from Obama back in October. Sick of hearing the labels "working mom" and "stay at home mom," Stern-Brown, a former attorney, created her small fashion business a few years ago using the name "Promom" (short for professional mom) and designed a line of T-shirts and belts. "To me, because I had done both, those labels I thought were utter crap and really all that mattered was 'mom,' " she told Whispers. "There's no such thing as a 'stay at home mom,' because no mom stays at home." Enter Michelle Obama, who, like Stern-Brown, had played both roles. "I would never label her as a working mom, or a stay at home mom, or a volunteer mom, she's a mom and a Promom," Stern-Brown says. She sent the first lady two T-shirts in the fall, and apparently Obama liked the message. "I never thought in my wildest dreams I would get a note from her." Now Obama just needs to be spotted wearing a tee . . .

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