Is Michelle Obama showing too much skin?

Michelle Obama has firmly established her sartorial right to bare arms. But baring thighs may be another matter.

Photographs of the first lady descending the steps of Air Force One in shorts have the media in a sweat. Some are saying Michelle Obama, on her way to the Grand Canyon for a family vacation, may have revealed too much skin.

Obama is no stranger to public scrutiny over her fashion choices, such as exposing her bare arms or wearing expensive sneakers to a soup kitchen. When Huffington Post style editor Anya Strzemien saw Obama's shorts, she knew there would be interest.

"I thought the fact that she wore shorts was newsworthy because she's the first first lady to wear shorts on Air Force One," said Strzemien. 

She posted a poll online for readers to weigh in: Most were in favour of the outfit, but others thought the shorts were inappropriate or too short.

NBC's Today hosted a poll with similar results. A whopping 300,000 people responded to the vote and the blog post received the most comments of any item this year, said senior producer Dee Dee Thomas.

What does this show?

"That people love talking about Michelle Obama," Thomas said. "She's pushing the envelope on how we see the first lady."

And it's clear the media love talking about Michelle Obama, too. Many news outlets rallied to the first lady's defence, noting that she was on vacation over the weekend, in sweltering desert heat.

"What should she have worn to the Grand Canyon? A tweed pantsuit? A ball gown? What do you wear on your summer vacation?" asked Elizabeth Snead of the Los Angeles Times.

Others wondered from whom, exactly, the media was defending the first lady.

"Everyone is up in arms – if by `everyone,' you mean no one, or rather a large, shadowy group of no ones," Kate Dailey wrote for Newsweek. "August is a slow news month, and covering people who are actually shocked and outraged about health care can only fill so many minutes in the Twitterfied news cycle."

There were critics online, of course. 

"Why not wear linen pants ... more tasteful," wrote Charlie Smith of Montgomery, Ala., on the Today site. "She may have been on vacation ... but she should respect the Office of the President and the U.S.A."

But it was clear most responses were firmly in favour of the shorts.

"First Lady Michelle Obama looks great in her shorts and it shouldn't even be a newsworthy issue ... Leave her alone," wrote Joann Begonja of North Bellmore, N.Y.

"Get a grip folks – these aren't `Daisy Duke' shorts," echoed John Johnson of Dover, Ohio, referring to the skimpy legwear worn by a character in The Dukes of Hazzard. 

Michelle Obama's office had no comment on the matter.

Thomas, the TV producer, said she wasn't surprised by public support for the outfit. "I would be surprised to hear of any woman in her 40s who has not worn shorts," she said.

Mary Tomer, founder of the New York-based blog Mrs-O.org, which chronicles Obama's style, said the brouhaha is media-created.

"From what I can tell, most people are wondering how this became major news," Tomer said. "Who doesn't wear shorts while hiking in the Grand Canyon in mid-August with your family?"

Mandi Norwood, author of Michelle Style: Celebrating the First Lady of Fashion, said Obama can't be expected to appear down to earth but still always dress in pencil skirts and designer shoes. "This is a very practical statement by a very practical person."

Norwood said the shorts weren't particularly flattering, but the controversy about them is a "ridiculous style storm."

Still, don't expect it to go away. 

"We draw conclusions from what she wears because that's all we have to go on," Norwood said. "But also, it's fun."