Barack Obama was never a fashionista. His oft-teased tan suit controversy while he resided in the Oval Office confirms this. But nowadays, mired in the kinds of scandals our current administration likes to plunge us into, we look back on that kind of that non-scandal with fondness and nostalgia.
Recently, however, our former POTUS sported a different look, and it's a sartorial win that the media can't stop obsessing over.
On February 20th, Obama showed up for a hyped college basketball game at the Cameron Indoor Stadium in North Carolina to watch the North Carolina Tar Heels play the Duke Blue Devils. But people were commenting on more than his presence.
He was rocking a custom-made Rag & Bone black bomber jacket, and the embroidery on his sleeve in particular tied his look together perfectly, like a boss.
The white stitching on his new swag was the number "44," which refers to his standing as our 44th president. Sigh.
It's safe to say we've moved well past the tan-suit incident.
Yes, his sleek outerwear exuding the coolness of the man himself not only impressed Twitter, but made everyone nostalgic for a different era.
A new nickname was born.
He is sorely missed.
This user suggested a similar wardrobe upgrade for the sitting president, albeit with a different color.
If you've got $595 burning a hole in your wallet, you too could be the proud owner of this Manston Jacket and you can add your own defining digits embroidered on your sleeve.
Rag & Bone founder Marcus Wainwright woke up to a slew of texts, including one from head of marketing, after the internet's explosive glee over the bomber.
"Fun to wake up to that. He looked pretty f****** cool."
The brand customized the jacket for the former president towards the end of his second term, but the fashion CEO didn't expect Obama to be seen in public wearing it.
"I hadn't forgotten about it, but I wasn't necessarily waiting [for it to appear]," Wainwright told GQ.
"I wasn't expecting him to wear it in public. I thought maybe he's wearing it on the weekends or at home. I was hoping that he was wearing it."
He also commented on the personalized embroidery.
"The '44' on the sleeve just felt like a subtle touch. Not many people could have pulled it off that way. He's got style."
We concur and can say with absolute certainty that our former POTUS looked haute.
@LeeMerrittesq/X
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@sadcommunistdog; @froglok/Bluesky