First Lady Face-off

When Michelle O. met the first lady of France, former model Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, this spring, they were heralded as bringing back Camelot-era glamour to international politics. The pair charmed crowds while officials from 28 nations marked the 60th anniversary of NATO in April 2009. The two women couldn’t have more different backgrounds, though: Michelle started life on the South Side of Chicago and worked her way to Princeton, while the Italian-born tire heiress Bruni-Sarkozy is a supermodel-singer-songwriter who counts Mick Jagger and Eric Clapton among her lovers.