Michelle, She Ain’t

Two years ago, Sarah Brown, wife of British Prime Minister Gordon, would have been mocked mercilessly for renting elegant dresses for special occasions. Now that faux pas looks like a savvy way to save cash. The Daily Telegraph applauds Brown for wearing a rented jacket to a G-20 dinner last week that retails for roughly $13,000, and paying only 10 percent of that for the rental. Brown tends to favor high-end designers for big events, so she still “regularly incurs bills running into hundreds of pounds for her outfits.” Not so for her everyday looks, though—she is said to love Marks & Spencer.