Michelle Obama reveals fashion rule she lived by as First Lady

Michelle Obama got candid about her "welcoming" wardrobe rule while actively working as a First Lady.

In a recent chat with People for its cover story, the author opened up about her role as first lady while promoting her new coffee table style book, The Look, which details her time in the White House and how her stylist, Meredith Koop, who is also the co-author, helped her to look presentable for her job.

"I was a famous person, but I wasn't a starlet," she told the outlet of her role, "And so that meant that the clothes could never speak louder than anything I had to say."

"I was a working, active first lady. On any given day, I could be gardening in the South Lawn, or doing jumping jacks with kids, or sitting on the floor having lunch with some preschoolers, or giving a speech to military moms," she continued. "That could all happen in one day, so my clothes had to be ready for the moment."

However, there is one color she opted not to wear and there is a heartfelt reason behind it.

"I rarely wore white," she revealed, explaining, "I didn't want my clothes to stop me from engaging people. So my clothes had to be welcoming. They had to invite people in. I had to be able to give a hug. I couldn't worry about whether somebody got makeup on something."