Michelle Obama Meets Carla Bruni-sarkozy in Battle of the Wardrobes

Just when it seemed that the Princess Diana and Jackie Kennedy comparisons could get no worse, Michelle Obama arrived in France yesterday braced for a two-day wardrobe marathon with Carla Bruni-Sarkozy.

Bruni-Sarkozy, the president's former supermodel wife, had stayed away from London's G20 summit in what appeared to be a deliberate attempt by the Elysée to hog the limelight for a Carla-Michelle meeting on French soil during the Nato summit.

Bruni-Sarkozy wore her standard opening outfit for all international occasions: a variation on the demure, grey coat. (Traditionally, this heralds the appearance of a staggering ballgown for the official dinners to follow).

Michelle Obama wore fuschia and black. Both outfits had pussy-bows at the neck. They were braced for another round of fashion metaphors today when they visit Strasbourg cathedral while the summit is under way.

Bruni-Sarkozy and Michelle Obama have very different backgrounds. One is an Italian-born millionaire who grew up in castles and went to Swiss finishing school before becoming one of the world's highest-paid models and relaunching herself as a folk singer.

The other is a Princeton and Harvard-educated lawyer from working-class Chicago who has been praised for helping dig a vegetable patch in the White House garden.

But any hint of rivalry was far off the mark. The Sarkozys idolize the Obamas. Rather than fashion, Bruni-Sarkozy was more likely to talk about her newly launched charity work for Aids research and women in Africa.