It's been billed as one of the major face-offs of the NATO summit, and it had nothing to do with troops in Afghanistan or relations with Russia. No, it was the breathlessly anticipated moment Friday when two of the most scrutinized women on the planet – Michelle Obama and Carla Bruni-Sarkozy – finally met, in the grandeur of an 18th-century palace in Strasbourg, France. Only a day earlier, the airwaves had been filled with dissections of Mrs. Obama's meeting in London with Queen Elizabeth II – how the two had bonded, despite what some in Britain implied was a mild faux pas on the first lady's part of draping her arm briefly around the monarch. “Fashion Face-off,” wrote Britain's Guardian newspaper of the meeting between Mrs. Obama and Bruni-Sarkozy, wife of French President Nicolas Sarkozy. Others called it a “Style Summit” between “the First Ladies who Lunch.” Women's Wear Daily wrote in an online update that the “much drumrolled First Lady fashion showdown” had confirmed that both women were “sticklers for their pet designers.” Even the Hollywood entertainment site E! Online posted an item on “European summit fashion” – undoubtedly a first. (It added: “Yeah, we never thought we'd say that.”) The meeting began with a friendly “Bonjour!” from Mrs.Obama as the couples approached each other, then a French-style double-cheek kiss between the women. Although both first ladies are hailed for their sense of style, they are in most ways vastly different. The Italian-born Bruni-Sarkozy, 41, was a celebrated supermodel and is still a songwriter and singer. Mrs. Obama, 45, is a Princeton and Harvard-educated lawyer who grew up on Chicago's south side and was a hospital executive until she stopped working while her husband campaigned for president. Her first European trip has brought countless comparisons to Jackie Kennedy.
