Taking Names: First lady picks Kors dress for election night appearance

As Michelle Obama stepped onto the stage with her husband in Chicago early Wednesday, she accepted her role not only as first lady, but also as fashion tastemaker for four more years – this time wearing a Michael Kors magenta silk chine pin-tucked dress.

As Mrs. Obama joined President Obama, she sported a dress pulled in at the waist, and she topped it with a black shrug that showed a peek of a vintage pink brooch from House of Lavande, The Associated Press reports. She was surrounded by her trend-right daughters: Malia wore an electric-blue, A-line skirt with a pink studded belt that looks like the teen version of the first lady’s signature Azzedine Alaia belt, and Sasha had on an abstract-print green skirt with a gray bow-front top and mimicked her mother’s shrunken-cardigan look.

Mrs. Obama has been a reinvigorating force for the fashion industry, including her late-night online J. Crew purchases and her savvy courtship with up-and-coming designers such as Prabal Gurung and Jason Wu. Mr. Kors has been a consistent label in her wardrobe, with Mrs. Obama wearing a black, racer-back dress by the designer in her official White House portrait, as well as a hot-pink gown for a White House Correspondents’ Association dinner and a red halter gown at a Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Phoenix Awards dinner.

The Council of Fashion Designers of America gave Mrs. Obama its Board of Directors Special Tribute award in 2009 for her influence in the industry.

Four years ago on election night, Mrs. Obama wore a straight-from-the-runway black sheath dress with splashes of red by Narciso Rodriguez.

‘Irreconcilable differences’ end Civil Wars tour

Grammy-winning duo the Civil Wars have canceled their upcoming tour dates, citing irreconcilable differences.

The folk-pop duo Joy Williams and John Paul White released a statement Tuesday announcing that because of “internal discord and irreconcilable differences of ambition” they were unable to “continue as a touring entity at this time,” The Associated Press reports.

Although they used the language of divorce, the duo added, “Our sincere hope is to have new music for you in 2013.”

Miss Williams and Mr. White are married, but to other people. Miss Williams had a baby this summer with husband Nate Yetton, the duo’s manager.

Earlier this year, the pair canceled part of their European tour.

The duo found unexpected success with their 2011 debut album, “Barton Hollow.” With backgrounds in gospel and rock, they met when both were asked to contribute to a country project and found chemistry.

Back then, the pair framed their partnership in terms of courting. Mr. White told AP that after two songwriting sessions, “I finally got up the nerve to ask her out, as it were.”

“In a musical way,” Miss Williams said.

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