In a week when America elected its first African-American president, and its first Democrat in 32 years to win a majority of the popular vote, one of the most e-mailed news stories on The New York Times website was a 475-word item on the red and black Narciso Rodriguez frock his wife wore for his victory speech.

The nation's fascination with this kind of superficial detail about Michelle Obama "is kind of stupid, but it is also irresistible", said Curtis Sittenfeld, best-selling author of American Wife , a novel loosely based on the life of Laura Bush. "The First Lady is always under a lot of scrutiny and I think she [Mrs Obama] will be under even more scrutiny."