I'm reading a fair amount of praise for what's being described as a yellow dress or sheath, but I don't buy it.

First, that's a yellow T-shirt with a yellow skirt. Cardigan apparently from Liz Claiborne (worn here leaving the White House in a much better outfit).

Note the overly precious little pin — her pins are starting to seem like a tic — and the tiny bit of ivory cami peeking out from what someone must have told her was a too-low-cut T-shirt.

I do really like Mrs. Obama in yellow. It's just that I love the idea of a uniform, but it has to be a good uniform. Her uniform for major state appearances — a sheath dress — works well. Check out this yellow sheath with green pin. It's the same color combination she wore for the inauguration to great acclaim. The skirt-and-cardi combo is, to my mind, a little too fussy and complicated and just isn't as successful.

Plus: That yellow-and-green combo makes me a little twitchy, and I'm not sure why. It may be because the color are warm and because they're next to each other on the color wheel, but I gotta ask my color expert, Annie Elliot. Could just be my own weird thing, I don't know.

As for Mrs. Obama's day outfit — the skirt/T/cami/cardi: it's too complicated and overthought. Statement jewelry is great, but it has to look like you were clever enough to throw something on and have it look great. And this yellow outfit fails.

But the warm color gives HER a warmth that has by now become her calling card, and more power to her.

I think the simple lines of the sheath really suit her and the complicated lines of the other outfit just don't.

Next up: What you can learn from Michelle O's leisure-time tourist outfit today in Rome.