Michelle Obama's Boho-Chic Crown Braid Revives the Yeehaw Agenda

Michelle Obama onstage at south by southwest with a crown braid — (Image credit: Getty Images)

Michelle Obama marked her first public outing in months with a boho-chic look at South by Southwest festival. It was a fitting vibe for the former First Lady to channel at the multi-day event, which is hosted annually at the nexus of modern Americana: Austin, Texas.

On Mar. 13, the 61-year-old took the stage at Austin Convention Center with her brother, college basketball coach Craig Robinson, to record a live taping of their new podcast. Dubbed IMO with Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson, the conversational weekly show sees the sibling duo grapple with listener questions big and small. The topic for Thursday's session was transforming grief into hope—fitting, given the year she's had. What really renewed my will to carry on, though, was the best-selling author's crown braid, paired to a Rabanne set styled by Meredith Koop.

A photo of Michelle Obama headlining a session at South by Southwest festival with her brother. — Michelle Obama headlines a session at South by Southwest festival with her brother.

A photo of Obama topping her brunette micro-braids with a face-framing crown braid. — Obama tops her brunette micro-braids with a face-framing crown braid.

Obama's fabulous hairstyle created a halo around her face with rows of tightly wound brunette braids. Atop her head, several smaller braids were woven together to create a thicker braid that arched from ear to ear. Cascading curls fell to her waist behind her crown. As she walked, her ringlets billowed behind her like a windswept cowgirl riding into town on horseback.

Latest Videos FromMarie Claire

Watch full video here:

A photo of Michelle Obama sporting a cascading waist-length mane of dark brown curls. — Michelle Obama sports cascading, waist-length curls in Austin, Texas.

A photo of Obama recording a live taping of her podcast dressed in a burnt orange lace-up ensemble. — Obama records a live taping of her podcast dressed in a burnt orange lace-up ensemble.

Obama originally debuted her braids in August 2022 right before the long-awaited unveiling of her official White House portrait in the East Room. It felt like a symbolic choice for the former First Lady to don a more expressive style after years of sporting a perfect silk press while in office. The media mogul continued to wear braids on the 2024 presidential campaign trail with Kamala Harris, where Michelle frequently appeared to stump in support of the former Vice President's bid. At the Democratic National Convention, for instance, she pulled her micro-braids into a stunning fishtail braided updo with a deep side part.

Michelle Obama wears a fishtail braid at the 2024 Democratic Convention, where she appeared alongside her husband.

That said, I'm partial to long and loose style she selected for South by Southwest. It complimented the Western flair of her burnt orange lace-up matching set so perfectly that I can't help but tip my hat. Rest assured, the yeehaw agenda is alive and well.

Explore More

Hanna Lustig is a staff writer at Marie Claire, where she gets to gab every day about the topics she holds most dear: fashion, beauty, and celebrity. Hanna’s editorial journey began with formative internships at Elle and InStyle, where she was lucky enough to work for some of the smartest women in media while she was still in college at the University of Tennessee. Hanna then accepted a digital culture reporting fellowship at Insider, where she helped carve out a new beat dedicated to covering influencers. Those experiences later served her well as a staff writer at Glamour, where she developed a knack for spinning quick turnaround celebrity news and trend reporting into juicy feature stories. Some of her greatest hits include an earnest ode to the no-pants trend, this meticulously reported feature exploring the rise of endoscopic facelifts, this snappy take on the Chanel-designed fantasy of Sofia Richie’s wedding, this tribute to WAGs past and present, and this timeline of Katie Holmes’s life and career as told through her denim collection.

Diane Keaton once hung up on Hanna during an interview, but thankfully that mishap did not derail what has otherwise been a deeply fulfilling career writing for and about women. As one of Marie Claire's resident experts on style and culture, her current coverage ranges from exploring TikTok's contrast makeup theory and the return of the boat shoe trend to interviews with costume designers for hit shows like Nobody Wants This and The Penguin. When she’s not at work, Hanna can probably be found listening to pop music, talking to her dog, and gossiping with her best friends. For more of Hanna’s perfect opinions on pop culture, you can follow her on Instagram and X.