Orange pashmina shawl, pinstriped suit: Modi nearly steals Michelle's fashion thunder

As she landed in New Delhi for her three-day visit to India, the US First Lady Michelle Obama made heads turn in her knee-length sheath dress with floral prints. The lovely dress was handpicked for the US first lady from Indian-origin designer Bibhu Mohapatra’s collection. [caption id=“attachment_2063831” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Image courtesy: PIB[/caption] However, our Prime Minister Modi was not far behind in the style department. Clad in a cream kurta, beige Nehru jacket, the Prime Minister threw in some colour in the way of, guess what, saffron. He had a lovely light orange shawl with a deep orange embroidered border draped on his left shoulder. After having marketed himself as a no-nonsense man of action in his half sleeved cotton kurtas during his pre-Prime Ministerial days, Modi is now evolving into a global statesman in the fashion department too. He has as good as ditched the ‘Modi kurta’ and regularly opts for full-sleeved bandhgalas paired with Nehru jackets. Jade Blue, the tailors of the iconic ‘Modi Kurta’ has now quickly renamed the Nehru jacket to ‘Modi jakcet’.The ‘Modi Jacket’ in its defence, doesn’t have the hook in the neck, unlike the Nehru jacket. Even Chinese president Xi Jinping wore one over his white shirt on his trip to Sabarmati Ashram. The fact that Modi takes fashion as seriously as his job became more obvious when he quickly changed into a deep navy bandhgala jacket with thin, dull gold pinstripes. [caption id=“attachment_2063835” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Image courtesy: AFP.[/caption] His trousers were tailored from the same fabric and the outfit was completely in sync with the formal mood of the press meet he was slated to address along with the US President.  Obama, however, was in the same suit in which he had arrived. Later in the evening, Modi changed into a cream jacket-trouser attire, with a red handkerchief tucked perfectly into his breast pocket. Obama had changed into another suit but it was hardly distinguishable from the one she wore in the morning. The first lady was spotted in another floral dress with a voluminous skirt in the evening. It seems Twitter too was quite taken in by Modi’s attire. @saakaithu Michelle does have that elegance going for her but no one can rock a shawl like Modi! — Elakya Balachandran (@elakyab) January 25, 2015

@pranesh_prakash @sruthirk Hey Modi bhai where can i buy a similar carrot-colour shawl from? Am thinking a surprise gift for MO !

— Puja Mehra (@pujamehra) January 25, 2015

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I just love what Modi wears !! His fashion sense is just wonderful :) Saffron shawl toh bahut hi badhiya hai #ObamaInIndia

— Baltic sena (@rokul88) January 25, 2015

Meanwhile, an ecstatic Bibhu Mohapatra tweeted,a"The President and the First Lady arrive in #India. @flotus wearing @bibhumohapatra #spring15 poppy." He also posted a picture along side his tweet.

The President and the First Lady arrive in #india. @flotus wearing @bibhumohapatra #spring15 poppy… http://t.co/axQg0hbv8z

— B I B H U M O H A P A T R A (@BibhuMohapatra) January 25, 2015

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[caption id=“attachment_2063851” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Michelle Obama and Narendra Modi before the Presidential dinner. AFP.[/caption] With at least another day to go before Obama leaves India, all eyes will be on Modi and and the US First Lady’s wardrobe. Watch this space for more updates.