A First Lady With a Head for Style
During a visit to Cameroon this week, Pope Benedict XVI speaks to Cameroon's President Paul Biya, left, as Biya's wife Chantal applauds. (Alessandro Bianchi/Reuters)
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Oh, sure, everyone agrees that Michelle Obama and Carla Bruni-Sarkozy know how to put together an outfit. But another first lady is poised to upstage them both as a style icon: Cameroon's Chantal Biya. The 38-year-old, already celebrated at home for her advocacy of HIV/AIDS awareness and miles of luxurious hair, turned heads around the world this week when she greeted Pope Benedict XVI wearing a wedding-cake-size pink-and-white hat, adorned with crosses.
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March 20, 2009; 1:02 AM ET
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Posted by: middleagedfogey | March 20, 2009 1:38 PM | Report abuse
That is absolutely the best hat I have seen since I read "Go, Dog. Go!" when I was four. Best hat since the pink poodle and the yellow beagle smack-down by P.D. Eastman.
"Do you like my hat?"
"No, I do not like your hat."
"Good-by"
"Good-by"
Posted by: gsquared100 | March 20, 2009 3:24 PM | Report abuse
It is clear that Chantal Biya is inventing a style of her own:A flamboyant and exagerated wig and an equally flamboyant hat.Why should the female of the species not look flamboyant?
Posted by: MoksofAfrica | March 21, 2009 8:45 AM | Report abuse
I hate to break it you but that is not a H-A -T. Mrs Biya is wearing a head wrap;that is a stiff scarf wrapped around the top of her hair. R and A, don't you know any african cultural information?
Posted by: smartfunnygal | March 22, 2009 12:01 PM | Report abuse
Her outfit was great! But that whole greeting thing after the pope said the mass @ the stadium was weird. She acted like she was about to have seizure. She seem very paranoid the whole time the pope was around.
Posted by: DEL_FSTR | March 22, 2009 8:19 PM | Report abuse
Mmmmm Strawberry Shortcake.
Posted by: adbspam | March 23, 2009 8:43 AM | Report abuse
I'm going to ask my fam in Nigeria (Cameroon's neighbor) to be on the lookout for material w/crosses on it. I'm sure it will be on the market soon.
And no I do not want it for myself! :P
Posted by: linda1413 | March 23, 2009 3:01 PM | Report abuse
Mrs Biya is in a league of her own. This is a crime against fashion which should carry a life sentence without the posibility of parole. It will keep her in prison untill her husband's term of service is over.
Posted by: cafe51 | March 26, 2009 1:34 PM | Report abuse
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Sorry, Mme. Chantal, but that is the ugliest chapeau I've ever seen ... and who does your make-up? You look like a drag queen!