Michelle Obama wore a necklace that spelled out VOTE while speaking at the virtual Democratic National Convention on Monday night. Video screenshot by Gael Fashingbauer Cooper/CNETThis story is part of Elections 2020, CNET’s coverage of the run-up to voting in November. When Michelle Obama spoke at the virtual Democratic National Convention Monday night, her necklace sent a message that captured many viewers’ attention. Obama, the final speaker during the DNC’s first night, discussed the importance of voting in this fall’s presidential election while wearing a gold necklace that spelled out V-O-T-E. She encouraged listeners to register to vote and to “vote for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris like our lives depend on it.”After her speech, there was such buzz about her jewelry its designer quickly offered it for sale online. While Obama never mentioned the jewelry, and the necklace was subtle, many viewers not only noticed but wanted one of their own. As soon as her speech ended, social media users began posting asking where they could buy the necklace. A representative for Los Angeles-based jewelry business By Chari confirmed Monday night that the necklace is part of the company’s custom collection, which allows buyers to spell out a name or other word on the necklace. After Obama’s speech, the company quickly added the specific VOTE necklace to its website, priced at $295 (about £223, AU$407).”So many people have been buying it (since Obama’s speech),” the By Chari representative told me via email. The catalog copy doesn’t mention Obama, but calls the necklace “undoubtedly our best-selling style,” and encourages buyers to “VOTE your heart out.” The necklace will take three to four weeks to produce, the site says. Entertain your brain with the coolest news from streaming to superheroes, memes to video games. The social buzz started almost as soon as Obama first appeared and began speaking.”Psst, Biden team: Start selling that vote necklace Michelle Obama is wearing and you’ll fund ads for the next 77 days,” Christina Reynolds tweeted. CNN White House correspondent Kate Bennett was among the first to report that the necklace was from By Chari.”Michelle Obama has always been extremely conscious that whatever she wears will likely sell out, and as such often champions smaller, less-well-known labels and brands, many with culturally diverse owners/designers,” Bennett tweeted. Just a week ago, Cuthbert, 36, spoke to Time Magazine about shifting her small company to a work-at-home business during the coronavirus outbreak. Her company has a special focus on mothers, she told Time, and work-life balance was very important to her.”We’ve been really pushing that message of self-love,” Cuthbert said. “Just taking a little time to yourself, even though we know with screaming kids in the background, it’s kind of impossible.”If the VOTE necklace proves as popular as it seemed after Obama’s speech, Cuthbert’s staff may have a little less time to themselves soon.
Throughout Michelle Obama’s powerful 18-minute virtual Democratic national convention speech one message was clear: V-O-T-E, spelled out not just through her evisceration of Donald Trump but also by the letters of her necklace.“Vote for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris like our lives depend on it, ” Obama said, while wearing a gold necklace that quickly went viral, and became a top US Google search term during the last hour of the convention. This piece was from ByChari, a small Los Angeles-based jewellery company owned by Chari Cuthbert, who is African American. Obama’s decision to promote Cuthbert echoes a trend seen also on the recent cover of British Vogue, in which 40 activists wore clothes largely by BAME designers, for influential people and organisations to seek out small black-owned businesses to promote, rather than defaulting to the largely white-run conglomerates that dominate the fashion industry. Obama is a master of using her clothes to create a visual message, and in promoting marginalised and under-the-radar businesses with her style choices. Cuthbert, who launched ByChari in 2012 and recently spoke to Time magazine about the challenges of running her business during the pandemic, tweeted on Monday night that she was “beyond honoured and humbled” that Obama wore her necklace. I never imagined that something I’m so passionate about could mean so much to so many! The response has been incredible and I am beyond honored and humbled that @michelleobama wore my design. The necklace also echoed Bruce Davidson’s photograph from the Selma March, in which the word “Vote” was written on the forehead of a civil rights protester. Barack Obama spoke movingly about Selma in his eulogy of John Lewis in July, in which he praised the Democratic congressman’s perseverance and spoke out against the dangerous forces that continued to discourage voting. The former first lady expanded on these themes on Monday night, urging the public to request mail-in ballots and ensure their friends and family did the same, and go out in person.“We have got to grab our comfortable shoes, put on our masks, pack a brown-bag dinner, and maybe breakfast too, because we’ve got to be willing to stand in line all night if we have to, ” she said.
In this image from video, former first lady Michelle Obama speaks during the first night of the Democratic National Convention on Monday, Aug. 17, 2020. (Democratic National Convention via AP)“This is not the time to withhold our votes in protest or play games with candidates who have no chance of winning. We have got to vote like we did in 2008 and 2012, ” Obama said, per the Associated Press.“We’ve got to show up with the same level of passion and hope for Joe Biden. We’ve got to vote early, in person if we can. We’ve got to request our mail-in ballots right now, tonight, and send them back immediately and follow-up to make sure they’re received, ” she stressed. “And then, make sure our friends and families do the same. ”Fashion police quickly realized the “Becoming” author was wearing a delicate gold chain necklace spelling “v-o-t-e, ” since identified as a ByChari piece, a spokesperson for the brand confirmed to Fox News. Similar staples from the line retail for around $300 to $400. ByChari’s owner and designer Chari Cuthbert released another “vote” necklace for the last presidential election, she said, and was planning to debut it again this year before the item shot to social media stardom with a little help from the former first lady. The jewelry received a standing ovation from fashion fans on Twitter, while Google searches surged for the term “vote necklace. ”The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Let friends in your social network know what you are reading aboutMichelle Obama debuted a ”vote” necklace during the 2020 Democratic National Convention. Here’s where to get it and similar necklace styles. A link has been sent to your friend’s email address. A link has been posted to your Facebook feed. You can actually buy this vote bling for yourself. (Photo: By Chari / AP)— Recommendations are independently chosen by Reviewed’s editors. Purchases you make through our links may earn us a commission. Last night at the virtual 2020 Democratic National Convention, former First Lady Michelle Obama gave a powerful speech on the importance of voting all while sporting a simple gold necklace that spelled ”V-O-T-E, ” which the internet is now obsessed with. During the speech, people took to Twitter asking former vice president and presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden’s campaign to sell them and wondering where they could get the bling for themselves. Needless to say, people want one for themselves. Product recommendations to your inbox: Sign up for our weekly newsletter. The bold statement necklace is a piece from ByChari, a Black-owned jewelry brand. The dainty letter chain necklace costs $295 and is available in gold, rose gold, and silver. Founder Chari Cuthbert said in a tweet that ”the response has been incredible and I am beyond honored and humbled that Michelle Obama wore my design. ”These vote necklaces make a similar statement to Michelle Obama’s. (Photo: Etsy / Larissa Loden)While the ByChari necklace could be pricey for some, you can order a similar custom-made necklace with the letters V-O-T-E from Etsy for around $50, though the materials may not be the same quality as Obama’s chain. Want to encourage voting with a different style of bling? This ”VOTE” engraved 24k gold coated chain necklace has positive reviews from over 150 buyers on Etsy, while others prefer this simple hand-stamped vote necklace. The Vote Necklace from Uncommon Goods has a 4. 9-star rating and celebrates women’s suffrage with the female gender symbol replacing the ”O” in ”vote. ” Another popular vote necklace is this one from Larissa Loden with silver rhodium-plated letters dangling from a matching chain. The product experts at Reviewed have all your shopping needs covered. Follow Reviewed on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for the latest deals, reviews, and more. Prices were accurate at the time this article was published but may change over time.© 2020 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Satellite Information Network, LLC.
Former first lady Michelle ObamaMichelle LeVaughn Robinson ObamaThe Memo — Michelle Obama shines, scorching Trump Michelle Obama takes hatchet to Trump record, character in convention speech Read: Michelle Obama’s speech at the Democratic National Convention MORE’s “vote” necklace that she wore during her Democratic National Convention speech went viral on Monday night. Obama’s necklace, which featured the word “vote” spread out along a gold chain, stood out during her keynote speech at the end of the first night of the convention. While she was still talking, the necklace, created by an independent, Black-owned business, was trending on Twitter, leading Footwear News to label it as “the must-have accessory of 2020.”The piece was custom ordered from ByChari, a Los Angeles-based business run by Chari Cuthbert, a Black woman. The company is now selling the necklace in yellow, rose and white for $295 for small letters and $405 for large letters. ByChari tweeted in response to the boost in attention, saying, “I never imagined that something I’m so passionate about could mean to so much so many!”“The response has been incredible and I am beyond honored and humbled that @michelleobama wore my design,” the tweet read. Actress and comedian Allana Harkin posted that “millions of women” were “currently googling ‘Vote necklace’” after Obama’s speech.
Last night at the virtual 2020 Democratic National Convention, former First Lady Michelle Obama gave a powerful speech on the importance of voting all while sporting a simple gold necklace that spelled “V-O-T-E,” which the internet is now obsessed with.
During the speech, people took to Twitter asking former vice president and presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden’s campaign to sell them and wondering where they could get the bling for themselves. Needless to say, people want one for themselves.
As soon as the texts started rolling in Monday evening, Chari Cuthbert knew she was on the cusp of the biggest moment of her career.”I was at my office, and I just sat there as my phone was going crazy, and I started to cry, ” Cuthbert told CNN of the moment it sank in that Michelle Obama was wearing her design — a gold necklace with the letters V-O-T-E — while giving her Democratic National Convention speech. The necklace is Cuthbert’s creation, part of her small, boutique jewelry line, based in Los Angeles, called BYCHARI. Since 2012, she has designed and produced custom pieces, with website orders coming mostly via word of mouth, social media and a handful of A-list influencers who support her mission. The business was already picking up steam and Cuthbert had increased her staff, from two to five and now eight. But a visual endorsement from a style icon like the former first lady has skyrocketed sales. Cuthbert said that about 12 hours after Obama’s speech on Monday night, orders for the VOTE necklace, which retails for approximately $300, were already hovering near 2, 000. She noted that each piece is custom-made, with production turnaround time typically about three to four weeks, but she made ”frantic” calls late last night to some of her suppliers in anticipation of the rush of orders, and she’s hoping she and her small team can start to turn necklaces as quickly as two weeks. On Tuesday morning a dedicated page appeared on the BYCHARI website for ordering the VOTE necklace. Meredith Koop, Obama’s stylist for the last decade, told CNN the necklace wasn’t just part of Obama’s outfit — it was the impetus for her entire look.”I built all of the outfit options I offered to Obama around the necklace. When I commissioned it, I knew it had to be the centerpiece, ” Koop said. She admitted she was mildly worried Obama might find the necklace too obvious, but the former first lady liked the idea of the lettering. ”When the speech started, you had to squint a little to read it. I love that. It pulled the viewer in. ”Obama’s necklace was crafted the day after Koop direct-messaged Cuthbert on Instagram, out of the blue, in late July. The two had never previously met, nor had they worked together, yet Koop had taken note of Cuthbert’s designs on social media. Cuthbert had made a limited supply of VOTE necklaces for herself and friends in 2016, and in 2018 to raise awareness about the primaries, and she intended to do so again in anticipation of 2020’s presidential election. The timing of Koop’s request was fortuitous.”I try to keep politics and business separate, ” Cuthbert saud, ”but in these times, with what’s happening in the world, I felt like I needed to use my platform. So when Meredith reached out we knew how important it was to do this, and do it now. ”Cuthbert is in her mid-30s, Black and one of millions of small business owners and entrepreneurs following their passions, and waiting for a big break, for which she is now ready.
