Barack Obama pulled off a look that no one else could when he donned a sleek black bomber jacket embroidered with the number 44 — a nod to himself, the 44th president of the United States. The 57-year-old traveled to Durham, North Carolina, to watch the rivalry college basketball game between the North Carolina Tar Heels and the Duke Blue Angeles at Cameron Indoor Stadium on Wednesday. Most fans were wearing white and shades of blue in honor of the two teams, which share similar colors, but Obama instead opted for a very stylish black ensemble, pairing dark pants and a black sweater with his $595 Rag & Bone 'Manston' bomber, which was customized especially for the former POTUS by the brand. Turning heads: Barack Obama wore a $595 Rag & Bone 'Manston' bomber jacket featuring the number 44 custom-embroidered on the sleeve on Wednesday Looking dapper: The former president sported the jacket to watch the North Carolina Tar Heels play the Duke Blue Angeles at Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, North Carolina While the former president causes a stir wherever he goes, it was his jacket that turned heads at the highly-anticipated basketball game. Obama sat courtside next to former Duke basketball player Reggie Love, who served as his personal assistant during his presidency, and eagle-eyed fans were quick to notice the '44' embroidered in white on his sleeve. The former POTUS has endured a few style mishaps in his day; he received flack for wearing a tan suit during his presidency and has been mocked for sporting 'dad jeans' on numerous occasions. However, his custom-embroidered bomber has earned him some style points, and fans have been taking to Twitter to gush about his 'swagger' and 'flex.' 'Good morning to President Obama’s “44” bomber jacket. The swaggiest thing about #BlackHistoryMonth to date. By far,' one person wrote. Styling: People took to Twitter to gush about Obama's sleek bomber with the number 44 on the sleeve, a nod to himself, the 44th president of the United States Another added: 'Obama did not have to do it to us with that ‘44’. That’s such a hard flex.' 'Wow bomber jacket Obama is next level,' someone else commented. Some fans took the opportunity to tag a jab at the current president, claiming Donald Trump could never pull the look off. 'President Obama rocking a “44” stitched bomber jacket at the highly anticipated #DukeUNC game. Your tyrant could NEVER,' one person tweeted. Another Twitter user commented: 'Obama has on a black bomber jacket with 44 on the sleeve, yalls president could never.' Interestingly enough, President Trump was first seen wearing a custom-made button-down shirt with the number 45 embroidered on one of his cuffs in January 2018. Night out: Obama watched the fierce college rivals with interest, as he has ties to both teams. Former Duke walk-on and Obama assistant Reggie Love (left) joined him at the game While the look made headlines, the style choice didn't inspire the same level of praise that Obama has been receiving. The same embroidered '45' was seen on the cuff of Trump's shirt when he met with victims of the Parkland shooting a month later. Critics claimed the '45' on his sleeve was 'pathetic' and a sign he was 'obsessed with his personal branding.' Trump was also slammed for holding a cue card between his hands that reminded him to offer sympathy as he met with victims and families of the Florida high school massacre. It's unclear if Obama would receive the same level of criticism if he had the sleeves of his button-downs embroidered with the number 44 when he was president, but plenty of people are all for the look now that he is off duty. Style mishaps: Obama has been mocked for sporting 'dad jeans' on numerous occasions (left) and once received flack for wearing a tan suit during his presidency (right) Different style: President Donald Trump, pictured in February 2018, has been seen wearing '45' embroidered on the cuff of his dress shirts, but he hasn't received the same praise for the look Backlash: Critics claimed the '45' on his sleeve was 'pathetic' and a sign he was 'obsessed with his personal branding' 'Obama having a bomber jacket with 44 embroidered on the sleeve is swagger on a hundred thousand trillion,' one person tweeted. Rag & Bone proudly shared a photo of the former president wearing the jacket on its Instagram page, writing: 'Epic: @barackobama wearing our bomber jacket at last night’s UNC/Duke game....custom embroidered for #44.' Obama's jacket wasn't the only exciting thing to happen at Wednesday's NCAA game. Duke's star player Zion Williamson injured his knee within the first minute of the game after his foot tore straight through his Nike sneaker. The former president's reaction was captured on camera, and immediately after the injury he can be seen pointing and saying: 'His shoe broke.' Williamson was out for the rest of the game, and UNC went on to win the match-up with a score of 88 to 72. Still dapper! At one point during the game, Obama removed his eye-catching jacket to show off his black sweater, which he wore over a dark gray button-down shirt Accident: Obama was courtside when Duke's star player Zion Williamson injured his knee within the first minute of the game after his foot tore straight through his Nike sneaker Well wishes: The former president took to Twitter to wish the basketball player 'a speedy recovery' 'Zion Williamson seems like an outstanding young man as well as an outstanding basketball player. Wishing him a speedy recovery,' Obama tweeted after the game. The night before the match-up, Obama slammed hip-hop and rap music for perpetuating stereotypes rooted in toxic masculinity. The former president took the stage with NBA star Steph Curry at the My Brother's Keeper Alliance summit in Oakland, California, on Tuesday, celebrating the fifth anniversary of the youth support and violence prevention group he created during his time in office. Obama spoke about what it means to 'be a man' and how to fight stereotypes of masculinity that 'trap' young men of color and often emerge in hip-hop and rap music. Before the game: Obama blasted hip-hop and rap music for promoting toxic masculinity during the My Brother's Keeper Alliance event on Tuesday in Oakland, California Famous faces: Obama shared the stage with Golden State Warriors star Steph Curry Message: At the conference he spoke about what it means to 'be a man' and how to fight stereotypes of masculinity that 'trap' men of color and often emerge in hip-hop and rap music 'If you were very confident about your sexuality, you don't have to have eight women around you twerking,' he joked as the crowd erupted with laughter. 'Let’s face it, a lot of hip hop and rap music is built around me showing how I got more money than you, I can disrespect you and you can’t do nothing about it, I’m going to talk about you and punk you,' he said. 'Ironically, that actually shows the vulnerability that you feel,' he added. 'Let me say this, if you were really confident about your financial situation you probably aren’t going to be wearing an eight-pound chain around your neck.' Obama then touched on hip-hop's portrayal of male sexuality and brought up the twerking joke, adding, 'I've got one woman who I'm very happy with. And she's a strong woman.'<doc-sep>Hey, I just wanted to let you know I saw your ex at the UNC-Duke game last night and he's looking good. Like real good. Like fresh to death. I thought you should know. Somehow he looks younger than he did before, but not like he had work done, just like he's living right and feeling fine. How was he dressed? Oh, nothing special. Just a black Rag & Bone bomber jacket, black pants, black shirt. All-black everything. Lance King Getty Images Wait a minute... In the immortal words of Shuri, "WHAT ARE THOSE?!" Screaming! Lance King Getty Images SCREAMING! Lance King Getty Images (Screaming intensifies.) Lance King Getty Images President Obama is out here in President Obama merchandise. This is swag squared; a presi-drip-tial lewk. Obama has clearly been spending time on YesWeCanThings dot com, the website where your favorite aunt and uncle get all their first family-themed sweatshirts, buttons, greeting cards, toaster covers, beach towels and car air fresheners. The Washington Post Getty Images Honestly, I don't mind this one bit. I love the subtly of it. It's like Obama just strolled into his personal embroiderer's Chicago storefront one afternoon, casually placed a bomber jacket on the counter, and in his trademark subdued style said, "See, uh, what... you can do with this. Uh... go to town." A two-inch white "44" on the sleeve of a black jacket is absolutely the definition of "going to town" for Barack "I Really Tried It With That Tan Suit" Obama. While I'm sure this is officially licensed Obama merch, I really want to live in a world where Barack and Michelle rolled up on some bootlegger, bought a bomber jacket and some foil-wrapped fake Balenciaga boots just for kicks. In case you didn't get the memo, Mom and Dad are wilding. Some may say that this is the same as the current president wearing his derided POTUS hat. Those people should be tried for treason. The facts are these: when Trump wears a MAGA POTUS hat I'm going to take a hard pass on it; when Obama wears a 44 jacket I'm going to buy 20. To quote my girl Céline Dion, "And that's the way it is." Giphy That said, when done right I am totally here for an icon rocking swag themed after themselves. I want Michelle Obama to rock that FLOTUS purse that Meryl Streep brings with her everywhere. Getty Images I want Malia to release her own line of Rose Garden Rosés. I want Bo the dog to clone itself like Barbra Streisand's dogs and then tour the country, charging people an exorbitant amount of money to stare at 3 identical dogs who have a personal chef and probably lower cholesterol than you do. I want all Obama everything. I am going straight to YesWeCanThings dot com and spending my entire paycheck. R. Eric Thomas R Eric Thomas is a Senior Staff Writer at ELLE.com, home of his daily humor column "Eric Reads the News," which skewers politics, pop culture, celebrity shade, and schadenfreude. This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io<doc-sep>
One of the most hyped up college basketball games of the season between Duke and the University of North Carolina turned into a dud eight seconds in when top prospect Zion Williamson proved too powerful for shoes made for mortals. Even if the game had been a barn-burner, though, the most exciting news out of the matchup might *still* have come from the sidelines, where former president Barack Obama was sitting in a bomber jacket embroidered with the number 44—a reference to himself, the 44th president. The bomber jacket was made and embroidered by Rag & Bone, the brand confirmed to GQ in an email. You can find a similar one for $595 right here, and your local embroiderer should be able to add numerals to the sleeve. A word of warning: getting a 44 embroidered on the sleeve probably won’t have the same effect on anyone else. “The ‘44’ on the sleeve just felt like a subtle touch,” Marcus Wainwright, the founder and chief brand officer at Rag & Bone, said over the phone Thursday morning. “Not many people could have pulled it off that way. He's got style.” Although the bomber jacket isn’t exactly the most advanced style move, 57-year-old former presidents should be graded on a curve. The world of presidential fashion doesn’t often waver from black and navy suits—even the tan one worn by Obama caused a ruckus. So seeing 44 in a slim-fitting bomber jacket from a cool New York-based brand feels downright revelatory. (Especially when pitted against the current president, who uses tape to hold his ties together.) Since exiting the Oval Office, Obama has evolved beyond the staid and stodgy fashion typical of presidents. There have been hits (leather jackets over chambray shirts) and misses (dad jeans; the Allbirds he wore with last night's jacket), but last night Obama figured out that the best way to flex is to wear a jacket that literally no one else on the planet can. While most of the world was tuned into the game, or at least obsessing over the jacket on Twitter, its designer was completely oblivious to the fact the former most powerful man in the world was wearing something he made. When the internet lit up over Obama’s jacket, Marcus Wainwright, the founder and chief brand officer at Rag & Bone, was with his kids at a school ice skating event. He woke up this morning to several texts, one from his head of marketing, about the jacket. “Fun to wake up to that,” he said. His initial impression of the look: “He looked pretty fucking cool.”