Mrs Obama shows she wears the trousers and the skirt and...

Clearly, Mrs Obama only needs to set foot in London to start channelling the city's famous creativity. Her colourful skirt, which could most politely be described as "busy", would not look out of place on the catwalks of London Fashion Week.

This latest look is something of a departure for the usually sleek, chic Mrs Obama, who tends to stick to a classic silhouette of wide skirts and unfussy lines.

Yet for her most recent London outing, she seems to have employed a technique called "double layering", a practice familiar to anyone hailing from cold climes- or indeed, anyone enduring the brutal machinations of London weather.

Double layering might not be the most streamlined example of high style, but it is perfect for a British summer.

It is surely the most salient explanation for Mrs Obama's deployment of a dress over black trousers, a vest under said dress and not one but two round-neck cardigans.

For which of us hasn't been there? Just as we are about to step into our jolly summer dress festooned with orange brocade and sweet pink flowers, we notice the weather isn't playing ball.

Quickly, we hunt around the bedroom for some extra layers. No tights are clean, so, in desperation, we grab the nearest pair of trousers.

While some commentators might dismiss Mrs O's new look as a disaster, her unerring practicality should be commended.

Rather than ditching the dress, she simply modified it to suit her needs, adding layers here and there to prevent hypothermia. Granted, the trousers might have looked better if they hadn't been black, but no matter.

This quick-witted, weather-sensitive reactiveness is just further evidence that Mrs Obama is a woman you would want on your team. Even if she does look a little strange.