What do you wear when 60 million people are watching?

If the idea of dressing for a work presentation or a black tie affair makes you nervous, imagine what it feels like to dress for an event where tens of millions will be staring back at you. The Thread takes a look at five ladies—from first lady Michelle Obama to Oscar-winner Kate Winslet—who continuously perform under pressure and look great doing it.



By now Serena Williams is probably used to performing in front of large crowds— or, at least, she makes it look that way. When she won the Singles trophy at the Australian Open in January she was wearing an electric blue Nike Dri-Fit women's day dress with lime piping.

Click-to-buy: Serena's Dress












The Superbowl was Jennifer Hudson's first public performance after the tragic loss of her mother, brother, and nephew. No pressure there. Jennifer wore a $3,420 Alexander McQueen military-style jacket over a white tank, skin-tight black pants, gold jewelry and gladiator wedges by Sigerson Morrison.






When Lady Gaga performed on American Idol, she wore... something over-the-top, of course. The pop darling sparkled in a black-and-silver fringed leotard, big blonde hair and an eye-patch! Love her.






Enduring the humiliation of an ugly divorce is hard enough in private, but the ever-classy Christie Brinkley faced it in the spotlight and still managed to bring a little style to court each day. She was the epitome of grace under pressure, especially when she wore a khaki skirt with a wide belt and traditional button-down.














Oscar season is inherently stressful but it had to be even more so for Kate Winslet who'd left-empty handed each year after successive nominations. Finally, she broke her streak wearing YSL gowns to both the Golden Globes and the Oscars. 













So what do you wear to meet the Queen of England? If you're Michele Obama you turn to Isabel Toldedo and Jason Wu, the designers responsible for her most memorable inauguration looks. The First Lady chose an ivory and black silk crepe dress by Toledo and a black satin opera coat by Wu. To finish off the look, she layered on an Azzedine Alaia cashmere cardigan and a double strand of pearls.


















Thanks for watching The Thread.  We'll be back soon from our Planet Hollywood studio in Times Square with a brand new episode. 

And check out the new program on BET that we talked about in this episode called "My Black Is Beautiful".  The series starts April 19th.