Is there a generation gap among Democratic women? Great-looking as many were at the opening night of the convention in Denver, one thing was clearly evident: Younger women such as Michelle Obama and Caroline Kennedy are voting for the dress, and the more mature — Madeleine Albright and Rosalynn Carter among others — are still partial to their power trouser suits.

Click here for a photo gallery of last night’s best dressed at the DNC.

In the most cosmopolitan cities here and abroad, the dress is the new power suit and Michelle Obama, whose inner circle includes some very clued-in fashionistas, certainly got this memo. The sheath-style dresses that she and Kennedy wore — Obama’s a terrific number by her friend and Chicago-based designer Maria Pinto — present a mission statement of sorts, or at least a metaphor for their campaigning. Made of good cloth and simple lines, with room for a bit of controlled dazzle — Michelle’s pin, Caroline’s ornamented collar — the message is intense, sensual, thoughtful, integrated and efficient. For post-feminist-age women like Obama and Kennedy, the women’s movement has come a long way and the dress is not just back, but the way to go … all the way to the White House.

Meanwhile, playing the neutral card as a good journalist ought to, Katie Couric combined generations by wearing a power-suit-style jacket over her feminine frock. After all, she has another party to attend next week in the Twin Cities.