Your Etceterist has received much feedback from friends in response to yesterday’s “Periwinkle Politics” post about the color necktie choice of President Bush and President-elect Obama.

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Many readers in my circle disagree with my description that both First Lady Laura Bush and Michelle Obama wore red dresses of differing shades. The majority opinion is Mrs. Bush was wearing brown. Brown? How about we agree on, speaking of the symbolism of clothing color as we did yesterday, “burnt sienna.” Laura Bush wore burnt sienna. The end.

Meanwhile, while Mrs. Obama’s election night Narciso Rodriguez dress remains controversial, some loving it, others hating it, her red Maria Pinto number at the White House, according to my anecdotal research, is getting raves. My favorite comment comes from the Times of London’s Sarah Vine. Just in case you don’t think clothes make the woman, here is what Sarah said about Mrs. Obama’s red dress: “[It is] a garment that betrays her excitement in more ways than one. The color is racy, the cut (empire-line with a pencil skirt) emphatically sexy. And it has been a long while since a neckline as fashion forward as this has been spotted within a mile of the Oval Office.

“It is a dress that requires total self-belief and plenty of chutzpah, not to mention a decent set of curves. It is a results dress: If you wore it on a date, you’d definitely expect a lift home. It’s the equivalent of the Versace safety-pin number that Elizabeth Hurley wore in 1994 to the premiere of ‘Four Weddings and a Funeral.’ It doesn’t just say, ‘Look at me,’ it says, ‘Don’t you dare look at anyone else.’

“By wearing it, Mrs. Obama is leaving no room for confusion: she means business. Whether she will still wear scarlet at the end of her husband’s administration remains to be seen. Expect copies at your local Wal-Mart for Christmas.”