President Barack and Michelle Obama celebrated their 33rd wedding anniversary earlier this month, on October 3. They both marked the occasion with charming social media posts. Michelle has a new book coming out on November 4. It’s a coffee table book called The Look. Co-written by her longtime stylist, Meredith Koop, The Look documents Michelle’s style throughout the years and shares more than 200 pictures of her fashionable moments during her time in the public eye. Earlier this year, the former First Lady said in a press release that after enduring years of public scrutiny about her fashion choices, she wanted to “reclaim” her story. I was always a big fan of Michelle’s fashion, so I’m looking forward to seeing all of the photos that get released with the book.

Michelle is on the cover of People this week. (While we’re talking fashion, I love her top; she looks fantastic!) During her interview, which you can read here, she talked about the book, getting older, and about two of the most controversial Obama-family fashion moments: her bare arms and that tan suit. She also revealed that she and President Obama used to treat state dinners as their own personal date nights before describing the much more lowkey date nights that they have now that they’re in their 60s. *Spoiler alert:* She can’t hang anymore.

“We’ve been married 32, 33 [years]. . . . I always forget. Sorry, honey,” the former first lady, 61, says with a wince and a smile during her PEOPLE interview for this week’s cover story. It has in fact been 33 years of marriage, but who’s counting? What matters most is how that time is spent.

“When we’re both happy about date night, we’re at home. We are not getting dressed,” she explains of their cozy couple life these days. “We just have a nice dinner, candles lit, music, we talk.”

And they have a lot to talk about, by design: “We don’t talk for the whole day, because we’re in the house together all day, right? We work from home. So when we are going to have a really special night, it’s like, ‘Don’t talk to me. Save it for dinner.'”

Before a date night begins, the former president, 64, is usually first to break the peace.

“He’ll be like, ‘Did you talk to the girls?’,” she says of their daughters Sasha, 24, and Malia, 27. To which she’ll respond, “I did, but we’re not going to talk about it until date night.”

Sometimes they’ll venture out, “We go out for dinners in D.C. or wherever,” she says. But they usually only have one stop before returning home. “I am too old,” she says. “I can’t do dinner and a movie. I will fall asleep in the movie. So it’s like, ‘Let’s pick one.’ “

[From People]

I had to laugh at Michelle’s confession that she basically turns into a pumpkin at a certain time, so they have to pick either dinner or a movie for an outside-the-house date night. I feel the opposite! I can power through if we do dinner and a movie but if we’re watching a movie at home after having dinner at a restaurant, then I’m done for. I think for me, it’s the difference between still being in “real” clothes in public and in comfy clothes while on the comfort of my own couch. I’m 20 years younger than Michelle is, though, so we’ll see where I am in 2045. As for not remembering what year they’re celebrating, I totally feel that. I’ve been married for 14 years and even right now, I had to stop and do the math in my head to confirm it. I’m sure I’ll get to the point where I just give everyone a general, ”Oh, we’ve been married for like three decades or so.”

Every chapter of #TheLook captures a treasured part of my story: moments of growth, self-discovery, and feeling confident in my own skin. There’s no feeling quite like seeing them all bound together—it reminds me how far I’ve come. I’m so proud to finally share it with you on… pic.twitter.com/upz0pG4XM8

— Michelle Obama (@MichelleObama) October 27, 2025

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Embed from Getty Images

photos credit: IMAGO/Avalon, Cheriss May/Avalon, Granata / Retna Pictures/Avalon