Malia and Sasha Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama, Princesses Lalla Salma, Lalla Meryem, and Lalla Asmaa attend an iftar dinner (ramadan meal) / AP
First Lady Michelle Obama donned a nearly $3,000 designer dress during a lavish dinner in Morocco Thursday to cap off her time in the nation promoting education for girls.
Obama dined with Moroccan Princess Lalla Salma, the wife of King Mohammed VI, wearing a black and white paisley printed Altuzarra maxi dress, which can be purchased at Barneys for $2,995.
The dinner was part of the first lady’s multi-day tour with daughters Sasha and Malia to promote her "Let Girls Learn" initiative aimed at helping young girls across the world to receive an education.
Obama kicked off the tour in Liberia, one of the world’s most destitute countries. The first lady’s dress was more than eight times the average income of Liberian citizens, which hovers around $370. In Morocco, the price of the dress was $75 lower than the average income of the nation’s citizens.
She arrived in Marrakesh earlier in the day wearing a black floral Proenza wrap dress priced at $1,750 before checking into her five-star hotel complete with rooms for a Secret Service detail.
Her one night stay in the North African country with Sasha and Malia cost taxpayers $600,000 in hotel and car rental costs alone.
Obama wrote in a CNN op-ed Friday that often adolescent girls miss out on schooling in Morocco because of geographic barriers that force dangerous commutes or cultural norms that reinforce the belief that females are unworthy of an education.
Another barrier she detailed in a blog post Sunday ahead of her departure to Liberia was affordability.
"Sometimes the problem is resources. Unlike in the U.S., in many countries parents are required to pay school fees and cover the cost of books and uniforms, and a large number of families simply can’t afford to send their daughters to school," she wrote.
The first lady and daughters ended their trip in Spain Friday before flying back to the White House.
