Sarah Brown will have had an anxious early morning.

Her husband’s attempt to be the great fixer of the financial crisis and best friend of the United States at the same time was a big ask, but how was she going to handle the visit of Michelle Obama?

This was the first time Sarah had been called upon to host her new opposite number from The White House. And it wasn’t all smiling outside Downing Street either – the pair had to visit a cancer care centre as well and – horrors – meet Her Majesty the Queen.

Michelle is only three months younger than Sarah, but she is a graduate of Princeton and Harvard, is the taller of the two by some distance and is famously well dressed.

She was on the cover of Vogue magazine last month and is constantly being compared to Jackie Kennedy.

So what does Sarah wear?

The choice was a smart, dark blue suit – she looked frightfully important and every bit the hostess of the world’s 20 most important nations.

Michelle went for a more dressed-down look – she was wearing a knee-length lime green skirt and a patterned white sparkly top. Crucially – and this may have been a deliberate gesture towards Sarah – she was covering up her famously toned arms, which fashion experts reckon is her best attribute.

But there’s a nagging thought: Was Sarah bold enough? She looked very smart of course, but is smart stylish?

“I have to say that Sarah played it very safe. Michelle is much more stylish with her combination of colour and textures — it seems that she is on show and sparkling,” says Michelle Shakallis, a London high street fashion designer.

“Sarah has gone for what will just blend in and look as boring as a man in a suit. Dark tights and shoes also reflect this. She does not want to have her figure or fashion on show here,” Shakallis adds.

Sarah cannot be blamed for making sure she did not attract headlines for the wrong reasons, but her lack of confidence is not befitting of our ‘first lady’. She should have had more of a go. Maybe she’s saving herself for tomorrow’s big event.

Still, at least Carla (Sarkozy) didn’t show up.

** Click here for full coverage of Wimbledon 2008 **

First came Serena’s raincoat and Roger’s cardigan. But it was Maria Sharapova’s white tuxedo and shorts that upped the fashion stakes at the world’s most famous tournament. The 21-year-old Russian said she wanted to do something classy for Wimbledon so she decided to step up a gear in the tennis fashion parade when appearing on court for the first time in 2008.

“It’s the tuxedo look. I was very inspired by menswear this year and every time at Wimbledon I want to do something classy and elegant,” she said after seeing off French qualifier Stephanie Foretz 6-1 6-4.

“This year I said why don’t we do shorts and I have never worn shorts before at a grand slam. There is a place to do it and that’s Wimbledon,” the former Wimbledon champion told BBC television right after stepping off court.

At a sun-kissed Wimbledon on Monday, Serena Williams took to the court wearing a white raincoat. On a gloriously hot afternoon, defending champion Roger Federer opted for a white cardigan after two years sporting a white blazer.

Sharapova missed seeing Williams’ raincoat but loved Federer’s cardigan. “I thought that was classic. It was beautiful,” she told reporters.

Her post-match press conference was dominated by questions about fashion. Sharapova, relaxed and laughing, was happy to answer them all.

“I love how 10 of the questions are about what we are wearing. It’s amazing,” she said.

Working within Wimbledon’s strict dress code is a challenge she relishes. “You know it’s hard to do things different with white — there’s only so much you can do,” she said.

Sharapova was clearly relieved to have got her first match out of the way at the tournament where she became an instant overnight sensation with her win as teenager, the first of her three Grand Slam wins.

“It was great to get out there and get a feel for Court Number One. It was my first match on grass this year so I did pretty well considering,” she said.

“You never know what is going to happen. You can have a great practice week, you can have a terrible practice week and then go out on court and things can feel totally different.”

She even found time at the end of her press conference to wish Russia well in the European soccer championship after their defeat of the Netherlands in the quarter finals.

“I am so proud they got through that. It was kind of nerve-wracking when it was tied five minutes left into the game. You know we’re brave, we are strong, we work hard at what we do. Good things happen.”