I wonder if Barack feels left out of the fashion discussion. His wife will be in the international fashion floodlight during the inaugural activities, but we’ll be looking at you too, Mr. Obama.

It is, afterall, a special day for him, too.

And, yet, we haven’t said much about him except for highlighting his favorite made-in-America by folks who proudly carry a union card tailoring firm Hart Schaffner Marx.

The Chicago-based men’s clothier will be making the tuxedo he plans to wear to the as-yet-undisclosed number of inaugural balls on Jan. 20, according to a report in Women’s Wear Daily earlier this week.

President-elect Barack Obama hasn’t bought a new tux in 15 years, writes

David Lipke of WWD.

Above right, he wears (gasp!) a rental with a nice white bow tie.

But our new prez will need a new tux. The 47-year-old, 44th president is expected to draw from 1 million to 4 million people to Washington for his inauguration.

We expect him to look especially sharp and since he wears clothes well, I’m sure he won’t disappoint.

But as the country rides out the recession, he surely won’t want to do anything too dramatic. Yet, we’re all still looking for an appropriate amount of pizazz. OK, maybe just me.

Pomp and official proceeding aside, his supporters will have a lot to celebrate and they’ll want him to look the part.

The sketches on this page come from a WWD query of top men’s wear designers seeking the look that they would propose for Obama’s inaugural festivities. See all 53 images from the query here.

On a side note, there is a mini-discussion taking place about how artist’s have captured Obama’s skin tone. Is too light an insult? Is too dark a bigger insult?

During his campaign, the Clintons were accused of darkening Obama’s skin in campaign ads. Sigh. It’s not presented here, but the sketch from Marc Jacobs shows Obama looking quite ivory in complexion. And there were a few more who were more artistic than realistic, but in general it’s an interesting exercise for fashion designers and the American public to search through their crayons and realize that people come in many different shades not the standard “flesh” tone.

From top to bottom (L-R):

Richard James of Savile Row and Brooks Brothers

Sean John and Salvatore Ferragamo

Elie Tahari and D Squared2

(at right) Reem Acra designed a look for the entire family.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF WWD.