When Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his wife, Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, arrived at the White House for a state dinner on Thursday, the first given for a Canadian in two decades, it was on a wave of international attention not accorded a Canadian politician in, well, maybe ever.  Within Canada, where I was born and raised and where my family still lives, Ms. Grégoire Trudeau is a singular figure. Hailed from the start for her attractiveness by a giddy news media thrilled to have someone to hail, she was called “Canada’s latest fashion icon” by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. (“Latest” suggests she’s replacing someone — who, exactly?)  Often compared to Kate Middleton, Ms. Grégoire Trudeau was similarly thrust into the spotlight alongside a husband who has been known to the country since birth, and she appears to have undergone a similar, acceptably fashionable style overhaul.  Even so, most of the Canadians I spoke with were thoroughly uninterested in what she was wearing other than that she looked both smart and relatable.  “I think she’s unique for her position,” said my friend Meghan, an executive at a leading Canadian bank. “She looks young and down-to-earth, like I’d expect to find her playing with the kids at my park.”  “She’s really beautiful, and that’s part of the charm,” said Allana Harkin, a producer of “Full Frontal With Samantha Bee.” “But I don’t think people up here are looking at her as a style icon.” Ms. Harkin was quick to note that Ms. Grégoire Trudeau was successful in her own right, and that together she and Justin “represent couples that I know, who all make decisions together. It would be weird and disappointing for her not to have a presence.”  When I asked my sister, who is the same age as Ms. Grégoire Trudeau, 40, and also the mother of three small children, what she thought of Ms. Grégoire Trudeau’s style, the only image she could conjure was of the family out for Halloween, dressed as “Star Wars” characters.  Trick or treat! Joyeuse #Halloween! pic.twitter.com/c6PBANtHhj  To be sure, Ms. Grégoire Trudeau has definitely joined the ranks of Canada’s stylish prime ministers’ wives, which in fairness, is a short list consisting primarily of Mr. Trudeau’s mother, Margaret, who was a beautiful 22-year-old “flower child” (so described to me by my mother, in a tone that suggested this explained everything) when she married Pierre Trudeau, then the prime minister and 29 years her senior. Ms. Trudeau hung out at Studio 54, arguably making her one of the coolest Canadians who ever lived.  There’s also Mila Mulroney, the wife of Brian Mulroney, who replaced Pierre Trudeau as prime minister in 1984 and stayed in office for nearly a decade. Even as a child, I noticed Ms. Mulroney’s shiny, pretty hair. I was far less aware of the fact she was highly criticized for styling herself as a “first lady” (read: American) and for owning too many shoes. In 2012 she was mentioned in a Vanity Fair article toasting the “ladies who lunched” at Manhattan hot spots like Le Cirque.  Like I said, it’s a short list.  It is possible we’ve had other nicely dressed first ladies — presumably they were all reasonably nicely dressed, anyway — and just don’t know about them. (We don’t call them first ladies, by the way; they are simply the spouse, or wife of.) As I tried to come up with this list, I realized I could not name more than the two I have already mentioned. As in, I didn’t know the names of any of our prime ministers’ wives.  Worried this lack of knowledge was the result of my having spent too many years in New York, I asked a few gainfully employed, well-educated Canadian friends if they could name spouses. They couldn’t. “What was Mulroney’s wife’s name”? one asked. “Harper, who?” another said.  A number of people I spoke with, however, immediately mentioned Kim Campbell, who was the prime minister of Canada for four heady months back in 1993. Was she stylish per se? In the early-1990s, Hillary Clinton sense of the word, perhaps. Was her husband? Was she even married? No one knew. (The answer: She has been married three times.)  The reality is that Canadians and Americans have different relationships with their leaders; we don’t tend to put them on pedestals, or use them as examples of perfect citizenry to which we can aspire. We’re not as interested in their personal lives so much as their ability to run the country. If they look good trying, that’s nice, too.  Which is not to suggest that Canada isn’t, generally, extraordinarily excited about the Trudeaus. Over Christmas I was given a sweatshirt depicting the prime minister riding a horse, set against a backdrop that included a rainbow and waterfall.  But it can be hard to distinguish all the “icon” hyperbole being thrown at the couple from the excitement Canadians feel about being recognized by the United States. Do Canadians genuinely think the Trudeaus are deserving of such high praise, or are our opinions being influenced by the fact that so many news outlets in America are trumpeting them? “I never, ever expected to see my prime minister in Vogue, it’s unreal,” I was told by Anita Clarke, founder of the Toronto-based fashion site I Want - I Got.  It was Mr. Trudeau’s father, Pierre, who famously said, at a 1969 Washington Press Club dinner, that living next to the United States “is in some ways like sleeping with an elephant. “No matter how friendly and even-tempered is the beast, if I can call it that, one is affected by every twitch and grunt,” he said.  To be Canadian is to live with equal parts fear and fury that the United States has no idea who we are (and may inadvertently roll over on us in the middle of the night without realizing it). We don’t necessarily want your attention, but then again, why aren’t you giving it to us?  And while we’ve certainly produced our fair share of internationally recognizable figures (with Linda Evangelista, Pamela Anderson and Ryan Gosling, we’ve got style, sex and hot male feminist covered), they all had to leave Canada to find fame.  That is the big difference with the Trudeaus; they are finding fame, on very American terms, while remaining in Canada. They are the greatest Can con ever invented. “It’s like we’re that kid in high school who was kind of a geek, but has grown up and looks really hot,” Ms. Harkin said. “You want to know that kid now.”  Which is why what Sophie Grégoire Trudeau is wearing may be of so little interest to so many Canadians. We don’t get this kind of platform or attention very often. We’re dying to hear what she’s going to say and (quietly) thrilled everyone on the planet appears to be listening.  An earlier version of this article misstated the age difference between Margaret Trudeau and former Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. It was 29 years, not 23.
As the Obamas welcome the Trudeaus to the White House, Canadians like me are watching eagerly, even if we don’t want to admit it.