First Lady Michelle Obama goes incognito during shopping trip to Target

The First Lady, 47, tried to go incognito Thursday when she went shopping at a Target store in Alexandria, Va., just outside Washington.

Though usually outfitted in designer duds, Obama dressed down for the trip, wearing a gray baseball cap, sunglasses and a floral-print button-down shirt. She seemed to go unnoticed as she was photographed pushing a shopping cart and carrying two bags full of purchases.

"It is not uncommon for the First Lady to slip out to run an errand, eat at a local restaurant or otherwise enjoy the city outside the White House gates," Kristina Schake, communications director for the First Lady, said.

 According to The Associated Press, casually dressed Secret Service agents arrived about a half-hour before the First Lady, who walked in through the main entrance with an assistant. She reportedly spent 30 to 40 minutes shopping and pushed her own cart.

Obama waited in line with an assistant before checking out. (Charles Dharapak/AP)

"People did not approach her, she was very incognito," Maria Panagopulof, manager of the Target store, told CNN. "We didn't realize truly what was happening until she had almost left. The cashier recognized her, but she was very unassuming."

"We did not have advance notice; it was as big a surprise to us as it was to everyone else," Panagopulof added. "In hindsight, there was a sweep, but it was not obvious to us beforehand. When she left we thought 'Oh, that's what that was!'"

In May, the First Lady told Oprah Winfey that casual shopping trips were one of the things she has missed since coming to the White House.

"I think one of the greatest sacrifices for people like us -- who like being with people --- is that it's the bubble," Obama said. "We talked about it. I can't go to Target and walk around. I guess I could but it would mess up everyone else's shopping experience."