What Melania Trump's Fashion Choices Say About Her Politics

What is the first lady saying with her clothing? And, perhaps most important, is she saying anything at all?
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Vestis facit virum,” wrote Catholic priest and social critic Erasmus in Latin during the Middle Ages, arguing that “clothes make the man.” The adage rings even truer in the era of social media influencers and constant streaming, during which highly calibrated and staged photos make the rounds in the blink of an eye. Images depicting folks in carefully curated outfits and scenarios have an immediate and lasting impact, directly imbuing the photographed clothes with deep meaning.

Few current-day women’s sartorial choices have been dissected more than those of first lady Melania Trump, whose politics we can only assume given her marriage to President Donald Trump, but haven’t heard her ever really discuss. So opaque is Melania Trump as a person and so thirsty for information is the public that the first lady’s clothes have represented her assumed political stance, in many cases. But what is she saying? And, perhaps most important, is she even saying anything at all with her clothing?

“I think she stands for herself and nothing more than that,” New York University professor and media historian Moya Luckett told HuffPost. “I think she stands for an upwardly mobile immigrant from Eastern Europe who has become incredibly powerful but, with that, has not become as visible as she might like.”

“Is it sillier to acknowledge the strategy behind appearance, or to pretend such influences don’t exist?” wrote fashion director and chief fashion critic for The New York Times Vanessa Friedman back in 2017, when discussing Melania’s style. The question, rhetorically presented to a public both constantly critiquing Melania Trump’s outfits and Friedman’s own critiques of them, is followed by the writer’s explanation of the first lady’s unique position. “In the current White House, it is Melania whose clothes may be the most telling,” Friedman wrote. “Not because she is a woman, but because since the election she has rarely spoken, retreating to her penthouse in New York.”

“I think first ladies are kind of like the royal family in that they often don’t speak,” Luckett said. “Instead, their clothes make the statement for them, but those statements don’t just come from, ‘I happen to like this dress’ but branding, marketing, stylists and communications experts [are involved].”

For Melania, that team is currently headed by freelance designer and consultant Hervé Pierre, who works as her de facto stylist. In 2017, he designed the first lady’s gown for the inaugural balls — a white off-shoulder dress with a high slit and a red silk belt around it — and still works with her today (he also designed clothes for the previous three first ladies).

President Donald Trump introduces first lady Melania Trump at the Freedom Inaugural Ball at the Washington Convention Center, Jan. 20, 2017.
Aaron P. Bernstein via Getty Images
President Donald Trump introduces first lady Melania Trump at the Freedom Inaugural Ball at the Washington Convention Center, Jan. 20, 2017.

Praised for its elegance, the above mentioned outfit joins a roster of others that seem to define her personal style — which may overall be considered chic and coastal elite, a product of her life in New York prior to her arrival inside the White House.

Some examples include the flowy white Dior dress she donned while unveiling the White House Christmas decorations in November 2017 ...

Melania Trump stands in the Grand Foyer as she tours Christmas decorations at the White House in Washington, DC, Nov. 27, 2017.
SAUL LOEB via Getty Images
Melania Trump stands in the Grand Foyer as she tours Christmas decorations at the White House in Washington, DC, Nov. 27, 2017.

... The eye-catching Celine knee-length dress she debuted on a diplomatic trip to Ghana in October of 2018 ...

Melania Trump poses with Ghana's first lady Rebecca Akufo-Addo prior to their meeting at Jubilee House in Accra, Ghana, on Oct. 2, 2018.
SAUL LOEB via Getty Images
Melania Trump poses with Ghana's first lady Rebecca Akufo-Addo prior to their meeting at Jubilee House in Accra, Ghana, on Oct. 2, 2018.

... The $3,500 Loro Piana one-piece jumpsuit we saw while she was visiting Tokyo’s Digital Art Museum alongside Japan’s former first lady Akie Abe in May 2019 ...

Akie Abe and Melania Trump visit the Mori Building Digital Art Museum on May 26, 2019 in Tokyo, Japan.
Pool via Getty Images
Akie Abe and Melania Trump visit the Mori Building Digital Art Museum on May 26, 2019 in Tokyo, Japan.

... And what she wore while visiting the Korean War Memorial in June of this year: a $1,300 Rosetta Getty dress with white leather Manolo Blahnik stilettos.

Donald and Melania Trump pay their respects as they visit the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington, DC on June 25, 2020.
MANDEL NGAN via Getty Images
Donald and Melania Trump pay their respects as they visit the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington, DC on June 25, 2020.

Criticism Of The First Lady’s Style

Some of the first lady’s choices, though, have not been spared criticism.

Take her four-country solo trip to Africa in 2018, for example, when she was photographed wearing a pith helmet in Kenya, a fashion choice that led to a barrage of criticisms given the hat’s racist history. Donned by European colonial armies in both Asia and Africa toward the end of the 19th century and eventually sported by Westerners in the tropics, the pith helmet reminds many of colonial oppression. Following a slew of condemnations, Melania Trump stated in an interview: “I wish people would focus on what I do and not what I wear.”

First lady Melania Trump travels in a vehicle while on a safari at The Nairobi National Park in Nairobi on Oct. 5, 2018.
SAUL LOEB via Getty Images
First lady Melania Trump travels in a vehicle while on a safari at The Nairobi National Park in Nairobi on Oct. 5, 2018.

Back in 2019, Pierre told WWD that his client’s fashion choices are not meant to “subliminally cast political messages.” His statement was in reaction to the public’s scrutiny of a Burberry dress — a British brand — she wore at Trump’s second State of the Union speech, which was delivered while Brexit negotiations made headlines across Europe and the United States. “It has nothing to do with England or Brexit,” Pierre said. “If I would have to think of all these things when I look at dresses and outfits, I would lose my mind.”

Melania Trump wears a Burberry dress at the State of the Union address on Feb. 5, 2019.
Pool via Getty Images
Melania Trump wears a Burberry dress at the State of the Union address on Feb. 5, 2019.

Luckett begs to differ: “I don’t think anyone in that position and degree of power and visibility could possibly not be surrounded by advisors who are very aware that every item of clothing makes a statement,” she said.

Another fashion selection that drew nearly hysteric denunciations was the first lady’s decision to not wear a headscarf while visiting Saudi Arabia, a country where women are legally and religiously required to cover their hair in public.

Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud, Donald Trump and Melania Trump look at a display of Saudi modern art at the Saudi Royal Court in Riyadh on May 20, 2017.
MANDEL NGAN via Getty Images
Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud, Donald Trump and Melania Trump look at a display of Saudi modern art at the Saudi Royal Court in Riyadh on May 20, 2017.

Then there were the sky-high (and beautiful) stilettos that she was seen in while boarding a plane to Texas to survey the devastation caused by Hurricane Harvey. Although the first lady changed into sneakers before de-boarding, critics found her high-fashion footwear selection to be at odds with the sentiments elicited by Hurricane Harvey and a potential impediment when actually carrying out her official task once in Texas.

Melania Trump wears sky-high heels prior to a Marine One departure from the White House Aug. 29, 2017, to observe the effects of Hurricane Harvey.
Alex Wong via Getty Images
Melania Trump wears sky-high heels prior to a Marine One departure from the White House Aug. 29, 2017, to observe the effects of Hurricane Harvey.
 Melania Trump wears sneakers when arriving back at the White House.
Alex Wong via Getty Images
Melania Trump wears sneakers when arriving back at the White House.

It’s important to note that, at least at the start of her husband’s presidency, a lot of designers — a group that tends to be more progressive than not — simply refused to dress Trump’s wife. Since then, she’s donned the likes of Gabriela Hearst, known for her sustainable clothing, and Gucci, also associated with a progressive agenda.

But in what will likely be the fashion selection connected to her legacy, Melania wore a now-infamous Zara jacket in June 2018 while visiting a detention center for migrant children on the border. “I Really Don’t Care, Do U?” read the back of the coat. The outfit was condemned for its supposed immigration-related remarks, while others noted it was one of the few affordable items the first lady donned during her role in the White House.

Melania Trump climbs into her motorcade wearing a jacket that says "I Don't Really Care, Do U?" after traveling to Texas to visit facilities that house children taken from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border June 21, 2018.
Chip Somodevilla via Getty Images
Melania Trump climbs into her motorcade wearing a jacket that says "I Don't Really Care, Do U?" after traveling to Texas to visit facilities that house children taken from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border June 21, 2018.

Whether you’re a staunch supporter of the first lady’s style selections or an ardent fault-finder, one thing is certain: clothes elicit reactions, provoke thoughts and tug at one’s heartstrings. But that, perhaps, says more about us — a captive audience — than about the first lady herself.

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