Melania’s hat overshadows Trump’s inaugural
More than what US President Donald Trump had to say in his inaugural speech, it was probably what First Lady Melania Trump was wearing that went viral on social media. It was that wide-brimmed boater hat, in particular, concealing her eyes and keeping well-wishers and media at bay. Even her husband had to struggle to manage a kiss.
“It’s her very own border wall,” quipped Jimmy Fallon on the Tonight Show, adding, “Was she there for the inauguration or to kill Indiana Jones?” On Meta, it was declared “Dark Maga” and “mob wife at a funeral.” Vanessa Friedman, chief fashion critic of the New York Times, felt the look was “more royal family governess than necessarily American first lady.”
This is no surprise since the Trumps are known for their fondness of the British royal family. Princess Diana wore a similar style in white during a 1983 tour of New Zealand but by tipping the hat backward and wearing her “people’s princess” smile, she gave it a cheery vibe. The present Princess of Wales, Kate Middleton, was just as friendly sporting an enormous saucer-like hat by Philip Treacy for the monarch’s birthday parade in 2023.
There’s nothing unusual about wearing hats at the inauguration, of course, since previous first ladies have done so: Mamie Eisenhower wore them with her fur coats and giant floral corsages. Jackie Kennedy had a matching pillbox hat with her A-line dress and coat by Oleg Cassini, and Nancy Reagan did all-Hollywood glamour matching a red hat with a red coat. The last one to wear an inaugural hat was actually Hillary Clinton but just like her predecessors, the head gear was above the eyes, the better to show the nation, and the world, the face of the new administration.
When Michelle Obama became FLOTUS (First Lady of the United States), no hat was used, to signal a less stuffy presidency which was marked by her more relaxed style of mixing high and low fashion, wearing an Isabel Toledo wool and lace dress with J. Crew gloves that communicated her being a first lady for the people.
Melania actually tried to showcase this modernity and accessibility during Trump’s first presidential inauguration in 2017, wearing a Ralph Lauren baby blue coat that recalled Jackie’s in 1961, thereby channeling the all-American dream.
For the rest of Trump’s first term, however, she gravitated towards European brands, mostly off-the-rack. She didn’t really have much choice since the American fashion elites practically shunned her because they disapproved of her husband’s racist and misogynist stand on many issues.
Melania created many controversies of her own: Her 2016 pussy-bow blouse was worn just days after Trump was quoted in a video saying, “When you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. Grab them by the pussy.” It was either she did not know the name of that bow or just wanted to irritate her husband. When visiting separated families at the US-Mexico border in 2018, she chose a Zara jacket which read “I REALLY DON’T CARE. DO YOU?” Although netizens called it a big fashion mistake, President Trump confirmed on Twitter that it was worn on purpose—a swipe at left-wing media. On a trip to Africa, Melania wore a pith helmet that drew flak for being culturally insensitive since the headgear had a dark colonial history. She addressed it by saying, “I want to talk about US Aid and my initiatives. I wish people would focus on what I do, not what I wear.”
But as First Lady, she represents the nation, making what she wears in public a matter of the people’s concern. Those who came before her had to undergo the same scrutiny. Frances Folsom Cleveland, at 21, was younger than most and liked to show off her bare neck, shoulders and arms, scandalizing the Women’s Christian Temperance Union who issued a petition asking her to dress more appropriately. Abraham Lincoln’s wife, Mary Todd, was criticized by the public for her ball gown purchases that would cost over $2,000 during the Civil War. Rosalyn Carter, on the other hand, raised many eyebrows for repeating dresses, even her inaugural gown—something unforgivable considering the nation’s status as a superpower. Even the fashion darling Michelle Obama was not forgiven for wearing shorts on a trip to the Grand Canyon, a choice she regretted, saying, “It created a huge stink.”
One thing Melania got right for this inaugural was employing American designers even if she couldn’t get Lauren again since he chose Jill Biden whom he has been dressing up for the past four years. Not to mention that President Biden recently awarded Lauren the Presidential Medal of Freedom—the highest civilian honor—making him the first fashion designer to receive the distinction.
Whereas the outgoing first lady wore a softer silhouette in vibrant purple, a bipartisan color choice, Melania chose somber navy for her severe, military style, double-breasted coat and pencil skirt designed by Adam Lippes, whose team in New York hand-stitched the ensemble together with her ivory silk blouse. Another New Yorker, Eric Javits, designed the hat.
The whole ensemble was quite combative, with the tipped hat making her look aloof, if not sinister. It was like a repeat of the Zara jacket without the words, projecting a certain defiance. Even if rumors keep circulating about her estranged relationship with Trump, what she wore no doubt spelled solidarity: Whatever the elitists and intelligentsia have to say, Trump won again with the majority of Americans casting their vote and he will do what he wants. The vibe of her outfit was a portent of things to come as her husband rules with an iron fist, presaged by his directives, fulfilling all his campaign promises, from pardoning the prisoners convicted in the January 6 Capitol attack to deporting all illegal immigrants. The first daughter, Ivanka, was also in consonance, wearing a forest green beret and hourglass skirt-suit reminiscent of British royal outfits after the war. With military and royalty as pegs, and given the president’s autocratic tendencies, it looks like the Trump dynasty will establish a reign of absolute rule and will defend their kingdom till the end.
