Melania Trump’s inauguration dress will make waves

On By Littum

game

This story has been updated.

First Lady Melania Trump is no stranger to turning heads with her fashion choices, and her husband’s second inauguration will be no different.

The Slovenia-born former fashion model made statements before and after her first East Wing entrance in 2017 with her opulent style choices.

From a literally priceless opening dress and a $51,000 coat to wearing a $39 jacket that said “I really don’t care, do you?” to visit a migrant detention center, the future first lady enjoys making an entrance.

“Everyone loves a good fashion moment, no matter which side of the aisle you’re on,” style strategist Lauren A. Rothman told USA TODAY.

Here’s what you need to know ahead of her Inauguration Day outfit reveal.

What will Melania wear to the inauguration ceremony?

Since her departure from the White House in 2021, spots from Melania have been rare and are expected to remain that way even after her return on Monday. The 54-year-old mother of 18-year-old Barron Trump will split her time between New York and Florida during Trump’s second term, signaling that her professional duties and appearances will be limited.

“We don’t hear a ton from her,” Rothman said. But “we see her, we process her verbal communication signals.”

It starts with her style. And at an event of the century like the inauguration, Melania is expected to send a message of patriotism and confidence.

Rothman, who has dressed inaugural guests and other high-end clients for more than 20 years, said Melania’s expected retirement from political life is sure to change her style presence, underscoring the importance of how she shows up for inauguration events.

“I think some rules are going to be rewritten, and I think she’s taking advantage of that in a positive way, to rewrite her own script about how she shows up,” Rothman said. “That might include more looks of the moving mom, getting her kid through college and continuing to protect his privacy, and not always doing it in a skirt suit.”

It hasn’t been revealed what the future first lady plans to wear, but Rothman has no doubt it will be “powerful.” Possibly an “Americana moment” similar to her 2017 look, she said — a bold splash of color, and definitely a number to brave the DC cold.

“This time she’s not going to be a mannequin,” Rothman said. “She’s living her life, and her life dictates that she doesn’t want to be in the White House full time.”

‘She has changed all the rules, just like her husband’

Wearing a custom powder blue cashmere Ralph Lauren dress ensemble, Melania channeled her inner Jackie-O at her husband’s first inauguration in 2017.

With matching suede gloves and heels, the then 46-year-old wore a powder blue cropped turtleneck jacket with an up do. The price of the dress was never disclosed.

For the inaugural ball, Melania’s stylist, French-American designer Hervé Pierre, dressed her in a custom off-the-shoulder, high-slit, vanilla dress with a silk red belt, which is now at the National Museum of American History. The dress is priceless.

“She has changed all the rules, just like her husband has, for a first lady,” said Kate Andersen Brower, author of “First Women: The Grace and Power of America’s Modern First Ladies.”

Even after an election that many voters decided on the state of the economy, Brower is skeptical that Melania will downgrade her tastes to be relatable.

“I really don’t think we’ll see her wearing more affordable clothes, because she never has,” Brower said. “I think for her, she would think she’s sacrificing (lifestyle) to be first lady.”

Despite campaigning against middle- and working-class voters, the Trumps have not diminished the luxury of their lifestyle to relate to ordinary Americans. And the polls showed they didn’t need to.

“Do you see them selling Mar-a-Lago for a condo in Palm Beach?” Brower joked. “No. I don’t think she wants her personal freedom and her fashion choices (dictated).”

Americans have looked up to first ladies as figures of strength and fashion idols since Martha Washington. For Trump voters in particular, Brower said, Melania represents a modern icon.

“There’s an aspirational quality to Melania that Trump voters, I think, see her as this perfect, ideal woman, and so for her, she has a certain pressure to project that image.”