What fashionistas expect from Melania Trump’s second term as FLOTUS

CNN
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It is one of the most important jobs never applied for. Unelected, yet inseparable from politics; constantly visible on the world stage, but rarely the one behind the microphone – for all her glamor, America’s first lady is a role of uncalled for duty that often entails intense public scrutiny, including over what she wears.

For former first ladies, fashion has been an important communication tool that shows what they stand for individually. Michelle Obama – who could transform a designer’s career with a single photograph – used clothing as a means to platform and support diversity in the fashion world. During former President Barack Obama’s tenure, she frequently wore looks by up-and-coming talents such as Jason Wu, Fe Noel, Jonathan Simkhai, Pyer Moss, and Isabel Toledo (the Cuban-American designer became a household name after she created Obama’s 2009 inauguration dress). And although Dr. Jill Biden has reached out to more traditional brands in the past four years — Oscar de la Renta, Tom Ford and Ralph Lauren, to name a few — the symbolism was at times literally sewn into her outfits. During her husband’s 2021 inauguration concert, Biden wore a custom Gabriela Hearst gown embroidered with federal flowers from every state and territory of the United States.

Melania Trump, who will soon resume her post as first lady, has yet to follow suit in such sartorial storytelling. During President-elect Donald Trump’s first term in office, the Slovenian-born former model arrived perfectly coiffed and statuesque in her dizzying Louboutin stilettos and tailored Christian Dior skirt suits. But there was seemingly little narrative depth to her wardrobe choices, apart from a few eyebrow-raising exceptions: fuchsia pussybow blouse she wore just days after her husband’s controversial comments about groping women (from a 2005 tape) came to light, or “I Really Don’t Care, Do U?” Zara jacket worn to visit a shelter for immigrant children on the US-Mexico border. (She later clarified that the phrase was a message to the left-wing media).

And while many first ladies have made a point of wearing American-made looks, Trump seemed to worship at the altar of European luxury in Valentino, Versace and Chanel. She even wore a black tuxedo jacket from Dolce & Gabbana for her official first lady portrait. Despite her husband’s mantra at the time being “Buy American, Hire American,” Trump was rarely seen in anything homemade after her sky blue Ralph Lauren inauguration outfit. It was confusing, and for some, disrespectful. “I think if you’re (associated with) an elected official and if you’re representing American workers, then you should make that a high priority in your decisions about what to buy,” said New York-based designer Nina McLemore, whose designs have been worn by Hillary Clinton and Senator Elizabeth Warren. “Whether she likes it or not, she has a responsibility. And that is to represent the constituency that elected her (man).

However, how many choices Melania had in the matter is up for debate. Dressing the First Lady is a career-defining achievement that most American brands can only dream of. But the former president’s divisive politics meant the outwardly liberal fashion industry often kept his wife at bay. Independent designer Sophie Theallet, whose clothes were worn regularly by Obama, wrote an open letter in 2016 refused to “dress or in any way associate with the next first lady.” Marc Jacobs told WWD he had “no interest” in working with Trump, while Christian Siriano reiterated that as a gay man he could not “support a campaign where I may not have the same rights.Instead, Trump often turned to off-the-rack Net-a-Porter pieces she bought herself, according to Kate Bennett, CNN’s former White House correspondent and author of the 2019 biography “Free, Melania.”

“Melania came from (the back of) Michelle Obama, who really considered fashion an art form,” Bennett said in a phone call. “She also lacked the backbone of what the industry wanted to reflect, which frankly was not her husband’s politics.”

Eight years later, where does the fashion industry stand on her? The question is met with a wall of silence. Several top American designers — including Tom Ford, Carolina Herrera, Michael Kors and Hearst — who have each dressed at least one first lady, did not respond to CNN’s request for comment on whether they would be open to working with Trump. Ralph Lauren, who recently received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from the Biden administration and made his first inaugural coat in 2017, also did not respond. But a spokesperson for Oscar de la Renta’s eponymous label — whose designs have been worn by every first lady since Jackie Kennedy — said over email that the brand is “always honored to be asked to dress the first lady of the United States,” adding that its mission is to “make her look and feel her best regardless of politics.” And smaller, emerging designers may be more excited to dress the future first lady, but Bennett speculates that “it’s not really interesting” to Trump.

The future first lady can of course wear whoever she wants, regardless of whether the labels actively participate in purchasing, styling or designing outfits for her. With or without the help of American designers, there’s no doubt she strives to look her best – with Washington Post fashion writer Rachel Tashjian notes last April that the future first lady “dressed more like a woman enjoying a nice afternoon at Neiman Marcus.”

“She’s driven by the beauty of the clothes,” said Bennett, who added that Trump is unlikely to reinforce the message of soft power in her husband’s second term. “She’s into what she likes, what looks good, what her taste is… When I talk to people in Washington, they say, ‘Oh, I’m so glad fashion is coming back. Never mind whatever you think of (Donald Trump), I can’t wait to see (Melania Trump’s) outfits.”

Even if the elusive “American-made” fashion houses were to start lining up at the White House, Bennett believes it could be a case of too little, too late. “I think everything is partisan. Even fashion. Should that be the case? I don’t know. It’s not for me to decide, but no one has experienced it more than Melania Trump,” Bennett said. “She has a long memory. She’ll remember the people who supported her and she’ll remember the ones who didn’t.”

But designer McLemore — who said she would “absolutely” dress Trump if the opportunity presented itself — suggested the first lady might do well to consider the symbolism of her outfit this time around. “It’s a fine line between dressing how you see yourself and your personality and understanding that you’re actually on stage wearing a costume,” McLemore said.

Nichola D. Gutgold, professor and at-large member of the First Ladies Association for Research and Education (FLARE) — a university-affiliated initiative that examines the impact and legacy of first ladies — predicts that we may simply see her less. In November, CNN reported that Trump, who has been notably absent from the campaign trail, is unlikely to move into the White House full-time. “She’s very aloof,” Gutgold said of Zoom. “I think (events) will be carefully selected and the schedule will be much easier. And maybe she won’t need as big a wardrobe as a very active first lady.”

A triple standard

It’s no secret that the president’s wife faces a certain type of double standard: their looks are dissected under a microscope, while their husbands’ often nondescript tailoring is often taken at face value. “I suspect that when we elect a female president of the United States, the first gentleman will not be tortured too much about the kind of suit he wears,” Gutgold said.

Throughout history, first ladies have struggled to please everyone with their clothing choices – regardless of decade or political party. “I remember Nancy Reagan getting in trouble because she had very expensive clothes,” Gutgold said. Rosalynn Carter similarly outraged designers when she chose to repeat a dress for the late Jimmy Carter’s inauguration in 1977. “She (re)wore the dress she wore when her husband was inaugurated as governor because she loved it so much and was, of course, very frugal. But it caused American designers to stall,” Gutgold added.

Even Jackie Kennedy—who was hailed for her always appropriate, timeless dress sense—sometimes shied away from the unwritten mandate to wear American clothes. “She recognized that there had to (be) some fashion diplomacy,” Gutgold said, “and chose more American designers, but I would say not always. The day her husband was murdered, as we all sadly remember, she wore a pink Chanel -suit on.”

In Trump’s case, the double standard is intensified to another degree. “She’s beautiful and dresses in a high fashion way,” McLemore said. “So people will comment on her, her clothes, whatever.”

Bennett agrees that Trump appears less relatable than other first ladies. While the press was writing fully priced round-ups of her expensive outfits, Biden, was praised for her down-to-earth dress sense. “(Jill’s) taste is very expensive,” Bennett said. “But just because she’s Jill from Philly and she wears it in a different way… But it’s still a $5,000 dress she’s wearing to an elementary school visit.”

Studying Trump’s image-making is, for better or worse, one of the few windows into an otherwise impenetrable figure’s worldview. With limited press access and few speeches to interpret, onlookers are forced to analyze her carefully composed exterior.

“It’s very difficult for anyone who has been with Donald Trump for more than 20 years to make their voice heard,” Bennett said. “The room’s oxygen is being sucked out by the person next to you. You have to find a different way to make people look, and I think she has been very effective.”

Gutgold hopes that the optics will one day matter less. “I think it would be a step forward for the president’s spouse to express themselves as they wish,” she said. “But so much of American politics, of politics globally, is played out visually,” she added. “A lot of people around the world will have their TVs on (during) Inauguration Day. They might not even have the volume turned up, but they’ll be half-watching as they go about their lives.”

“That’s one of the reasons so much of this matters, because it’s going to be a global event. That’s the visual nature of our world.”

This article was updated to reflect when Donald Trump’s taped comments about groping women were made.