“I have a first lady by my side who has been extraordinary.” Donald Trump has just accompanied Joe and Jill Biden to the gates of the Capitol. After taking the oath, he launched into a second speech and took the opportunity to offer his wife Melania a heartfelt tribute. The crowd, already won over, applauds wildly. “I shouldn’t say that, I feel like I’m going to take it for granted but her feet hurt horribly in her heels,” continues the 47e president of the world’s leading power. Embarrassed laughter. “You know, with the wind outside, there was a problem. Her hat almost flew off. She also almost got blown away by the wind, we almost lost her! But I wanted to say that she was a remarkable first lady.”
The person concerned would have done without this confidence. However, it’s difficult to escape this hat which surprised the whole world… with its presence! Because it is clear that Melania is almost the only woman to wear it. Only Ivanka Trump, his daughter-in-law, chose to imitate him. But his is much more discreet and does not hide his face. Jill Biden, Kamala Harris, Hillary Clinton, Lara Trump… All are bareheaded. So why such a choice? In 2017, Melania looked radiant in a sky blue ensemble. We only saw his eyes. In 2025, she seems to be hiding under her headgear. “Hats have long been an essential part of a First Lady’s inauguration outfit, pillbox from Jackie Kennedy to those worn by Nancy Reagan at each of her husband’s inaugurations, the first ‘Reagan red’ and the second blue”, nuance BBC fashion journalist Ellie Violet Bramley. “But if some hats are a simple accessory , others embody more the energy of the main character, as is the case today with Melania Trump.”
What character does she intend to play? What energy? The president’s wife, extremely discreet during this second campaign, only really made people talk about her at the time of the release of her autobiograph – soberly titled Melania – last October. She defended the right to abortion, going against her husband. A confession which, far from embarrassing Donald, made it possible to reassure the female electorate, and thus play, for the Republicans, on both counts. But this little help should be his only “political act”. In Washington, no one really expects her to occupy the public sphere even if her appearances – or rather her absences – will once again be closely observed.
There remains fashion. Melania Trump is pretty good at this game. Her past as a model speaks for her. She thus seduced the British, and even Queen Elizabeth II, with another hat, worn in 2019 at Buckingham Palace, and curiously resembling that of the 2025 investiture, but with inverted colors, like in a game of mirror: cream with navy blue ribbon versus navy blue with light ribbon. Did the First Lady want to repeat the feat? After all, the royal fascinator is the nec plus ultra chic across the Channel. Why not reintroduce it to Uncle Sam’s country?
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Hats haven’t always brought Melania luck. Thus, during an official visit to Kenya in 2019, she was strongly criticized for a helmet deemed neocolonial. Another misstep, a jacket chosen to visit a shelter for refugee children on the Mexican border in 2018, with this bravado and particularly poorly chosen inscription on the back: “I really don’t care, do you?” (I don’t really care, don’t you?).
Melania style nevertheless respects one rule: highlighting American fashion. In this, she is no different from a Camilla or a Kate, diplomats to the tips of their nails. But here again, the 2025 inauguration marks a (slight) break. While in 2017, the First Lady opted for the very famous Ralph Lauren, two lesser-known stylists had the honor of dressing her this time: New York fashion designer Adam Lippes and milliner Eric Javits. The first has just opened a store in Palm Beach, very close to Mar-a-Lago, the beloved Trump residence. What if Melania’s main message to Americans was above all not to get too attached?
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