The real star of the inauguration? Melania’s hat. The 47th (and 45th) first lady of the United States might have launched a meme coin cryptocurrency ahead of the ceremony, but it was her headwear that had the day’s big meme energy.
It’s not the first time an accessory has stolen the show at a political event. During the otherwise formal 2021 inauguration of Joe Biden, an image went viral of Vermont senator Bernie Sanders sitting on a folding chair looking cold and grumpy in a face mask and surprisingly folksy pair of brown mittens. And hats have been a prominent feature of Trump’s political soap opera, from the Maga baseball caps to pink pussy hats.
What was so notable about this headwear? Shaped somewhere between a boater and a Spanish Cordovan hat, the navy style with a low crown, wide brim and white band shaded Mrs Trump’s eyes, obscuring her whole face from certain angles and adding to her signature air of inscrutability. It was literally throwing shade.
Just before the ceremony in the Capitol Rotunda building, Donald Trump leaned in to kiss his wife but couldn’t get close enough because of the brim, delivering an air kiss instead. This was interpreted by some armchair marriage guidance counsellors as a reflection on their relationship. Was Melania thinking “four ‘mwah’ years of this”?
It was objectively quite a stylish hat, and showcased the former model’s sharp jawline, but social media commentators went to town on drawing comparisons with the McDonald’s character The Hamburglar (amusing, given that Trump served in the fast-food chain as a photo op during the election campaign), Jim Carrey’s character in The Mask and Michael Jackson in his “Smooth Criminal” video. To me it also echoed Diana, Princess of Wales, with a dash of Norland Nanny.
The hat, by New York-based designer Eric Javits, was teamed with a navy silk wool knee-length coat and pencil skirt, and an ivory silk crepe blouse, created specially for the occasion by independent American designer Adam Lippes. Leather gloves and high stiletto court shoes added a touch of the dominatrix.
I thought the coat elegant in its simplicity, but rather severe for an inauguration. The look was a lot tougher in tone than the softer baby blue outfit she chose for Trump’s first inauguration ceremony in 2017, telling us that this time round we’re dealing with a pro. The 2017 knee-length dress in double-faced cashmere and a matching cropped jacket with high collar and long gloves was made by Ralph Lauren, who has since switched allegiance to Jill Biden (and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Joe Biden). For the inauguration, Jill Biden wore a belted Ralph Lauren coat and dress in royal purple, a conciliatory bipartisan shade.
Although Ralph Lauren dressed Melania for Trump’s earlier inauguration, many designers, including Marc Jacobs, went on record at the time saying that they would not be prepared to dress the first lady, and her relationship with much of the American fashion community has remained frosty since. In November, Melania’s stylist Hervé Pierre told WWD that almost all the outfits he chooses for Flotus are bought directly, rather than working with designers, “for the good reason that the fashion industry is not very welcoming [of Trump]. That’s no secret,” he said. “Some are very open-minded and would be able to do something special. But a lot of people are not.” He added that in a designer’s shop on Madison Avenue he was told that he was “not welcome here”.
But Lippes dressing Melania could suggest that a gentle thawing is on the cards, and more brands in the fashion world may soon work with the Trumps, the first family and other members of the new US administration.
In her husband’s earlier term, Melania paid little heed to the tradition of first ladies and female politicians championing American brands at state events, favouring European luxury labels such as Dior and Dolce & Gabbana. However, a press release touted that Lippes’ outfit was hand-sewn in New York City, suggesting she might actually now be using her wardrobe to reflect the president’s stated desire to promote US products and manufacturing.
-Lippes, a Buffalo-born alumnus of Ralph Lauren and Oscar de la Renta, told the FT via email that he “was contacted by her [Melania Trump’s] team in November and offered this opportunity. I was boarding a plane to Japan, and I immediately accepted — as an American designer there is no greater honour than dressing a first lady.”
Asked whether he had concerns about dressing Melania, Lippes wrote: “I’ve been fortunate to dress previous first ladies, including Jill Biden and Michelle Obama, and there is no bigger stage than the inauguration platform. It is an honour to be chosen and trusted by the incoming first lady for such an important and historic event.”
Another brand willing to be associated with the Trumps is Oscar de la Renta, now designed by Laura Kim and Fernando Garcia. (Although some scathing comments on the brand’s Instagram account reinforce the idea that dressing the Trumps is a rather poisoned chalice.)
The duo created the peony-pink cashmere coat with scarf wrap worn by vice-president JD Vance’s wife Usha Vance to the inauguration ceremony, as well as the black velvet strapless gown the second lady wore to the vice-president’s dinner. Both were stylish in a safe, feminine way, but I was less keen on the evening dress the US label made for Ivanka Trump. Covered in individually embroidered crystals and cabochon pearls and worn with a silver stole, it felt a bit washed-out given the extensive workmanship. Better was the forest-green skirt suit and Lady Dior bag that she sported for the inauguration, with their echoes of the British royal family — presumably watched with approval by LVMH’s Bernard, Delphine and Alexandre Arnault, who were in attendance.
Trump himself wore a slightly more interesting tie than usual — purple with red spots — but it was his son Barron Trump who served something new with his gel-slicked hair, a look shared by Donald Trump Jr. Republican Gen Zs could well embrace the greased-back style favoured by Gordon Gekko in Wall Streetwith its corporate 1980s machismo. The sight of billionaires and CEOs taking selfies and chatting as if they were in the best seats at a sporting event, only minus the hot dogs, was surreal, but their dark suits and either red or blue ties were largely unremarkable.
The swearing in was followed on Monday evening by multiple inaugural balls. For the Commander-in-Chief Ball, Ivanka Trump wore a princess-style black-and-white Givenchy haute couture dress with floral motifs inspired by an archive design from 1953. Givenchy is owned by LVMH and appointed a new creative director, Sarah Burton, in September, so the Arnaults will have a spring in their step. Trump, unsurprisingly, was in a black-tie suit — this one less shapeless than usual — though it would have looked smarter if he had kept it buttoned up for the dance.
Still, it was well co-ordinated with a monochromatic Melania. Her stylist, Pierre, also a designer, made the first lady an ivory silk crepe dress with strips of black silk curving round it in a zigzag flourish. Pierre posted a sketch to Instagram which said “how it started . . . a simple scribble with a marker on a piece of paper can be the beginning of an idea”. It echoed the scribble made when warming up a fountain pen. Perhaps before signing “close to 100 executive orders”.
Stylistically, it was a fairly polished day. But after Trump made his combative speech, suddenly the hat memes didn’t feel so pressing any more.
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