Melania Trump was a model before she became First Lady of the United States.
With fashion choices that are different than the first ladies who came before her, her
outfits have ranged from admirably diplomatic to outright insensitive.
These are some of Melania Trump's most controversial fashion moments.
Ralph's suit
The media and fashion worlds waited with bated breath to see which designer would dress Melania
Trump for Donald Trump's presidential inauguration in January 2017.
At the time, her rep announced in part to Women's Wear Daily,
"The First Lady–elect will become America's new First Lady wearing an American designer
who transformed American fashion, Ralph Lauren."
Melania Trump sported a pale blue cashmere ensemble from the American brand and she looked
lovely, but Ralph Lauren's work with the first lady riled up the Internet, with many social
media users calling for a boycott of the label.
However, Women's Wear Daily points out that the designer has never played favorites when
it comes to politics, having previously dressed Hillary Clinton, Betty Ford, and Nancy Reagan
in their clothes.
In fact, Clinton wore Ralph Lauren at the inauguration as well.
While Ralph Lauren has never made any political statements publicly, the fashion house released
a statement at the time, saying,
"The Presidential Inauguration is a time for the United States to look our best to the
world.
It was important to us to uphold and celebrate the tradition of creating iconic American
style for this moment."
"I know everyone's saying, 'Oh, it's a copy of Jackie Kennedy, they both were wearing
what was a modern take on a classic at the respective time."
Show-stealing bling
Melania wore basic, classic black for her White House portrait.
Her hair and makeup were styled in an equally classic look, with loose waves and a more
subtle smokey eye than we're used to seeing from the FLOTUS.
However, it wasn't her stunning beauty that gave many pause when the portrait was released
in April 2017 it was her massive rock.
Intentional or not, the first lady's 25-carat, 10-year anniversary ring has remained one
of the focal points of the piece.
The noteworthy bling, which was given to her by her husband in 2014, is estimated to be
worth a whopping $3 million, as Glamour reports.
The Internet was quick to note what many interpreted as a somewhat gratuitous display of wealth.
One user tweeted,
"And Melania's official portrait is out.
All the airbrushing could almost make you ignore the $3 million ring."
Another wrote,
"Really you had [to] wear that ring??
Might have been a little sympathetic with America and worn a simpler piece.
That's gaudy in more ways than 1."
Another Twitter user who wasn't too pleased with the choice asked,
"How many hungry people could your diamond ring feed?"
Monochromatic pantsuits
Just days after The Wall Street Journal reported that POTUS allegedly paid hush money to Stormy
Daniels in January 2018, Melania wore a white pantsuit to the State of the Union address.
The cream-colored selection paralleled the white ensembles that female Democrats wore
to Donald Trump's first Congressional address in 2017, Vanity Fair notes.
According to CNN, they did so in the spirit of the suffragette and women's rights movements.
Representative Lois Frankel stated on Twitter at the time,
"Tonight, Democratic Members will wear suffragette white to oppose Republican attempts to roll
back women's progress."
However, Democratic women weren't wearing white to the 2018 State of the Union.
Instead, they donned black in solidarity with the Time's Up and Me Too movements, making
Melania Trump's ivory really stand out in their sea of ebony.
What's more, when the Democrat women wore white to the February 2017 Congressional address,
the first lady donned a sequined black Michael Kors suit with a $10,000 price tag.
Of course, no one knows what Melania's motives were for either suit.
But when it comes to controversial and perhaps contrarian — statements, her clothes often
make it seem pretty black and white.
Controversial designers
In May 2017, Melania wore a floral coat by Italian designer Dolce & Gabbana for an appearance
in Italy.
The issue people had with this particular coat was that it retailed for more than $50,000,
according to The Washington Post.
Of course, this didn't bother Stefano Gabbana.
W magazine reports that he bragged about the first lady's topper option on Instagram in
a series of since-deleted posts and comments.
This wouldn't be the only time Melania came under fire for wearing the brand, largely
due to Dolce and Gabbana's own string of controversies.
Teen Vogue reports that the brand was slammed for an ad that was culturally and racially
insensitive towards Chinese people in November 2018.
Dolce and Gabbana also previously shamed body positivity activists, criticized parents who
turned to in vitro fertilization, infamously called Selena Gomez "ugly," and denounced
adoption for LGBTQ couples.
Essentially, money can buy designer clothes, but it doesn't necessarily give those designers
nor, arguably, those who wear their clothes class.
'I really don't care'
Melania Trump wore what was probably the cheapest thing in her entire wardrobe while visiting
children at a border detention center in June 2018: a $39 Zara jacket, which was later sold
for nearly $1,000, that reads "I REALLY DON'T CARE, DO U?" on the back.
While FLOTUS' rep initially told ABC News that it was just a jacket with, quote, "no
hidden message," a source cited by The New York Times claimed that the words on her back
were:
"Actually directed at anyone both outside and inside the White House who wanted to criticize
her decision to visit the children in light of the administration's aggressive immigration
policies."
During a sit-down interview with ABC News that October, Melania echoed that statement.
"It was for the people and for the left-wing media who are criticizing me.
I want to show them that I don't care."
While she didn't come out and say that she regretted the fashion choice, she did add
that she wishes everyone would focus on her actions instead of her clothing.
Hurricane heels
In August 2017, Melania joined President Donald Trump in a visit to Houston, Texas after the
area was struck by Hurricane Harvey.
While the former Apprentice star wore khakis, a windbreaker, and what Vanity Fair described
as "sturdy shoes," the first lady donned a jacket, aviators, black pants and, well, stilettos
to board Air Force One.
Naturally, Twitter had a lot to say at the sight of the high-heeled FLOTUS visiting sites
that had dealt with nearly 30 inches of rain.
Hurricane Harvey left at least 10 people dead and destroyed countless homes, so this fashion
move struck many as insensitive or, at best, tone deaf.
Soon after the backlash, Melania was snapped sporting sneakers but later that week, she
was once again photographed in heels at post-hurricane sites.
Manolo Blahnik, who designed the stilettos, later defended Trump's footwear foibles, stating
to Harper's Bazaar in September 2017,
"I don't think she's insensitive.
I think she's working nonstop to make it work possibly she was just wearing the shoes she
left New York in.
Yes, I think probably she could have worn Hunter boots, but she was wearing what she
was wearing."
In fairness, maybe the first lady thought the heels elevated her enough to keep her
ankles dry?
Gardening gear
When most people garden, they wear old, janky clothes they don't mind getting ripped, dirty,
or otherwise destroyed in the sometimes grueling, often filth-inducing process.
This may or may not include Melania Trump.
Perhaps learning from wearing heels to hurricane-stricken locales, the first lady sported a confusingly
clean combo of Converse sneakers and jeans to harvest veggies in the White House Kitchen
Garden at a Boys and Girls Club event in September 2017.
Not so unusual, right?
Except she paired all that seemingly down-to-earth gear with a plaid shirt … from Balmain.
The button-down top boasted a price tag of $1,380, according to Elle.
In fairness to the first lady, this was a lot cheaper than her other infamous outfits
and may well have been, relatively speaking, the closest thing she owned to a throwaway
item.
Still, as Chrissy Teigen cracked about Trump's spotless kicks on Twitter,
"These look exactly like my workout soles.
Because I work out as much as this chick gardens."
'Out of Africa' moment
When Melania traveled to Africa in October 2018, her choice of accessories struck some
as culturally insensitive.
While on a Kenyan safari excursion, FLOTUS sported a white pith helmet, which The Guardian
reports served as a symbol of colonialism and imperialism, as they were frequently worn
by European explorers and imperialists in the 1800s.
Eventually, the helmets became part of military gear, furthering the image of oppression they
can evoke in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East.
One Twitter user wrote,
"That pith helmet you have carried was used by colonialists during the dark days.
Doesn't sit well with us Africans.
Who advised you?"
Of course, it wasn't just the historical implications of Trump's ensemble that drew reactions.
According to Vogue, the look was also compared to the garb worn by Oscar-winning goddess
Meryl Streep in 1985's Out of Africa, a film in which Streep's character essentially plays
a white savior in 1937.
Another outfit, topped with a cream fedora with black band, drew comparisons to Paul
Freeman's character in 1981's Raiders of the Lost Ark and Hannibal Lecter during his visit
to the Bahamas in 1991's Silence of the Lambs.
"I want to talk about my trip and not what I wear, and that's very important, what I
do."
Across the pond
Ahead of First Couple Donald and Melania Trump's state visit to the U.K. in June 2019, the
first lady took off in an adorable Gucci dress printed with London landmarks like Big Ben.
Upon arriving across the pond, she reportedly took style cues from British royals.
While out for lunch with Prince Charles and his wife Camilla, Melania wore a custom white
dress and hat ensemble with a navy blue belt and trimmings.
The look was noticeably reminiscent of similar outfits rocked by Prince Harry's mother and
later by his wife, Meghan Markle.
However, FLOTUS drew comparisons not just to the royals, but also to Audrey Hepburn's
Eliza Doolittle character in 1964's My Fair Lady.
Melania looked lovely, of course, but the outfit was, yet again, a Dolce & Gabbana number.
Clearly, the first lady looking her best but not without a fair bit of controversy is an
ongoing phenomenon that probably won't end any time soon.
But perhaps Omarosa Manigault Newman put it best in her book, Unhinged: An Insider's Account
of the Trump White House, when she said,
"Taken as a whole, all of her style rebellions have served the same purpose, and not only
misdirection and distraction strategies her husband knows all too well."
Those nude leggings
In December 2018, Melania Trump played tricks on the eyes of the whole world when she stepped
out in nude leather leggings that, at first — and sometimes second and third — glance
looked like her legs were just, well, nude.
The leggings were paired with matching shoes and a green coat, making some spectators believe
she was dressed like a really elegant Central Park flasher.
However, if you focused on her knees, you could see the material crinkle as she moved,
and there was also a visible seam going down the length of her stems.
All in all, this outfit wasn't so much offensive to anyone as it was baffling, much like her
decision to wear sunglasses at night.
While discussing Melania's penchant for headline-making fashion moments, Omarosa also wrote in her
tell-all book,
"As a student of fashion and a keenly image-conscious woman, she knows that every one of her style
choices will be scrutinized and debated."
Perhaps Melania Trump could've seen the optics of this one coming.
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