On Melania Trump’s style, Chrissy Teigen, in praising former US first lady, spoke for many

Melania always looked on point, even on the rare occasions her fashion choices were tone-deaf, as Chrissy Teigen acknowledged in a backhanded way on Twitter
The former model spoke for many other fashion lovers and commentators whose political leanings meant they shied away from praising the now former first lady

Vincenzo La Torre

Published: 4:15am, 26 Jan 2021

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On her last day as US first lady, Melania Trump pulled out all the stops to make a fashionable departure as she boarded Marine One to leave Washington for Florida with her husband, Donald Trump.

She was clad in a sombre, all-black outfit that included a Chanel jacket, a Dolce & Gabbana dress and carried an ultra luxurious Hermès Birkin bag in black crocodile leather.

When the US presidential jet landed in Palm Beach, Florida, where she and Donald are now based, she descended to the tarmac wearing a boho-chic kaftan dress in a vibrant pattern from Gucci.

Up until her very last hours at the White House, Melania stayed on message: she chose two quintessentially Italian and two quintessentially French brands, once again going against the tradition of US first ladies wearing American designers in order to show support for the US fashion industry.

Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump step out of Marine One at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on their way to Florida on January 20. Melania wore a black Chanel jacket and Dolce & Gabbana dress, which she later changed out of aboard Air Force One. Photo: AFP

Melania had worn those same labels at some key moments during her tenure as first lady: she famously wore a Dolce & Gabbana floral appliqué jacket at the G7 summit in Sicily in 2017; a chinoiserie dress from Gucci to attend a state dinner at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing hosted by Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife, Peng Liyuan, that same year; and a Chanel haute couture dress for a 2018 state dinner in honour of French president Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Brigitte, at the White House.

Her predilection for high-end European labels is a stark contrast to the fashion choices of Joe Biden, Kamala Harris and their consorts at the Inauguration of President Biden, which took place only a few hours after the Trumps’ departure from Washington.

Melania Trump, wearing a chinoiserie dress from Gucci, walks with Chinese first lady Peng Liyuan in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing in 2017. Photo: AFP

Melania Trump steps out for an event during the G7 summit in Sicily wearing a US$51,000 floral appliqué jacket by Dolce & Gabbana. Photo: AP

At their swearing-in ceremony, both Biden and Harris wore US labels: Biden chose Ralph Lauren, a brand that has become synonymous with all things American, while Harris wore an outfit from an emerging African-American designer, Christopher John Rogers.

First lady Jill Biden went for another up-and-coming label, Markarian, designed by Alexandra O’Neill, while Harris’s husband, Doug Emhoff, also wore Ralph Lauren.

‘Wonderful to work with’: Vivienne Tam on dressing Jill Biden

During her four years at the White House, Melania received a lot of flak for her high-end fashion choices, but truth be told, many US designers, including Tom Ford – who also acts as chairman of the Council of Fashion Designers of America – had openly expressed their unwillingness to dress her because of her husband’s policies.

While her legacy as first lady is still a matter of contention – she kept a relatively low profile during her husband’s four years in office and often came across as aloof and out of touch – it’s hard to fault her fashion choices.

She barely made a fashion faux pas, and even when her outfits came across as tone deaf and borderline offensive – the I really don’t care jacket that she wore while visiting immigrant children at a detention centre on the US-Mexico border comes to mind – she still looked on point.

Chrissy Teigen and John Legend leave their hotel in Washington to attend the inauguration of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris as Us president and vice-president. Photo: AP

Even staunch Democrat Chrissy Teigen, the former model turned lifestyle guru and Twitter sensation, had to admit that Melania’s “killed the White House fashion game” as first lady. “Literally the only thing she did, so do not take that one single thing she did away from her,” she wrote in a now-deleted tweet.

Teigen, who attended the Biden Inauguration with singer husband John Legend and has in the past been involved in Twitter spats with Trump and his followers, was savaged for praising the first lady’s fashion sense on social media.

Therein lies the problem: it’s hard to stay objective and assess Melania’s fashion without being reminded of her husband’s controversial presidency, which greatly diminished America’s role on the global stage and caused much suffering and division in the already polarised country. But looking at Melania’s style through the lens of her husband’s divisive presidency is a mistake.

Chrissy Teigen (centre) and her mother shop for President Joe Biden and Vice-President Kamala Harris souvenirs during the 59th presidential inauguration. Chrissy Teigen spoke up on Twitter for Melania Trump’s fashion sense, speaking for many who could not bring themselves to do so because of Donald Trump’s politics. Photo: AP

In spite of her own political views, Teigen had the guts to praise Melania’s style and to say what many other fashion lovers and commentators have shied away from expressing because of their political leanings.