How Melania Trump Shops
Earlier this week, President-elect Donald Trump said in the New York Times that “all the dress shops are sold out in Washington. It’s hard to find a great dress for this inauguration.” Though some question the validity of those statements, one person sure to have a much talked about look is incoming first lady Melania Trump.
Though she largely took a back seat to her husband on the campaign trail, Trump’s fashion choices have been widely dissected — remember the hot pink Gucci pussy-bow blouse she sported at the second presidential debate or the one-shoulder, white Ralph Lauren jumpsuit she wore on election night?
Ahead, we take a look at how our soon-to-be FLOTUS approaches her signature style.
She buys her clothes online… herself. On the opening day of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland in July, Trump wore a cotton silk, off-white Roksanda dress that she purchased from Net-a-Porter. “She isn’t working with any designers” and simply liked the dress enough to buy it, according to a spokeswoman at the time. She followed the same Net-a-Porter formula when she bought a wool coat with embossed buttons by Olivier Rousteing for Balmain to wear on Election Day. Clearly, Trump knows herself and her style well enough to not bother working with a stylist.
She enlists her famous designer friends. For New Year’s Eve in Palm Beach, Fla., at Mar-a-Lago, Trump proudly wore a bow-bedecked black dress by Italian house Dolce & Gabbana. Though designer Stefano Gabbana came under fire for dubbing her a “#DGwoman” and thanking her on Instagram after the fact, Trump has a been a longstanding client of the designers.
She invests in statement pieces. Though Trump favors American and European designers — one-shoulder Ralph Lauren jumpsuit, Gucci pussy-bow blouse, anyone? — she does go big on details. None of her pieces read as minimal, and she loves a bold statement. Even her seemingly classic Roksanda white dress featured puffy, cropped sleeves.
The sky is the limit for the future FLOTUS. Being a member of the über-rich comes with certain perks, namely, money is no object for Trump. Though that was clear given her Election Day attire, which cost $3,990, no piece is grander than her 2005 wedding gown. With then-Vogue editor at large André Leon Talley at her side, Trump visited many of the Paris couture houses searching for her magic-moment dress, eventually selecting a $100,000 custom Christian Dior couture gown designed by John Galliano.
And if all else fails, she can make it herself. Though Trump isn’t a fashion designer, she does have an entrepreneurial spirit — she did have a QVC jewelry line that was described by the New York Times as “Louis XIV by way of Atlantic City,” and she even dabbled in a caviar skincare line. If more designers join Tom Ford, Marc Jacobs, and other high-profile fashion houses in refusing to dress the soon-to-be first lady, Trump could make her wares herself. Stepdaughter Ivanka certainly has.
Read More: The Secret Meaning of Melania Trump’s Style
