How Melania Trump’s Hat Almost Didn’t Make It to the Inauguration

Melania Trump’s look for husband Donald Trump’s second inauguration was a head-turner—and almost fell victim to a devastating wardrobe malfunction.

The incoming First Lady chose a deep navy and ivory ensemble designed by Adam Lippes for her husband’s swearing-in ceremony, going for classic tailoring details over flashy design or bright colors. The look was topped off with a boater hat created by Eric Javits, constructed of the same navy double-faced wool and trimmed with an ivory ribbon.

In an email to Vanity Fair, Javits revealed that though he does not typically create custom orders, when he was contacted by Melania’s stylist Herve Pierre requesting a twist on one of his summer boater hats—Trump already owned and loved one—the Florida-based designer took on what he called “one of the greatest honors of my career.” Trump and Javits never had direct contact, he explains; rather, Pierre guided him through her wishes.

Javits hand-sewed about 92 percent of the hat’s seams using couture techniques, he said, and “No other hands touched, (nor eyes saw) the hat prior to Herve Pierre and the first Lady receiving it.”

But when it was delivered for Melania’s final fitting in New York, “the carton arrived wet and crushed; the hat inside, irreparably damaged.”

In what he called “a bit of a cliffhanger,” Javits created a second hat in under four days. “Mrs. Trump’s stylist, Herve Pierre, picked it up from me in Miami and personally transported it back to the First Lady,” Javits told Vanity Fair, who was “at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach for the days preceding the inauguration.”

Javits said that his goal is to “flatter and enhance every kind of face” with his designs and that it “was not difficult to do, in that Mrs. Trump is blessed with great bone structure, beauty, and a wonderful sense of style.”

President Trump praised his wife’s style in remarks to supporters shortly after his swearing-in, but couldn’t resist poking fun at her ensemble. “I have a first lady who has been incredible,” he said. “I shouldn’t say this. I’m going to get hell when I say this, but her feet are absolutely aching.”

As for the hat, which she was seen holding in place as she and Trump walked departing President Joe Biden and Dr. Jill Biden to their helicopter: “We went out to the helicopter, though, just prior to this, and said goodbye, and the wind is blowing like crazy, and with the hat that she’s wearing, she almost blew away,” Trump said.

“We almost lost her,” he continued. “She was being elevated off the ground. She almost blew away.”

Viewers at home couldn’t help but notice, too, that the hat’s broad brim prevented Trump from planting a kiss on his wife’s cheek at the ceremony, fumbling a rare attempt at PDA. He just couldn’t quite reach.

“I made fun of the kiss but upon further review the hat got in the way,” Barstool Sports’ Dave Portnoy tweeted with a clip of the moment.