It wasn’t exactly dress whites, but it was dressy and white, with thin blue pinstripes and shiny silver buttons. And while it may not have had epaulets, it did have shoulder pads.
As Melania Trump took her place next to her husband in the presidential viewing stand to watch the Army’s 250th anniversary parade, her suit suggested that if he was the commander in chief, she was his general. As he has his own uniform of Pavlovian patriotism (navy suit, white shirt and red tie), she has hers. Regalia takes all forms.
As such, the suit was something of a riposte to those who would still see her as a reluctant political spouse: Whether or not she spends all her time in the White House, she’s there, and appropriately costumed for key scenes like this one.
And it was fully in line with the almost militantly controlled and contained public image Mrs. Trump had been crafting since the end of her husband’s first term, when she wore an army green Alexander McQueen skirt suit to give her speech at the Republican National Convention in 2020. She even wore a trench coat, a garment originally made for British soldiers in World War I, to the White House Easter Egg Roll in April.
Politics is a battlefield, she has always seemed to be saying, and you have to armor yourself accordingly. Even if only in a buttoned-up skirt suit, with stilettos on your feet instead of in your pockets.
If this particular skirt suit — a double-breasted cotton twill blazer with a matching high-waisted pencil skirt — was a little more navy (or country club navy) than army, it still had an awfully regimental vibe.
Though Mrs. Trump has generally favored pieces from European luxury brands such as Christian Dior (which she wore to attend her husband’s speech to a joint session of Congress) and Dolce & Gabbana (which she wore for her official portrait), her parade suit was by the American designer Adam Lippes, and made in New York.
The outfit is currently for sale on his website for $2,490 for the jacket, and $1,190 for the skirt (with it, Mrs. Trump wore denim Christian Louboutin heels).
This is the second time Mrs. Trump has worn Mr. Lippes for a major moment of political theater. Her husband’s second inauguration was the first time she wore his work: a custom navy coat and skirt with an ivory blouse.
Then Mr. Lippes, who also dressed the former first ladies Jill Biden and Michelle Obama and is known for clothes that telegraph a well-behaved elegance, received some criticism on social media for dressing Mrs. Trump. However, he later told The New York Times, the next three weeks were the best of his decade in business, sparking real interest overseas. He is now planning an international expansion to England and Japan.
And while it is probably an overstatement to say this is a swing toward supporting local industry on Mrs. Trump’s part — or a return to the made-in-America first lady tradition — it’s still a tactical look.
Vanessa Friedman has been the fashion director and chief fashion critic for The Times since 2014.
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