25 Wild Fashion Moments from the Trump White House
Photo: Getty Images
In 2014, White House fashion drama looked like this: “Obama Shows Off Sad Beige Suit for Summer.” It was a simpler time when the president’s dad jeans and casual khaki suits were considered the lowest of the sartorial lows from a First Couple who famously set the bar high.
By comparison, headlines in 2017 looked more like this:
“Melania Trump and the Chilling Artifice of Fashion.”
“Here’s Why Steve Bannon Wears So Many Shirts.”
“How to Salvage Your Garbage Personal Brand In 30 Days Like Anthony Scaramucci”
“Treasury Secretary’s Wife Bragged About her #HermesScarf on Instagram”
“Hope Hicks, Tuxedos, and International Cover-Ups”
In a year where almost nothing made sense (literally: our president was often incomprehensible), what the inhabitants of the White House wore on the outside was often our best clue toward understanding what the hell was happening on the inside. For Steve Bannon, that may have meant a lot of body sweat. But for everyone else, especially the women of the White House, fashion choices seemed to reflect much more than just taste. When Melania wore heels to visit hurricane-ravaged Houston, or when Ivanka chose a flowered kimono-style gown for dinner with the Japanese prime minister, they seemed to be telling us how they felt about their relationship to power and gender dynamics.
With an administration that’s so obsessed with outward appearances, no wonder there were so many fashion moments to discuss this year. Below, we gathered the 25 most-discussed looks, plus every take that was written about them.
Melania Trump's Inauguration Gown Melania Trump wore a custom Hervé Pierre gown to the Inauguration Ball in January. Pierre has a lon...
Melania Trump's Inauguration Gown Melania Trump wore a custom Hervé Pierre gown to the Inauguration Ball in January. Pierre has a long history of dressing First Ladies, working with Mrs. Clinton during his time at Oscar de la Renta as well as Mrs. Bush and Mrs. Obama at Carolina Herrera.
Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Tiffany Trump and Ivanka Trump's Matching Inauguration Looks It's been said that Tiffany Trump looks up to her older sister Ivanka, not only for&...
Tiffany Trump and Ivanka Trump's Matching Inauguration Looks It's been said that Tiffany Trump looks up to her older sister Ivanka, not only for “politics advice, boy advice, and sisterly advice” but also for advice on things like what to wear on camera. At the Inauguration ceremony in January, Tiffany was clearly taking a page from Ivanka's playbook.
Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Kellyanne Conway's Subtle Gucci Look Kellyanne Conway became an instant meme when she wore this red, white, and blue Gucci ensemble to the Inaugu...
Kellyanne Conway's Subtle Gucci Look Kellyanne Conway became an instant meme when she wore this red, white, and blue Gucci ensemble to the Inauguration in January. The associations it conjured were endless, and mostly unkind.
Photo: The Washington Post/The Washington Post/Getty Images
Ivanka Trump’s Silver Dress The day after President Trump announced his Muslim ban, Ivanka Trump posted this seemingly out-of-touch photo o...
Ivanka Trump’s Silver Dress The day after President Trump announced his Muslim ban, Ivanka Trump posted this seemingly out-of-touch photo on Instagram. In it, she wears a $5,000 silver Carolina Herrera dress, which many Twitter users compared to the heat blankets that Syrian refugees were using to stay warm.
Photo: Courtesy of Instagram/ivankatrump
Steve Bannon's Double Collars In September, Olivia Nuzzi finally got to the bottom of why "layering extremist" and presidential adviser...
Steve Bannon's Double Collars In September, Olivia Nuzzi finally got to the bottom of why "layering extremist" and presidential adviser Steve Bannon wears so many shirts. “Friends” of Bannon said it was a habit he picked up at military prep school, and that he refers to it as beach fashion. “Never two. N-e-v-e-r t-w-o,” his spokesperson said of the exact number of shirts worn by Bannon himself at any given time. “Never one. Certainly n-e-v-e-r o-n-e. And most of the time never two. It’s usually three, he usually has three shirts on.” As for why? “He’s always got a contingency plan," added Bannon's spokespearson. "If one shirt gets ruined, put the next one on. If one pen dies? Just use another pen.”
Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Sean Spicer's Boot Former White House press secretary Sean Spicer just couldn't catch a break this year. In May, he appeared to be wearing mis-ma...
Sean Spicer's Boot Former White House press secretary Sean Spicer just couldn't catch a break this year. In May, he appeared to be wearing mis-matched shoes. But in reality, the situation was much worse: He was wearing a medical foot brace, and looked deeply pained.
Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Barron Trump's J.Crew T-Shirt Barron Trump was the only member of the Trump family brave enough to wear a graphic T-shirt in public this year. Bu...
Barron Trump's J.Crew T-Shirt Barron Trump was the only member of the Trump family brave enough to wear a graphic T-shirt in public this year. But he was quickly mocked for it, prompting a reminder from both Republicans and Democrats like Chelsea Clinton that the 11-year-old should be exempt from political fashion criticism.
Photo: Pool/Getty Images
Melania Trump's Bastille Day Dior Suit For her visit to France on Bastille Day this July, Melania Trump wore a red Christian Dior suit ...
Melania Trump's Bastille Day Dior Suit For her visit to France on Bastille Day this July, Melania Trump wore a red Christian Dior suit which referenced the designer's antiquated "New Look," as Rhonda Garelick pointed out. "This Bastille Day, the U.S. no longer felt like a co-celebrant with France, its republican ally," she wrote. "On the contrary, seeing the Trumps in Paris was like coming face-to-face with the ghosts of anciens régimes past." Photo: Aurelien Meunier/Getty Images
Anthony Scaramucci Merch In July, after White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci was canned just ten days into his tenure, he ...
Anthony Scaramucci Merch In July, after White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci was canned just ten days into his tenure, he went on a personal rebrand bender, posting self-depricating merch like this T-shirt on his personal Instagram account.
Sarah Huckabee Sanders's "Relatable" Fashion Sarah Huckabee Sanders was lauded for her “relatability” when she was promoted to press se...
Sarah Huckabee Sanders's "Relatable" Fashion Sarah Huckabee Sanders was lauded for her “relatability” when she was promoted to press secretary this summer after the inflammatory, unfiltered Scaramucci was removed from his role as communications director. Tilda Swinton would have appeared down-to-earth in comparison to Scaramucci and his predecessor, Sean Spicer. But in the context of the White House, Sanders’s “relatability” was just as threatening as Scaramucci’s actual threats. To be relatable in Trump’s administration is to be a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
Photo: Mark Wilson/Getty Images
Ivanka Trump's Pink Bow Dress MSNBC contributor Joan Walsh criticized Ivanka Trump's pink bow dress, which she wore while attending the G20 ...
Ivanka Trump's Pink Bow Dress MSNBC contributor Joan Walsh criticized Ivanka Trump's pink bow dress, which she wore while attending the G20 Summit in Hamburg on her father's behalf, calling it overly “girly." “I don’t mean to sound sexist — it can be dangerous to comment on what women wear — but the fact that she sat in for her father in a dress that was so incredibly ornamental was such a contradiction in terms,” Walsh said. “And I think that what we see is that in patriarchal, authoritarian societies, daughters have great value — they are property. And the message that she is sending about her own value, about her place in the White House, and about the place of women in this administration, I think, are really frightening.”
Photo: LUDOVIC MARIN/AFP/Getty Images
Melania Trump's #Stilettogate In August, outrage over Melania Trump's shoe choice for her trip down to Houston following the hurricane nearly ove...
Melania Trump's #Stilettogate In August, outrage over Melania Trump's shoe choice for her trip down to Houston following the hurricane nearly overshadowed news of the hurricane itself. Her stilettos were more than just impractical, though. They revealed how "this administration turns every event — no matter how dire — into a kind of anesthetized luxury fashion shoot," as Rhonda Garelick wrote.
Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images
The Trump Family Eclipse Moment On the occasion of the solar eclipse this August, Americans learned that their fearless leader is incapable of fo...
The Trump Family Eclipse Moment On the occasion of the solar eclipse this August, Americans learned that their fearless leader is incapable of following simple, age-old directions: Do not look directly at the sun without glasses. We also learned that he looks like a dotard in them, too. (We all did, to be fair.)
Photo: Mark Wilson/Getty Images
Louise Linton's #HermesScarf Instagram Louise Linton, wife of Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, caused an internet shit-storm in September when s...
Louise Linton's #HermesScarf Instagram Louise Linton, wife of Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, caused an internet shit-storm in September when she posted an Instagram of her and her husband disembarking a government plane in Kentucky, bragging about the luxury fashion brands she was wearing in the caption. “Great #daytrip to #Kentucky! #nicest #people #countryside,” Linton wrote, according to a screenshot of the now-private post, before tagging the labels she was wearing: “#rolandmouret pants, #tomford sunnies, #hermesscarf #valentinorockstudheels #valentino #usa.” Things went from bad to worse, though, when Linton went after a negative commentor, calling the woman “adorably out of touch." She even invoked the ultimate internet burn: "Lololol."
Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images
Melania Trump's Calvin Klein 205W39NYC Look During New York Fashion Week this September, Melania Trump turned the White House Lawn into a ru...
Melania Trump's Calvin Klein 205W39NYC Look During New York Fashion Week this September, Melania Trump turned the White House Lawn into a runway, when she arrived in Washington wearing a buttoned-up, red “Marching Band” shirt from Raf Simons’s debut collection at Calvin Klein. In this case, her shirt telegraphed Americana, but Raf Simons’s version of America may not be the one she really wants to represent.
Photo: Pool/Getty Images
Melania Trump's Pink Delpozo Dress In September, while giving a speech on the subject of cyberbullying, Melania Trump found herself on the receiv...
Melania Trump's Pink Delpozo Dress In September, while giving a speech on the subject of cyberbullying, Melania Trump found herself on the receiving end of the very behavior she was condemning. Commentors were quick to roast the dress' bold color and puffy sleeves, and press was swift to pick up on the irony.
Photo: DON EMMERT/AFP/Getty Images
Donald Trump's Mismatched Suit In September, when President Trump sat down to meet with Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina, Twitter co...
Donald Trump's Mismatched Suit In September, when President Trump sat down to meet with Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina, Twitter commenters noted that he appeared to be wearing a navy jacket with black pants — a fashion faux pas as well as a potential cause for concern regarding his vision.
Photo: Official White House Photo by Shealah Craighead
Melania Trump's Ralph Lauren Suit and Skinny Tie Melania Trump wore a gray pinstripe Ralph Lauren suit and loose skinny tie to meet Canadian Prim...
Melania Trump's Ralph Lauren Suit and Skinny Tie Melania Trump wore a gray pinstripe Ralph Lauren suit and loose skinny tie to meet Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his wife, Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, at the White House in October. In September, she also wore a similar suit by Calvin Klein 205W39NYC.
Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Ivanka Trump’s Pink Miniskirt Ivanka Trump received criticism for wearing a pink Miu Miu miniskirt to meet with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Ab...
Ivanka Trump’s Pink Miniskirt Ivanka Trump received criticism for wearing a pink Miu Miu miniskirt to meet with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in November. “While many found the skirt inappropriately short, the suit’s babyish color, big, flower-design buttons, and oversize shape somewhat offset the sexiness factor, evoking a schoolgirl’s uniform,” wrote Rhonda Garelick. “The overall effect was leggy-bombshell-meets-darling-child — a hybrid of feminine stereotypes, all of which defang a woman’s authority (and reveal the utter disingenuousness of Ivanka Trump’s serving as a spokesperson for female empowerment).”
Photo: EUGENE HOSHIKO/AFP/Getty Images
Ivanka Trump's "Halloween Geisha" Gown For dinner with Prime Minister Abe, Ivanka Trump wore a form-fitting, floral-print gown in pink,...
Ivanka Trump's "Halloween Geisha" Gown For dinner with Prime Minister Abe, Ivanka Trump wore a form-fitting, floral-print gown in pink, rose, and cream, with obi-like belt tightly cinched to emphasize the bosom, designed by Johanna Ortiz. "In this get-up, she looked both sexy and disrespectful — a Halloween geisha," wrote Rhonda Garelick. "The dress suggested a clichéd reduction of a traditional Japanese kimono. It was the sartorial equivalent of President Trump’s own cartoonishly Orientalist remark about Japan being 'a country of Samurai warriors.'" Photo: KIMIMASA MAYAMA/AFP/Getty Images
Hope Hicks's Tuxedo In November, White House communications director Hope Hicks wore a gender-bending ensemble of a black tuxedo and si...
Hope Hicks's Tuxedo In November, White House communications director Hope Hicks wore a gender-bending ensemble of a black tuxedo and silk bowtie to Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe’s state banquet. Rhonda Garelick suggested that she was trying to distance herself from the traditional "suits" by donning their costume, rather than asserting herself as "one of the boys." She writes: "By wearing a version of a man’s power uniform, Hope Hicks underscored only her girlish innocence, asking to be viewed more as a young model and less as a fully mature and responsible White House aide."
Photo: Andrew Harnik/AP
Melania Trump's Gucci Dress Melania Trump wore a Gucci dress inspired by the traditional Chinese cheongsam to a state dinner hosted by President ...
Melania Trump's Gucci Dress Melania Trump wore a Gucci dress inspired by the traditional Chinese cheongsam to a state dinner hosted by President Xi Jinping and his wife, Peng Liyuan, in Beijing during the president’s tour of Asia this winter.
Photo: JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images
Donald Trump and Vladmir Putin’s at the Vietnam Summit While attending the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) in November, President Trump ...
Donald Trump and Vladmir Putin’s at the Vietnam Summit While attending the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) in November, President Trump was forced to wear something other than a suit or golf getup. As part of the tradition, Vietnam President Trần Đại Quang's team chose the garments, which consisted of a traditional blue silk shirt and black pants. Trumped looked eerily average without a tie —and deeply uncomfortable.
Photo: MIKHAIL KLIMENTYEV/AFP/Getty Images
Louise Linton’s Leather Gloves As we know, Louise Linton appreciates the finer things in life. So it’s no wonder that when forced to touch $1 bil...
Louise Linton’s Leather Gloves As we know, Louise Linton appreciates the finer things in life. So it’s no wonder that when forced to touch $1 bills bearing her husband’s signature, “like some kind of poor,” she took the “precaution” of wearing leather gloves.
Photo: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Melania Trump’s Christmas Outfit The First Lady finished out the year in an icy white look. Let's hope the rest of us have a much more colorful h...
Melania Trump’s Christmas Outfit The First Lady finished out the year in an icy white look. Let's hope the rest of us have a much more colorful holiday season.
Photo: SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images
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