What Does Melania Care About?

The coat heard round the world. Photo: Andrew Harnik/Associated Press

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When I saw the pictures of First Lady Melania Trump departing Texas after visiting migrant children separated from their families in shelters wearing a trench coat with "I really don't care, do U?" scrawled on the back, I did a double take. I was slightly shocked, and instantly interested. Pretty quickly I started getting texts and messages from friends asking if I'd seen it.

After spending the last several years studying First Ladies and stateswomen fashion icons, I've been keeping my eye on Melania since the campaign. She didn't feature in my dissertation but she did have a mention in the conclusion, basically saying she's on my "watchlist" of stateswomen strongly in the public eye. I won't lie, for the most part I've been very disinterested in the current First Lady. I keep an eye out for new photos of her style but typically she's, well, a bit boring? The most interesting thing is that she doesn't really have a distinct style, she always looks well put together but almost too perfectly. With previous First Ladies, such as Michelle Obama, Laura Bush, or further back Nancy Reagan, Jacqueline Kennedy, or Mamie Eisenhower, there's a strong sense of their personal style. Even when working with stylists or designers, each of our former First Ladies have a style identity that is recognizable and memorable. Melania...well, she doesn't. She's very stylish, and very professional, but you don't feel like you know anything about her from looking at what she wears.

She previously got some criticism for wearing stilettos at Joint Base Andrews on her way to visit Texas during the flood crisis after Hurricane Harvey.

It's worth noting that these controversial sartorial choices have all been in situations such as boarding a plane or getting off one, always arrivals and departures where only the press pack is waiting. She doesn't wear them to the event itself, where such a clothing choice would be deemed highly inappropriate. It's also what makes her clothing feel like costumes, not real, working clothing. Like she's a performer changing on the plane before going "on stage." But that's what makes it even more interesting to me.

I'm not going to argue whether her style makes her a good or bad First Lady, because I don't think style is really part of that equation. Melania, in the end, will be judged on the work she does, or doesn't do, during her time in the White House. Past First Ladies are sometimes known for their style, or lack thereof, but they are also remembered for their contributions to American society, Melania will be no different. My interest is in how her style impacts the overall representation and perception of the role of First Lady in the U.S.

As I argued in my dissertation, the First Lady is a role with no budget, no official power, and no set guidelines. Each woman who occupies the role can make it whatever she wants it to be. Our previous First Ladies have been incredibly warm and charismatic, the ultimate hostess. Their style informed their personality, it was one of the ways the public got to know them. Their style also paved the way for diplomatic relations. Jacqueline Kennedy and Michelle Obama were particularly known for their sartorial diplomacy.

Melania’s style is still very vague. I struggle to figure out where she fits in my research. That’s why the Zara slogan trench was so jarring, and interesting. Melania has felt very one dimensional from the start, definitely a throwback to First Ladies of past eras who were seen but rarely heard, who didn’t have a voice as loud as their husband, and who tended to blend in with the scenery. Melania is beautiful, very poised, and always perfectly polished. She apparently has a platform dealing with bullying, but we rarely hear anything about it. Whereas Michelle Obama, Laura Bush, Hillary Clinton, Barbara Bush, Nancy Reagan (just to name the First Ladies of my lifetime) always seemed to be on the cover of one ladies magazine or another talking about the work they were doing. These were the working woman’s First Lady. They were the First Ladies that women across America, from those working in offices to those working in the home, could relate to in one way or another. But Trump’s administration has been plagued from the start and Melania has never seemed to be able to find her footing and do the job the First Lady is meant to do.

So what does the trench coat mean? Some argue that it’s a tasteless reflection of the administration’s feelings towards immigration (highly doubtful). Others argue that it’s a message to the press and photographers that follow Melania (Trump himself has suggested this). Some think it’s a message from Melania to Trump (I don’t believe this for a second). Given this administration’s tendency for publicity ploys, it really wouldn’t shock me if it wasn’t some kind of set up, as a message to the “fake news” people, but I really hate giving that much credit to that theory. I’ve also seen some suggest that it could be speaking to those who judge her style, which is interesting to me, but also very hard to believe, because as someone who studies the style of First Ladies, Melania has given us next to nothing to judge.

I think it's a fun and quirky jacket, but not one I'd
wear if I were the First Lady, and definitely not if
I were on my way to a humanitarian visit.

Her communications director, Stephanie Grisham, claims “it’s just a jacket” and that “there is no hidden message.” Which shows Grisham is either completely ignorant of public appearance and the role clothing plays in that, or she’s just really bad at spinning bad publicity. But her choice of words is very interesting. In addition to the message on the back of the coat, it’s by high street retailer Zara, originally retailing for $39, and is not from the current season. A stark departure from Melania’s usual style and hard to believe it was just lying around, unless she borrowed it from a staffer at the last minute (but I’d be less than thrilled if my staff wore this coat in a professional situation). All in all, very confusing.

As previous First Ladies have learned, it’s never “just a jacket”. John F. Kennedy’s campaign was put at a slight risk by Jacqueline’s tendency to wear designer clothing, particularly by foreign designers. The Nixon campaign made sure to point out that Mrs. Nixon bought her clothing from affordable American retailers in an effort to appeal to middle class voters. Michell Obama was also called out a couple times in the campaign to also wear more American designers and support American fashion (which overall she did and excelled at over the following 8 years). What the First Lady wears is never just a piece of clothing. It’s a representation of the First Lady, of her husband as President, of the country she represent. To believe otherwise is to completely miss the mark of the job the First Lady performs. Which is probably why Melania seems to fall flat in so many ways.

Everything she wears does seem to be “just” some clothing. A dress, a suit, a coat. There’s no personality, no meaning. So in the end, maybe that trench, was just a coat to them, just like everything else Melania wears. 

I don’t know how to end this post, because there isn’t really an end to the story. She wore the jacket, it got a lot of coverage, we all tweeted about it for a day or so, and then it faded away. Her fashion story is still being written, and that makes it very hard to judge situations like this, because we only have isolated incidents to examine and to try to connect. It will be interesting to see how her style continues to develop.

What did you think of the jacket? I’m really curious to hear other people’s thoughts and theories.

Until next time,

Andrea

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