First Lady Melania Trump’s Designer Choice for State of the Union Carries No Mixed Message
Given the actual State of the Union, never mind President Trump’s address, First Lady Melania Trump’s wardrobe choice may seem incidental to many.
But FLOTUS takes such occasions seriously and planned accordingly — well before House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D. Calif.) put the brakes on the originally scheduled Jan. 29 speech, according to the First Lady’s stylist, Hervé Pierre. Postponed due to the 35-day partial government shutdown, which was resolved temporarily last week, Trump delivered his second State of the Union speech tonight in the House Chamber. While the commander in chief was expected to call for bipartisanship cooperation, the First Lady wasn’t subliminally casting political messages overseas with her choice of a Burberry military look, Pierre said.
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Conspiracy theorists and Theresa May foes need not read too much into Melania Trump’s choice of the British brand Burberry. Pierre said, “As long as I find the right outfit, the designer is almost irrelevant. The designer, well, is Burberry, but it could have been anybody else. It has nothing to do with England or Brexit. If I would have to think of all these things when I look at dresses and outfits, I would lose my mind,” he said. “Afterward, social media will go on about Brexit or whatever. They have to do their own version of this. On my side, believe me I don’t think of it. Because I don’t have time to do that.”
Selected a while ago, the Burberry black military coatdress is sharply tailored. “I don’t think it’s very glamorous. It’s very sharp and straight to the point. There is no room for fluff or something cute. That is not the time that we are living in,” Pierre said. “I think she is a daring woman, but it has to be right. It is not a costume.”
The silver buttons and two patch pockets polish off the look. Made of a techno-wool, the dress is very fitted and is meant to be very chic. FLOTUS’ black leather gloves are meant to be “very First Lady, and very appropriate,” he said.
Pierre bought the dress at a Burberry store in New York. He routinely does the legwork, checking out various designer stores in search of sharply designed, military looks that are appropriate for Trump.
Fittings are also seldom an issue, as was the case with the Burberry coatdress. “It fits her very well. I didn’t do any alterations. We buttoned it and she looked perfect. Adding the gloves, there is something very chic about the outfit. It is an important event, obviously. It was delayed,” he said.
Several female lawmakers wore white to the State of the Union as a nod to the suffragette movement — including Pelosi, who wore an all-white ensemble, and Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.), who appeared in an all-white caped look. Trump’s daughter Tiffany, a law school student at Georgetown University, wore all-white too. Aware of advance reports that white would be the color of choice with many women at the Capitol, Pierre said FLOTUS wore white to last year’s State of the Union. In that case, it was an ivory Dior pantsuit. Pierre was not in the gallery for the President’s address. He planned to catch it all at home in New York. “I am American so I need to watch this. I am interested,” he said.
Pierre, a French-born American citizen with his own designer collection, took care of his own new address earlier this week. Atelier Caito for Hervé Pierre relocated to 218 West 37th Street — right across the street from the Carolina Herrera offices where he worked for years.
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