6 Predictions for What Trump's Inaugural Balls Will Look Like
Team Trump may love slamming the “liberal media,” but they’ve hired one of its most famous vets to help plan their inauguration. Stephanie Winston Wolkoff is a celebrated Vogue alumna whose cause celebre was the famously opulent Met Gala. Under her tenure as the magazine’s Special Events Director, the event became the Party of the Year,™ luring everyone from Beyoncé to Madonna with her couture-swathed spectacles. The working mom later helped Lincoln Center morph into a fashion hub, created the star-studded Style Awards, launched her own consulting firm… and became one of Melania Trump’s confidantes in the process.
With her self-confessed perfectionist streak and her hardcore fashion background, what might this year’s hotly anticipated / horribly dreaded (circle one…) inaugural events look like? We combed through past Met Ball hallmarks to stake a guess…
PREPARE FOR A THEME
Perhaps the most famous facet of Met Galas past is The Theme, a fanciful swirl of fashion icons and think tank buzzwords like “Prada and Schiaparelli: The Impossible Conversation” or “Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty.” (More uncomfortable in the wake of Pussy-Gate? 2010’s “American Women: Fashioning Identity”). We’re guessing this year’s party colors are red and white—just like those MAGA hats.
THERE WILL BE BUDS…
As in flowers—tons of them, if Wolkoff’s past Met Galas are any indication. For 2006’s Anglomania, her team carpeted the museum’s marble stairway in sheets of forest moss, with living trees at the top. The year before, Wolkoff flew 7000 gardenias into New York via specially refrigerated jets. And since this is a national event, every state blossom, from North Dakota’s wild prairie rose to Pennsylvania’s mountain laurel, is ripe for the picking. (On second thought, maybe just the Red State flowers…)
…BUT THERE WILL NOT BE STARBUCKS
“I drink coffee, not Starbucks,” Melania Trump told Dujour magazine last year. That probably means no Mocha Frappuccinos for you, Jared Kushner!
EXPECT A LOT OF TOMMY HILFIGER…
The American fashion icon told WWD, “‘I think Melania is a very beautiful woman and I think any designer should be proud to dress her. Ivanka is equally as beautiful and smart… I think they look great in the clothes. You’re not going to get much more beautiful than Ivanka or Melania.” Anticipate his enthusiasm to be rewarded with cocktail dress sales.
…AND MORE DESIGNERS WILL PROBABLY COME AROUND
A familiar face at Ralph Lauren and Vera Wang shows, Winston Wolkoff is a trusted friend of designers, publicists, and stylists. Though some fashion royals, like Marc Jacobs, have disavowed any collaborations with Mrs. Trump, others are non-committal about their future involvement with the First Lady Elect.
PERFECTION IS INEVITABLE
In a Fast Company interview, Winston-Wolkoff revealed, “I was in London doing Unforgettable: Fashion of the Oscars, a charity auction to raise money for AIDS research… I was with Natasha Richardson, and I was sweeping the floor in my ball gown.” She further told The Observer, “I stay in control of every little thing. I want to make sure nothing falls through the cracks.” Translation: if you see a 6’1 brunette with a dust pan and heels on CSPAN, you’ll know what’s going down.
THE CELEBS WILL BE TREMENDOUS
Trump himself told The New York Times, “We are going to have an unbelievable, perhaps record-setting turnout for the inauguration, and there will be plenty of movie and entertainment stars.” He’s correct. Even if Trump friends like The Beach Boys, Paris Hilton, and assorted Rockettes can’t make it (and even though Kanye is sadly “not performing”), stargazers need only wait until the next day, when The Women’s March on Washington brings Katy Perry, America Ferrera, Olivia Wilde, and more to the nation’s capital.
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