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Putting aside any takes on the MAGA comeback across the pond these past nine months, there can be no denying that the returning FLOTUS, Melania Trump, has always been ripe for fashion analysis — be it for better or worse.
No one knows what she is thinking behind her shielding navy hat and pursed smile, but all have borne witness to a woman who has an aptitude for polarising style. This is a former model and high society darling who was once the toast of the Met Gala and New York Fashion Week’s front row, after all.
So, what did she wear to meet the royals, the Prime Minister, and the United Nations?
First Lady Melania Trump and U.S. President Donald Trump at the United Nations General Assembly
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For her recent trip to the UN, where escalators broke and Trump decried “sinister” forces at play, Melania was all business in a white Dolce & Gabbana suit with a tan shirt by Maxmara.
While in New York for the General Assembly, the First Lady hosted a reception at Lotte New York Palace, where she was joined by spouses of heads of state and government, including Queen Rania of Jordan.
First Lady Melania Trump listens as her husband US President Donald Trump speaks during the United Nations General Assembly
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It was a considerably more composed look than her first UN visit, where she wore a pink Delpozo dress with statement sleeves, paired with hot pink Manolo Blahnik stilettos.
It’s all part of Melania’s more serious makeover, according to longtime stylist, Hervé Pierre. “She likes tailored suits and sharp lines. She will not start wearing ruffles and floral prints just because she is starting a new chapter,” he told HELLO.
Melania Trump wears Dior as she arrives for state visit with Donald Trump
POOL/AFP via Getty Images
Upon arriving at Windsor Castle, greeted by the Princess of Wales and Queen Camilla, Melania chose to top her look with a wide-brimmed hat — a favourite accessory of the FLOTUS. This time a purple iteration was chosen, helping to conceal her emotions, and was paired with a classic Dior skirt suit.
While it’s tradition to wear a homegrown label when visiting a country on state duties, Melania has form in flouting the rules and choosing French designers, plus she’s long been a Dior devotee.
Melania Trump is greeted by the Princess of Wales and Queen Camilla for a state visit at Windsor Castle
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However, she did touch down with Donald in a Burberry trench on her first night in the capital, so she had already done her diplomatic duty.
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Later, the pair attended a state banquet dinner where Melania ditched both hats and macs, and wore a strapless column dress by Carolina Herrera.
The FLOTUS’s buttercup-yellow dress with a powder pink belt cinching it at the waist definitely stood out amongst the modest royal blue and gold confections worn by her fellow guests. Putting one’s shoulders on show is quite the statement at an event like this.
Charles and Camilla with Donald and Melania Trump at the state banquet
PA Wire
The choice of designer is no surprise given that Hervé Pierre is the former creative director at Carolina Herrera. He began working with her upon her first entry to the White House, after designing her inauguration gown in 2016, and later helping her with her looks, in what became his first styling job.
Because top luxury houses have historically refused to dress her, a great deal of what she wears is purchased. Pierre’s services do not come cheap, either. Having continued to help Melania Trump after leaving the White House, it was revealed he was paid over $100,000 from Donald Trump’s Political action committee in six months alone.
Later on, Melania’s choice of look for a guided tour of the Queen Mary’s Dolls’ House and the Royal Library at Windsor Castle by Queen Camilla UK was a tan leather two-piece suit by Louis Vuitton.
Queen Camilla (left) and First Lady Melania Trump (centre) look at miniature dolls’ house books during a visit to the Royal Library at Windsor Castle
Aaron Chown/PA Wire
And she continued showing a penchant for camel coloured tailoring when she met the PM, Keir Starmer, and wife Victoria Starmer at Chequers, Buckinghamshire.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and his wife Lady Victoria hosted Donald and Melania Trump at Chequers
PA Wire
Melania paired a suede safari-style jacket by Ralph Lauren with cream cigarette pants and nude heels. It was the same jacket she wore earlier in the day at Frogmore Gardens at Windsor Castle with the Princess of Wales, when they met with members of the Scouts’ Squirrels program.
The Princess of Wales and First Lady Melania Trump in Frogmore Gardens in Windsor, Berkshire
PA Wire
Now, let’s remind ourselves of Melania Trump’s most impactful outfits from the past.
A modest procession of inauguration looks
On inauguration day in January, as her husband was sworn in as 47th president, Melania was first spotted in a sophisticated navy blue coat by Adam Lippes, a New York based designer, as well as matching boater-style hat with a white ribbon by Eric Javits, who is also from the US, as she arrived at a service at St. John’s Church.
Melania Trump wears an Adam Lippes coat and Eric Javitsat hat at the inauguration of Donald Trump
via REUTERS
It was a step change for Melania to wear so many US designs, as fashion brands have historically not been enthusiastic to dress the Slovenian-American, which her stylist Hervé Pierre has labelled as “snobbish”.
Melania Trump wears an Adam Lippes coat and Eric Javits at a service at St. John’s Church on Inauguration Day
REUTERS
She then returned to form with her outfit at the Trump National Golf Club in Virginia, where she opted for a Dior overcoat and Dolce & Gabbana suit.
Melania Trump wears Dior and Dolce & Gabanna at Trump National Golf Club Washington DC in Sterling, Virginia, on January 18
AFP via Getty Images
The following day, she wore a black, buttoned trench-cum-cape with black boots and leather gloves to attend a wreath laying by Trump and Vice President-elect J.D. Vance at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia.
Attending a wreath laying by US President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect J.D. Vance at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, on January 19, 2025
AFP via Getty Images
She later changed into a black sequin Carolina Herrera skirt, Dolce & Gabbana shirt as well as a statement, black-tie style Saint Laurent cape for a candlelight dinner at the National Building Museum later that night.
Wearing Carolina Herrera, Dolce & Gabbana and Saint Laurent at a candlelight dinner at the National Building Museum in Washington, DC, on January 19, 2025
AFP via Getty Images
While to celebrate the presidential election win, as her husband Donald Trump beat Kamala Harris in November, she opted for a double-breasted grey, wool skirt Dior suit which extended just over the knee. What was she trying to say? Unlike some of the bold hues she has become known for, this time a touch of sophistication (and a willingness to slip, presentably, into the background) was preferred.
Wearing a Dior suit as her husband wins the US election on November 05, 2024
AFP via Getty Images
Much like the late Queen Elizabeth II, Trump well understands the impact one bold, bright colour can achieve — certainly when sartorially speaking to thousands. A standout was a pre-Brat, Brat green pleated dress she wore for her husband’s Republican Party nomination acceptance speech in August 2020.
The Valentino spring 2020 pleated-crepe dress did get her in a pickle online: it was the same colour as a green-screen, which made her an easy target for a meme onslaught. It followed a host of other retina-damagingly bright looks.
In Valentino for the final day of the Republican National Convention on August 27, 2020
AFP via Getty Images
In Ralph Lauren for the official launch of the Trump 2020 campaign at the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida on June 18, 2019
AFP via Getty Images
In Delpozo to address other first spouses of world leaders at a United Nations luncheon on September 20, 2017
AFP via Getty Images
Melania Trump’s biggest fashion gaffes
There are two memorable terrors: a Zara coat which read “I really don’t care, do u?” shocked the world as FLOTUS made her way to visit facilities that house and care for children taken from their parents at the US-Mexico border. Another bad, though slightly less alarming, moment came with an unfortunate flesh shade pair of leather trousers.
In Zara to visit facilities that house and care for children taken from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border on June 21, 2018
Getty Images
In Ralph Lauren trousers and a Prada jacket walking across the South Lawn of the White House after returning from Al Asad Air Base in Iraq to visit troops, on December 27, 2018
Getty Images
All salute. Trump leans into army-style khaki two-pieces; famously for her 2020 speech, where she wore full Alexander McQueen.
In Alexander McQueen addressing the Republican Convention on August 25, 2020
AFP via Getty Images
In Altuzarra to welcome President Mauricio Macri of Argentina and the first lady of Argentina, Juliana Awada to the White House on April 27, 2017
Getty Images
Never one to shy from a little sparkle, Trump is known to go full glitz when the dress code is black tie. Capes and all.
In Dolce & Gabbana for a New Years event Mar-a-Lago on December 31, 2022
Getty Images
In Givenchy ahead of a dinner Winfield House, the residence of the US Ambassador on June 4, 2019
AFP via Getty Images
In Dior haute couture at a State Banquet at Buckingham Palace on June 3, 2019
Getty Images
In Celine at the Congressional Ball at the White House on December 15, 2018
Getty Images
Louboutins in the White House gardens? A little dirt has never been a concern for Melania.
In Christian Louboutin stilettos and a Valentino skirt participating in a tree planting ceremony of a sapling from the original Eisenhower Oak at the White House on August 27, 2018
AFP via Getty Images
In a caped tuxedo dress after a tree planting ceremony with French President Emmanuel Macron and US President Donald Trump at the White House on April 23, 2018
AFP via Getty Images
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