“She was being elevated off the ground,” Trump joked about his wife’s high-fashion inauguration look.
During the Trump inauguration, everyone was paying attention to various aspects such as the guest list, the speeches, and notably, the fashion choices.
However, there’s one person in particular to whom we must tip our hats.
On Inauguration Day, First Lady Melania Trump stood out with her outfit at the Capitol Rotunda. She appeared in a navy wool coat and skirt, leather gloves, blue suede pumps, and a wide-brimmed navy hat that partially covered her eyes.
The striking hat, created by American designer Eric Javits, drew attention throughout the day’s proceedings. When President-elect Trump approached Melania in the Rotunda to greet her, he had to settle for an air kiss as he struggled to navigate around the wide perimeter of the hat.
Outgoing President Joe Biden also had to dodge the wide brim when trying to talk to his successor standing on the other side.
It didn’t take long for people online to make jokes about the fashion statement. Posts on X compared Melania Trump’s look to the McDonald’s Hamburglar, cartoon criminal mastermind Carmen Sandiego and even Jim Carrey’s character in “The Mask.”
President Trump himself got in on the fun, too, joking about his wife’s hat while addressing supporters in the Capitol’s Emancipation Hall.
“We went out to the helicopter just prior to this…and the wind is blowing like crazy, and with the hat that she’s wearing she almost blew away,” Trump said as the crowd laughed. “She was being elevated off the ground.”
The first lady was, in fact, seen literally holding onto her hat as the helicopter took off with the Bidens inside.
In a statement, designer Eric Javits described the process of creating the hat, noting that dressing the first lady has been one of the greatest honors of his career.
“My art background gave me an edge in bringing harmony and balance to the face by creating hat shapes that would flatter and enhance every kind of face,” Javits said in a statement. “In this specific case that was not difficult to do, in that Mrs. Trump is blessed with great bone structure, beauty and a wonderful sense of style.”
New York fashion designer Adam Lippes created the accompanying coat, while Melania Trump’s longtime personal stylist, Herve Pierre, pulled the entire outfit together.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
