Melania Trump has been buying (not borrowing) all of her First Lady clothes

I’ve never noticed this before, but isn’t it strange that Donald and Melania Trump are incapable of holding hands like normal human beings? Melania stopped by the White House with Barron on Friday just before the three of them (and dozens of others) flew down to Florida for the weekend. The Trumps did a little photo-op on their way out of the White House and I guess Ivanka told her dad, “try to hold your wife’s hand, it will make for a better photo.” Only Donald Trump has itty-bitty baby fists and he makes his poor wife grasp his little fist and that’s supposed to pass as hand-holding.

Anyway, in these photos, Melania is wearing a dress by Alice Roi. She finally got the memo about Republican FLOTUSs needing to wear red as a general rule, I guess. The problem is that this shade of red (this orange-y tomato-red) isn’t her color. She needs a blue-red. As for Melania’s fashion in general, are you surprised that some designers have agreed, thus far, to dress her? You shouldn’t be surprised, because apparently Melania is buying all of her stuff. She hasn’t borrowed anything. I was actually a little bit fascinated by this piece in THR:

Much like Hollywood actresses making the rounds for awards season (roughly 20 major public appearances for an Oscar nominee in a mere 3.5 months), being FLOTUS, means countless state dinners, charity engagements and trips to be chicly attired for. However, unlike an A-list actress, Trump is reportedly footing the bill.

“Why do rich people need free clothes? Melania should buy her clothes,” says veteran red carpet-stylist Phillip Bloch, who dressed Tiffany Trump for inauguration weekend. Kors released a statement about Trump’s congressional look, unofficially confirming that the First Lady purchased her ensemble: “Mrs. Trump has been a longtime client at our New York boutique. She has a keen understanding of what works best for her and her lifestyle. My embroidered black suit reflects the streamlined glamour that she is known for.”

With a number of designers like Tom Ford, Sophie Theallet and Marc Jacobs publicly acknowledging post-election that they won’t be dressing the current First Lady — and a noted drop in designer press releases going out (a norm during Michelle O’s FLOTUS reign) — there’s reason to wonder whether or not Mrs. Trump is buying by choice or if it’s because she has less support from the fashion community and fewer covetable options than her predecessors.

Bloch says, no: “Melania is buying, but she does not have limited options — she is married to a rich man and can buy whatever she wants!” The bi-coastal stylist, who served as the creative style director for Donald Trump’s Miss Universe Pageant, praises Mrs. Trump’s choices thus far, “She wears clothes well and has a great style, I rarely see her make a misstep.”

The president’s better half is technically not supposed to accept designer freebies, nor does the position come with a clothing allowance. And no, the taxpayers don’t foot the bill either. The first family is expected to pay for clothing out of pocket though it is assumed special discounts are offered; dressing the first lady is not only an honor for most brands, it often results in a sales boost, as evidenced by Ralph Lauren’s stock bump (from $88.19 to $90.13 per share) right after Trump wore the designer’s sky-blue ensemble on Inauguration Day.

Adds Bloch: “As much as I loved that Michelle [Obama] mixed high and low and Kate [Middleton] does it too, Melania just isn’t that girl. She is going to wear that $9,000 sequin outfit to Congress. I admire her for buying clothes and I think Hollywood can take a note.”

[From THR]

THR also notes that Michelle Obama did not “borrow” clothing either, but Michelle sometimes wore clothes that were “gifted” to her by a designer, but the gifts belonged to the government and after the dresses were worn, they would immediately go into the archives. Laura Bush did the same thing – those are the ethics rules for First Ladies. THR then includes the Duchess of Cambridge in the mix, claiming that “royals do not accept designer gifts.” Bulls–t. Kate accepts gifts, she just grifts them through her family. Designers give gifts to Carole and Pippa and they pass them on to Kate. Plus, Kate gets very deep discounts, I’m sure.

Meanwhile, TMZ reports that Melania is absolutely, positively moving to the White House in June. She’s waiting until Barron’s school year is done and she’s already selected the school Barron will attend in DC. TMZ also says that “Melania’s quarters in the residence are getting a fresh coat of paint.” As in, Melania sleeps in a different room than her husband, just a guess. I don’t know you guys… it feels like there’s still a window of opportunity to IMPEACH so that Melania won’t ever need to move. #SaveMelaniaImpeachByJune

Photos courtesy of Getty.

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81 Responses to “Melania Trump has been buying (not borrowing) all of her First Lady clothes”

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  1. sarri says:

    Awful red gloves and coat.

    • Megan says:

      She thinks she is Jackie O.

      • Tiffany says:

        Many will try and fail again and again. There was only one Jackie O.

      • Dizzie says:

        Jackie was a small breasted woman and her clothes were beautifully tailored for her body. It seems in photos that Ivanka and Melania are heavy breasted women. The photo here looks like Mealina’s breasts are not that far from her waist. I don’t dislike their fashion choices- am I wrong in thinking they just aren’t right for their body type?

      • Christin says:

        Braless is her style, apparently.

    • ida says:

      the gloves look like rubber gloves! plus why should she borrow clothes. she hardly performs as first lady. so she does not need plenty of new stuff.

      • swak says:

        My sentiments exactly – other than been papped going to Mar-a-Largo how many official duties has she performed?

      • tegteg says:

        +2 I would be JUDGING hard if she were borrowing clothes under the guise of “First Lady” as she is clearly not the First Lady in anything but name.

      • It'sJustBlanche says:

        Those gloves are horrible. #hookerinchurch

      • Susie says:

        She buys clothes because that’s what she does. Retail therapy, spend his money. I hope she spends it all. And then leaves him, the day before his impeachment. I totally agree #SaveMelaniaImpeachbyJune

    • AnnaKist says:

      It looks like she’s about to wash the dishes. Hah – as if…!

  2. Indiana Joanna says:

    Her hands are larger than baby fists’.

    • Fiorella says:

      Maybe but the gloves definitely look too big for her so hard to tell here. I don’t think his hands are particularly small but he is a tall fat man so they look small. Supermodels usually have delicate hands I imagine

  3. Joy says:

    She looks like a super villain here.

    • Beth says:

      Lol. Like the rest of the complicit Trump villains

    • Olenna says:

      I don’t think it’s her personality, but there’s a feral look about her eyes that gives the impression she might be coldhearted and indifferent.

      • Lacia Can says:

        I’ve always thought she has a hard look to her. Her smiles don’t soften that. But then I doubt I’ve ever seen a genuine smile from her. Maybe she’s a nice person, but it’s really hard to get a read on her.

      • Adele Dazeem says:

        As they say, when you marry for money you earn every penny. I’m by no means a Melania fan but her life can’t be easy.

      • cindyp says:

        I could care less about her but the only time I’ve seen her exude any real warmth was with the Obamas’ who were genuinely kind to her.

  4. Who says says:

    Speaking of impeachment ,this weekend on Meet the Press. Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said “that he believes that Donald Trump lies or tells half truths as his way of doing business. A president who has no credibility is a president who can easily find themselves facing impeachment.” There is always hope.

    • AreYouForReal? says:

      Why is no one saying anything about all the money he’s costing the country jetting off to Florida every weekend??

      • Nina says:

        My dad says that the city of Palm Beach is starting to complain about how much money it’s gotta spend to keep Trump’s big orange hiney safe every damn weekend.

      • Beth says:

        Palm Beach is a mess when they’re down here in Florida. Secret Service, extra security costing a fotune, airports have to temporarly shut down,traffic jams,media, and protesters have been a yuge disruption. Since it’s an island, the Coast Guard is also used as extra security. Stay at the WH Chump!

      • Lacia Can says:

        There’s an article today on WaPo about that. The Palm Beach police chief (?) supposedly talked to 45 (about the overwhelming expenses incurred by the police) who said his usual word salad about how he loves LE and he’s going to take care of them. The chief seems to actually believe him! Naive fool; they’ll never see a dime. Meanwhile, their opioid intervention and hiring plans have been put on the back burner.

      • LadyElenor says:

        @Beth thats too funny. and he is going to cut funding for the coast guard.

  5. Indira says:

    Barron is really tall.

    • Pandy says:

      Yes and very pasty looking. Doesn’t see much of the Mar A Lago sun I guess?

      • 76May says:

        Barron’s skin is not pasty looking. He has the normal, beautiful complexion of a child his age living in a northern state.

      • tegteg says:

        Hey! I looked the exact same as a child and I spent 24/7 in the sun in the SOUTH. I’d literally burn and then go back to pale. Some people cannot tan… no reason to shame a 10 year old (or anyone else for that matter) for being pale. That being said, I think Barron looks very handsome here, but he probably hates the clothes he’s wearing!

      • Mieke says:

        Everyone is pasty looking standing next to that orange monster. He should tone it down a few notches.

    • MinnFinn says:

      I bet he is 5′ 7″ and he’s only 10! Photos of him make me smile because I know how difficult it is to get a 10 year old to wear a sport coat or suit. I imagine a lot of arguing behind the scenes with Baron complaining whenever he has to wear anything but jeans and a comfy top. I hope he is doing OK.

  6. Beth says:

    That’s the way I held my nephews hands while they were starting to walk. Hideous coat and gloves Melania!

    • swak says:

      It looks like he is holding only her thumb in that last picture. So sad of a commentary of what their relationship is.

  7. Tanguerita says:

    does this asshole ever close his mouth? He always looks like a toothy fish gasping for air.

  8. QQ says:

    * the world’s Tiniest Violin Plays for this one*

  9. Fiorella says:

    Very weird hand holding indeed. I think the red is really nice and perfect. Is it too bright for a First Lady? I don’t find the colour wrong on her at all unless it’s because a blue red would be more conservative. She’s a former model and not a conservative one so maybe no need to pretend she’s in any way similar to Laura bush.

    • Matomeda says:

      I can’t personally wear red with my red undertone skin, but she looks nice in it.

    • Kitten says:

      I don’t have a problem with her outfit. She looks nice.
      But the hand-holding..? Wow, so indicative of their (non) relationship.

      • tegteg says:

        Yeah, they didn’t even interlace their fingers! I miss the Obamas 🙁 They were/are clearly so in love!

  10. Maria says:

    Really Kaiser, would you sleep in the same room as Donald Trump? Gives me the creeps just thinking about it. My guess is that she is not thrilled about moving to D.C. Small town compared to the big Apple. I like that she wears gloves with her coats. We hardly ever see that with Waity. She seems to want to show off that ring at every opportunity. So common!

    • Elizabeth says:

      Would I sleep in the same room? Only if he took several sleeping pills and I had someone to help me hold a pillow over his face.

  11. Tiffany says:

    Poor Barron, he got the Trump gene is spades. He looks exactly like Jr and Eric.

    And not Poor Melania, the only reason that we are hearing her move out of NYC is because of the negative press and the funding that will be cut in the budget to the NY headquarters on well, everything.

    • The Original G says:

      Really? I think he totally favours Melania.

      • Tiffany says:

        The last photo on this story, the side view to me is all Trump.

      • tegteg says:

        He’s definitely got Melania’s high cheekbones and I think her overall facial shape… From the side, it looks like he may have gotten the Trump nose. I hope he doesn’t end up looking like Jr or Eric… they give me the heebie jeebies, American Psycho style.

  12. Carol says:

    Melania and Trump are so awkward together.

    • Radley says:

      IKR? Seeing them together makes me uncomfortable. Obviously, the marriage is as fraudulent as everything else about Trump.

  13. Zuzus Girl says:

    I still say she looks like a hostage who has settled into Stockholm syndrome.

  14. Digital Unicorn (aka Betti) says:

    I feel for Barron – the poor kid does not look comfortable in the spotlight or around his father.

  15. detritus says:

    I love the coat. Beautiful.
    The gloves remind me of the villain on Who Killed Roger Rabbit.
    They make me think she’s going to slowly peel them off and run over someone with construction equipment.

  16. Dani says:

    Another rich woman buying expensive clothes…I don’t see the issue (besides those terrible gloves). I did a read a lot of disgusting comments on other sites about these pics of Barron. I don’t understand why we can’t just leave the poor kid alone. He already seems miserable enough.

  17. wow says:

    Not poor Melania. She is not a victim. She is a willing participant in all of this just like Trump’s adult children. Think of the millions of dollars being wasted on her every day so she can continue to live in NYC.

    • bleu_moon says:

      Yeah, people forget she went on TV to promote Trump’s birther fantasy during the Obama administration. She’s as much a grifter as the rest of the Trump clan.

  18. LAK says:

    Until Obama, i didn’t realise designers could gift First ladies clothing. I always understood that they bought all their clothing – read lots of biographies on Nancy Reagan and Jackie O’s first lady style.

    When designers started talking about dressing Michelle, i was very confused, but again, i thought they meant it in a bought bespoke fashion as opposed to giving her freebies.

    I’m glad this article has clarified the point because it seems designers were deliberately obfuscating to make themselves seem more important in the case of Michelle AND Melania.

    On a different point, every history of the white house shows a separate first lady bedroom. It’s simply how the family quarters are arranged. Some presidential couples kept this arrangement, others use the first lady bedroom as an additional family room eg Mrs Ford used it as a TV room.

    I still love Jackie’s first lady bedroom. Other first ladies made it so cloying, Mrs Carter being the worst offender.

    • Algernon says:

      I think the policy of “gifting” clothes to First Ladies has evolved over time. Other First Ladies have done the same thing, it’s not especially new. They’re given the dress for a state dinner, they wear it, and then it goes into the White House archives, where it can be loaned to museums or used for displays in the White House to help attract tourists. I think they’re only given free items with the understanding that the clothes will then be archived, not kept.

      But yes, when designers talk about “dressing” Michelle Obama, or Melania Trump, they are often talking about making something bespoke, especially if it’s for a black tie event like a state dinner or the inauguration. I think the point is that whether the clothes are bespoke or existing couture, they’re “gifted” with the understanding that the First Lady won’t keep them, she’ll turn them over to the archives.

      • Lady D says:

        Get the feeling that Melania won’t be sticking to that understanding? Grifters gotta grift.

      • LAK says:

        That makes nonsense of a designer’s stance not to ‘dress’ Melania.

        Bespoke or not, if her bought clothing is going into state archives, they go down in history as designer X dressed the first lady. And if she forfeits the dress because it has to go into an museum archive then she has to be compensated for the dress which means rather than a free dress from designer X, she’s getting a free dress from the taxpayers.

        In other words, same result.

      • Algernon says:

        That’s my question re: Melania. Is she keeping what she’s buying? If she’s paying for it out of pocket, I don’t care and it’s hers and she should keep it, but if they’re charging us taxpayers for it, then she should be giving it all to the archives.

        And no, I bet they find a way to denote purchase vs given. Remember Hayden Panettiere buying a Tom Ford dress to wear to the Golden Globes? She confessed that she bought the dress off the rack, and Ford was classy about it, but he still made it clear he did not “dress” her for that event. Likewise, if Melania is wearing stuff off the rack that she bought, I bet the designers find a way to let it be known they aren’t giving her the items, and the archive would probably note is as “from the private collection of.”

  19. Insomniac says:

    Such romantic hand holding! It reminds me of elementary school assemblies when the teacher would make you join hands with some kid you couldn’t stand and you’d be barely holding pinkies.

  20. Nancy says:

    When she married him and envisioned the pampered life she would live, she probably thought he had about ten years in him, jokes on you honey. You get to lay beside Joffrey…..very very sad/funny. Does anyone who may work in psychology know why he repeats certain words twice?? Could he have OCD, or is he just a plain run of the mill sociopath or not in concert with the English language.

  21. SusanneToo says:

    #impeachnow #savemelania #divorcecourt

  22. Veronica says:

    It is remarkable to me how utterly bereft of warmth all of their interactions are. I’m honestly curious about the relationship between Barron and his mother. I would imagine the real “family” is between the two of them.

    As for the clothes buying…I’m not really surprised? They’re wealthy, why shouldn’t they be paying?

  23. Cerys says:

    She’s married to a rich man so she can afford to buy her own clothes. It is probably less controversial. I seem to vaguely remember some issue with Nancy Reagan being “loaned” clothes by designers and “forgetting” to return them.
    I like the coat and would probably wear gloves too if I had to hold Baby Fists’ hand.

  24. littlemissnaughty says:

    I actually think the outfit itself is gorgeous but no, that is not her color and her styling overall is not great. She also needs to re-think that hair color.

    So she buys her clothes. She’s a trophy wife, isn’t that her job? To know how to dress? Am I supposed to applaud?

  25. Diane says:

    In the last photo, Melania and Barron look like they are being lead to the death chamber. Probably not far off. Can’t imagine having to spend alone time with this man.

  26. Diane says:

    As far as paying for her own clothes, I assume it’s because few designers want to associate with her and do we really know if she’s paying for it or we the American tax payers are paying for it?

  27. WTF says:

    I love how Bloch says “she’s married to a rich man”, not “she’s rich”
    Speaks volumes

  28. Amanda D says:

    All three of them look absolutely miserable all the time. Why did they sign up for this when they clearly don’t want it?

  29. dorothy says:

    stop humanizing this monster with the save Melania BS

  30. Egla says:

    I like this outfit of hers. And yes she can buy her clothes, why not and keep them also??? Isn’t what she does all day: shop. As for their interaction I am a little confused about the hand holding. It seems it is expected for them to hold hands. People who are not used to that may find it uncomfortable. Here we almost never see that with our politicians. Other that we know they are married to a specific person, in public they look more like coworkers and no PDA whatsoever. These two may be just fine with each other but are not big on showing in public. She seems a well cared after (whoa look what I did here, I used someones preferred expression) and if she is staying where she wants and getting what she wants it means all is good in Trump Tower.
    As for his politics…well I am far away from you guys and I really can’t say I fully understand what is going on there but I really hope he doesn’t start a new war somewhere.

  31. Bibi says:

    Well she’s not much of a Capitalist then, is she?

  32. jana says:

    Good on her, because once he’s impeached she’ll need a great wardrobe to start off her new life as the 3rd ex Mrs. Trump.

  33. thedecorguru says:

    Red=Russia? Because they will never miss an opportunity to troll us.

  34. Deeanna says:

    I believe this woman has large hands. That’s why the gloves look so strange. It was the same with the blue gloves on inauguration day. Made her hands look awfully big. Perhaps a darker colored glove would make her hands look smaller.

    Maybe this is the reason Trump doesn’t seem to want to hold hands with her.

    I agree, they all look so unhappy in every photo. It is really a shame to see that perpetually sad/unhappy look with a ten year old.

  35. Gippy says:

    Did anyone ever play the game Carmen Sandiego? I can’t on see it in that red coat, which I actually like it. It makes sense since she’s constantly hiding from Trump in the White House!

  36. Efstathea says:

    I don’t subscribe to Facebook or any other sites. I’m reading these comments on the trumps thru Google site, that pops up all these newsy articles. I think most of those people on sites like Facebook etc. need to get a life. Look down thru history of past First Ladies & presidents. For example, Jack & Jackie, Hillary & bill, the Roosevelts & many others really happily married couples. I think not. And hands off Barron. Seems to me that children from past presidents were off limits even though itchy hands made one comment about those children, then when confronted, stopped. So please give the same courtesy to Barron. I have a 10 year old grandson. I would go after the jugular if you went after him. So knock it off already.

    • Cookiejar says:

      Exactly. No matter what we think of the parents, hands off the kid.

      Not a diss, just a remark: did he have a growth spurt? he seems a lot taller now.