The Tamesis
Melania Trump left the White House with her husband, President Donald Trump, on Tuesday night for the 2026 State of the Union address. The First Lady stepped out in a gray pantsuit and white button-down shirt from her favorite brand, Dolce & Gabbana. The ensemble was a more somber look than Mrs. Trump’s previous SOTU looks, which included a Burberry coat dress in 2019 and a navy Dolce & Gabbana skirt suit in 2020. In fact, Mrs. Trump’s pantsuit, paired with matching Manolo Blahnik heels, was reminiscent of the suit she wore in her official White House portrait, also by Dolce & Gabbana.
This latest appearance comes shortly after a visit to the Smithsonian last week, when Mrs. Trump’s second inauguration dress was added to the museum’s collection. On that occasion, she wore Bottega Veneta and Christian Louboutin.
At a time when many American brands, large and small, are reeling from President Trump’s tariffs — ahead of his fall 2026 fashion show, designer Prabal Gurung said tariffs were consuming his daily business meetings like never before — Trump’s continued embrace of European clothing is noteworthy.
Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images
After the film is released MelaniaLast month, a stylist-centric portrait of the first lady was seen in theaters and on Prime Video Fashion explained that much of Mrs. Trump’s wardrobe was purchased — “like any other” high-profile client — rather than borrowed. If that’s true, and Mrs. Trump isn’t funding SOTU’s American designers, it’s also a bit ironic given her husband’s emphasis on American industry in his speech Tuesday night.
Of course, Mrs. Trump embraced American fashion at key moments, wearing Ralph Lauren to her husband’s first inauguration and Adam Lippes to his second. But her stylist Hervé Pierre objected to giving her clothes a political meaning; in 2019, he told WWD The military-style Burberry jacket she wore to that year’s State of the Union address had no deeper meaning. That may be the case, but to onlookers across the country, even a pair of plain, slim-fitting pantsuits can send mixed messages.
