Unlike the powder blue Ralph Lauren ensemble Melania wore to the 2017 swearing-in ceremony of her husband, the navy coat is understated and serious. Her previous look, which included a pristine pair of matching gloves, couldn’t be more different. It seemed to invoke Jackie Kennedy, arguably the first celebrity first lady. A windswept updo and diamond studs completed the picture of a Jackie O acolyte, warm and feminine and approachable.
This time around, Melania’s buttoned-up coat gave her the appearance of a chic, old-timey spy. She seemed reserved and austere, while still retaining the polish for which defined her first four years as FLOTUS. Like a spy, she also seemed to be wearing her outer layers like protection, a physical barrier between herself and the world.
Seated behind the podium where Donald Trump took the oath of office to become the 47th president of the United States, Melania kept both her coat and hat on for the entirety of the ceremony. Her brim, tilted low, cast a thick shadow over her eyes, shielding her from the view of millions of Americans who were lying in wait for some kind of reaction. (This time around, they got that reaction from former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who seemed to involuntarily chuckle at the president’s declaration that the Gulf of Mexico would now be known as the Gulf of America.)
Amid the sea of dark suits, Melania was difficult to pluck out of the crowd, unlike, say, Second Lady Usha Vance, who dressed in a pastel pink wool coat, her hair tucked in a chignon to show her face. Was this bit of camouflage an unintended consequence of her chosen outfit, or an intentional attempt to blend in with the crowd, and go (relatively) unnoticed? If we know Melania Trump, she’ll never say.
