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President Trump went on his first trip abroad after taking office, but it was Melania who came back from it with a new reputation—and possibly better status within the fashion world. Though her husband left foreign leaders like Angela Merkel less than impressed, the first lady got rave reviews during her trip overseas.
Much of that praise centered around her fashion choices, from a black Stella McCartney jumpsuit in Saudi Arabia to wearing Dolce & Gabbana in Italy. CNN reports that she packed a bag for each leg of the trip and consulted with the State Department about protocol, and the result clearly paid off.
Page Six called Melania's trip a "fashion tour de force" and reported that she is getting more and more shipments of clothing from designers lately. "There is a softening, a melting," stylist Phillip Bloch told columnist Richard Johnson. "Fashion people are fickle and fake. They are starting to see she is a beautiful woman who is married to the president, and it is an honor to dress her."
The reception wasn't all positive for her, though. She received some criticism for the high $51,000 price tag of the Dolce & Gabbana jacket she wore in Sicily; critics called it hypocritical when her husband was planning to slash healthcare benefits for people in need back home.
But the Washington Post defended the fashion choice, noting that Michelle Obama also got "fashion shamed" for wearing expensive sneakers on a visit to a food bank. "Clothes aren't cruel or uncaring," columnist Robin Givhan wrote. "That's left to the people who wear them."
