Tuesday, January 21, 2025
Melania's hat
FR
Melania's hat
Stephan Klemm • 16 hours • 2 minutes reading time
The First Lady kept Donald Trump at a distance at the inauguration ceremony.
At twelve o'clock noon, high noon in the USA, time of decision, the hat of the year can be seen in all its glory. At Donald Trump's inauguration, it is stuck on the head of Melania Trump, the President's wife, deep dark blue with a white loop, with a huge brim that casts large shadows on the First Lady's face, right down to her nose. And even if there was no direct duel with Donald, the President, at twelve o'clock noon, she fired a veritable shot of irony and self-assertiveness at him. Which he, the narcissist, completely focused on himself, perhaps didn't even notice in a phase of great self-love.
Probably not even when he tried in vain to press a kiss on her cheek. Didn't work - the brim. Next time, although that means he didn't understand her hat message: Stay. Off. My. Neck.
Soon after, we learn that brims like the one on Melania's hat, arranged at a 45-degree angle, are classic distance markers in fashion history from intrusive kisses and kissers. One would have to give women who want to remain unkissed at the Cologne carnival a tip.
Melania Trump appeared conspicuous and unwelcoming at the inauguration in Washington, and not just because of her hat concept. Below her head, she wore a buttoned-up navy blue coat and dangerously high-heeled stilettos, which also seemed ready for a duel with her husband if it came to the extreme. Fashion expert Louis Pisano finds all this a little daring: he calls this style "dictator's wife".
This all became obvious when Trump raised his right hand and swore the oath of office, but forgot to put his left hand on the Bible that Melania, the dictator's wife, held out to him. There, too, nothing of her eyes can be seen. And not a word to Donald, not even a "Hey, your left hand."
In short, what we saw was a skillful performance by her, the woman with the hat of the year. It's no wonder that the translator of the inauguration spectacle at Phoenix lost his temper in the face of Trump's increasingly confused statements when he turned imploringly to the director: "Tell me, how long are you going to stick with this crap?"
Right. Cut. The hat message has long since arrived.