For those who made the long trek to Washington, D.C., to watch President Donald Trump’s inauguration live and in person, the cold weather venue changes were a bit of a disappointment.
I too thought Melania looked amazingly polished and classy. But I also thought she appeared to be dressed for battle. I remembered the powder blue outfit she wore in 2017 accompanied by her warm outgoing smiles. No more. I believe the hateful snubs and criticism she endured and the unrelenting attacks on her husband over the last eight years have had an effect. Whatever challenges the next four years hold, I believe we will see a FLOTUS of not only style and grace, but fire forged steel.
I'm glad to hear what you thought about her hat and I hope my own impressions are totally wrong..
I liked her hat, but my thought was that she was hiding beneath it. The general public couldn't see her face and those who were close to her couldn't hug her. I would have enjoyed seeing more of her smiling face.
Yes, I would have liked seeing her smile more, too, but I enjoyed when it did peek through! As I mentioned to another comment below, "I know what you mean about the hat hiding her face ... but as I think about it, she really doesn't love being in the limelight, and perhaps this was a way she could be comfortable. And that's something that I really love--comfortable, but in a feminine way!"
Eloquently expressed Annie. I would agree with your observation on the First Lady's attire and I also found it uniquely refreshing. My first thought upon seeing that hat was Jacqueline Kennedy's elegant style and wardrobe, back when she was the First Lady.
Our new President was succinct in stating today, during his inaugural address, that hence forward, there would be only two genders recognised by his administration: male and female. Bully for him and bully for Melania! "Common Sense" would prevail, he assured the American public today, and that certainly was long overdue in a culture regrettably suborned too long to the capricious whims of youthful social media users...
On a whimsical note, and mindful of the fact that youthful Americans are always trying so arduously to be different from each other (in exactly congruent ways) and end up being 'different' identically as soon as a new take on attire is shared on social media, I think it would be great if American men began to wear hats again, also. Not the ubiquitously boring sports 'ball-cap' that is by now almost an American uniform of the masses, but real hats with dash, verve and that meld in with traditional concepts of masculinity to accentuate the fact that men are in fact men! In that, I look to Harrison Ford in "Raiders", who sparked a brief revival of the short-brim Fedora before it died out. Many black Americans often affect hats, and I think that's a positive bellwether!
"Fashion" thrives on the promise that if you wear a particularly fashionable style, you will miraculously be transformed into this perfect, anorexic runway model. But the joke is that a pig dressed in pearls and lipstick remains porcine, after all is said & done.
There is a sagacious observation that sums up the secret of how to succeed in being stylish: "Own the look", as the French female effortlessly demonstrates, proving that stylish raiment is only as effective as the attitude of the person wearing it. Without attitude to match the chosen garment (or hat), the promised magic transformation from 'prole drab' to 'model' simply fails to obtain, regardless of the raiment. Melania Trump has shown us that she has the necessary attitude to carry it off (of course she also has the money and lifestyle and that helps a lot, eh?) and thus I feel there's a lesson in this for all of us, I believe.
And now, we must ignore all the diehard Leftist naysayers who persist in parading around with signs that figuratively say "The End is near" (now that Trump has superseded Biden) and try to bring this Disunited States of America back together again, in a reconstituted democracy, with 'The Donald' and Melania at the head of the vanguard! God Bless 'America 2.0'...
Great thoughts! I, too, found it intriguing that that Trump specifically mentioned male and female and common sense, particularly since I wrote this piece before I heard the speech - made me feel like I was on the right track with my assessment. ;-)
I love this. I have never considered a hat a sign of femininity, but I did find Melania Trump looked striking in hers.
My husband's family grew up in a small denomination that required head coverings in the 1950s, and my sister-in-law complained about the elastic strap on her hat cutting into her chin. I grew up in the 1970s when hats were old-fashioned.
Perhaps bringing them back will return some sanity to our culture. At age 58, I still wear skirts to church, though most women now wear pants in the Seattle area. It just feels proper and more worshipful to me. Maybe I need to find a hat.
I think that's a great idea to wear a skirt, especially to church! The lines between masculinity and femininity have grown so obscured that I believe even little things like that are good ways to unblur the lines between the sexes.
Annie and friends, I was thrilled to see both Melania and Ivanka in hats and feminine dresses yesterday. As a few other readers have noted, I also felt Melanie was hiding her face a bit and looked prepared for war. Contrast their dress with the pantsuits of other ladies in attendance and a feminine and graceful message looked clear. Something else struck me: Baron was incredibly daper and masculinely dressed, and looked like the man he has become.
"Contrast their dress with the pantsuits of other ladies in attendance and a feminine and graceful message looked clear." Completely agree!
I know what you mean about the hat hiding her face ... but as I think about it, she really doesn't love being in the limelight, and perhaps this was a way she could be comfortable. And that's something that I really love--comfortable, but in a feminine way!
I too thought Melania looked amazingly polished and classy. But I also thought she appeared to be dressed for battle. I remembered the powder blue outfit she wore in 2017 accompanied by her warm outgoing smiles. No more. I believe the hateful snubs and criticism she endured and the unrelenting attacks on her husband over the last eight years have had an effect. Whatever challenges the next four years hold, I believe we will see a FLOTUS of not only style and grace, but fire forged steel.
Excellently put! I agree.
I'm glad to hear what you thought about her hat and I hope my own impressions are totally wrong..
I liked her hat, but my thought was that she was hiding beneath it. The general public couldn't see her face and those who were close to her couldn't hug her. I would have enjoyed seeing more of her smiling face.
Yes, I would have liked seeing her smile more, too, but I enjoyed when it did peek through! As I mentioned to another comment below, "I know what you mean about the hat hiding her face ... but as I think about it, she really doesn't love being in the limelight, and perhaps this was a way she could be comfortable. And that's something that I really love--comfortable, but in a feminine way!"
Eloquently expressed Annie. I would agree with your observation on the First Lady's attire and I also found it uniquely refreshing. My first thought upon seeing that hat was Jacqueline Kennedy's elegant style and wardrobe, back when she was the First Lady.
Our new President was succinct in stating today, during his inaugural address, that hence forward, there would be only two genders recognised by his administration: male and female. Bully for him and bully for Melania! "Common Sense" would prevail, he assured the American public today, and that certainly was long overdue in a culture regrettably suborned too long to the capricious whims of youthful social media users...
On a whimsical note, and mindful of the fact that youthful Americans are always trying so arduously to be different from each other (in exactly congruent ways) and end up being 'different' identically as soon as a new take on attire is shared on social media, I think it would be great if American men began to wear hats again, also. Not the ubiquitously boring sports 'ball-cap' that is by now almost an American uniform of the masses, but real hats with dash, verve and that meld in with traditional concepts of masculinity to accentuate the fact that men are in fact men! In that, I look to Harrison Ford in "Raiders", who sparked a brief revival of the short-brim Fedora before it died out. Many black Americans often affect hats, and I think that's a positive bellwether!
"Fashion" thrives on the promise that if you wear a particularly fashionable style, you will miraculously be transformed into this perfect, anorexic runway model. But the joke is that a pig dressed in pearls and lipstick remains porcine, after all is said & done.
There is a sagacious observation that sums up the secret of how to succeed in being stylish: "Own the look", as the French female effortlessly demonstrates, proving that stylish raiment is only as effective as the attitude of the person wearing it. Without attitude to match the chosen garment (or hat), the promised magic transformation from 'prole drab' to 'model' simply fails to obtain, regardless of the raiment. Melania Trump has shown us that she has the necessary attitude to carry it off (of course she also has the money and lifestyle and that helps a lot, eh?) and thus I feel there's a lesson in this for all of us, I believe.
And now, we must ignore all the diehard Leftist naysayers who persist in parading around with signs that figuratively say "The End is near" (now that Trump has superseded Biden) and try to bring this Disunited States of America back together again, in a reconstituted democracy, with 'The Donald' and Melania at the head of the vanguard! God Bless 'America 2.0'...
Great thoughts! I, too, found it intriguing that that Trump specifically mentioned male and female and common sense, particularly since I wrote this piece before I heard the speech - made me feel like I was on the right track with my assessment. ;-)
Annie, excellent piece! Thank you for the extra effort on the very day of the Inauguration.
Sometimes inspiration just strikes at just the right moments! ;-)
I love this. I have never considered a hat a sign of femininity, but I did find Melania Trump looked striking in hers.
My husband's family grew up in a small denomination that required head coverings in the 1950s, and my sister-in-law complained about the elastic strap on her hat cutting into her chin. I grew up in the 1970s when hats were old-fashioned.
Perhaps bringing them back will return some sanity to our culture. At age 58, I still wear skirts to church, though most women now wear pants in the Seattle area. It just feels proper and more worshipful to me. Maybe I need to find a hat.
I think that's a great idea to wear a skirt, especially to church! The lines between masculinity and femininity have grown so obscured that I believe even little things like that are good ways to unblur the lines between the sexes.
Annie and friends, I was thrilled to see both Melania and Ivanka in hats and feminine dresses yesterday. As a few other readers have noted, I also felt Melanie was hiding her face a bit and looked prepared for war. Contrast their dress with the pantsuits of other ladies in attendance and a feminine and graceful message looked clear. Something else struck me: Baron was incredibly daper and masculinely dressed, and looked like the man he has become.
"Contrast their dress with the pantsuits of other ladies in attendance and a feminine and graceful message looked clear." Completely agree!
I know what you mean about the hat hiding her face ... but as I think about it, she really doesn't love being in the limelight, and perhaps this was a way she could be comfortable. And that's something that I really love--comfortable, but in a feminine way!