Why was Melania's pantsuit such a big deal?

southernbubby

Thu, Feb 01 2018, 2:31 pm

It wasn't my taste but apparently it got lots of criticism, which I can't understand. I didn't see anything particularly wrong with it. Why are people reacting negatively to her pantsuit? Was it the color of the outfit? And if so, what is wrong with that, was it the wrong season or do FLOTUS's wear dresses to the SOTU address?

I mean, this should be everyone's biggest thing to gripe about.

SixOfWands

Thu, Feb 01 2018, 2:49 pm

FranticFrummie wrote:

And if there's a problem with it, how do you explain Hillary's extensive pantsuit collection?

People were reading tea leaves. Did she choose to wear a white pants suit (Fox says its cream, so its all fake news Rolling Eyes

) as an homage to Clinton's pantsuits, and a tacit disapproval of Trump? Did she choose it as a nod to the "suffragists" who wore white pantsuits last year? Or did she wear it to contrast with the black worn by the Democratic Women's Working Group? Or because Republicans were urged to wear red white and blue?

Fox

Thu, Feb 01 2018, 2:50 pm

I think First Ladies get a lot of grief.

In recent memory, Nancy Reagan was too la-di-dah. Barbara Bush was too matronly. Hillary Clinton was too shlumpy. Laura Bush was too boring. Michelle Obama pretty much got a pass, but there were plenty of questionable fashion choices to work with.

I don't think it was her best look by far, but white is associated with purity and hope, and she probably wanted to contrast against all the dark suits while keeping it simple.

Actually, I think most of us here would get along with Melania pretty well. She seems to mind her own business unless someone picks on her kid, at which point her claws come out. Most of us can relate to that mindset.

iyar

Thu, Feb 01 2018, 2:52 pm

I don't know if it was actually perceived as a problem, but what got a lot of attention was the color Melania chose to wear..

Last year at Trump's first address to Congress many of the congressional women wore white.
Here's a quote from one of them explaining the reason:
“It’s really important to show that what candidate Trump said about women and the way that he has behaved toward women in the past is not an acceptable standard for a president,” House Democratic Caucus Vice Chairwoman Linda Sanchez (D-Whittier) said. “We want a visual reminder to him that suffragettes wore white and we are not going to let him take us backward. We are not going to let men dictate the choices that we have in our lives."

The question on people's minds was whether Melania somehow wanted to allude to this (and why), or whether she just happened to be wearing a white pantsuit that she looked great in (as she does in just about everything else she wears).

Miri7

Thu, Feb 01 2018, 2:54 pm

That’s funny. All I’ve heard in my (very liberal) circles is positive. She looked stunning, very appropriate. Most people I am FB friends with don’t have much positive to say about Trump but people were very complimentary about her outfit at SOTU. We regularly post articles about sartorial choices and fashion in politics and discuss. I thought she looked great, the suit stood out in the crowd and it was a nice choice for the event.

Fox

Thu, Feb 01 2018, 2:57 pm

Let's get down to tachlis: were refreshments served after the SOTU?

If so, were people taking home extras for their "kids"?

Should it be the duty of SCOTUS Justices to make sure nobody swipes too many cookies? Is that the real reason Justice Ginspurg made other plans this year? She was sick of being assigned the job of swatting the hands of greedy Senators?

Or are the Majority and Minority Whips in charge of cookie allocation?

Just theorizing . . .

pause

Thu, Feb 01 2018, 2:58 pm

iyar wrote:

If you look at pictures of Melania, she actually wears a lot of white, so I highly doubt there was any allusion to anything. (In fact, and I heard this from a fashion forward friend, white is a color that actually looks good/sharp/fresh on many people.)

southernbubby

Thu, Feb 01 2018, 3:06 pm

Fox wrote:

The press would have a great time filming the cookie swiping. Pics of supposedly normal people stuffing their pocketbooks with cookies or sneaking out the back with boxes of danishes would be front page news.

Fox

Thu, Feb 01 2018, 8:09 pm

ITA, Gold and SB. Let's face it, Melania could probably poke holes in a garbage bag for her head and arms, add a belt and a pair of heels, and still look great.

The cropped, wide-cut legs have been showing up on runways for a while, but it doesn't really seem like the style is trickling down to real-life fashion. I've seen a couple of catalogs showing similar pants as part of one or two collections. They're really not pushing it at the consumer level. Now I think we know why. If Melania can't sell the style, it's probably best left on the runway.

Fortunately, Melania seems to have a better handle on the concept of decorum than her husband. Otherwise we might be subjected to some of the concepts hitting the runways in the Spring 2018 collections:

Nicolas Ghesquière of Louis Vuitton relied heavily on what I would describe as "satin boxing shorts" as a key element. Tom Ford also went in for shorts, though his were more what I'd call "gym shorts worn with a jacket," along with "jogging pants worn with a jacket" as an alternative. Dolce & Gabbana seemed to be pushing what might best be characterized as "underwear," and Maria Grazia Chiuri (Dior) really, really likes knee-high boots. Lagerfeld (Chanel) upped the ante by doing shorts with wide legs and thigh-high boots. Olivier Rousteing (Balmain) seems to be offering cropped, wide-leg pants with your choice of chains or fringe.

A Junee skirt and a t-shirt is sounding better all the time!

WhatFor

Thu, Feb 01 2018, 9:00 pm

My social media feed is predominantly liberal, I'm pretty current on it, and the first time I heard anything about Melania's outfit is right here. Maybe I don't follow enough fashion posters?

My fashion savvy very liberal friend still loves Melania's style. The general criticisms I see of Melania have nothing to do with her clothing.

I personally don't give a cr@p what a woman wore and when. This is a non-issue and will not even survive until the weekend as a story to talk about.

southernbubby

Thu, Feb 01 2018, 9:51 pm

WhatFor wrote:

Nobody is going to change their life over it but the drama lately is that she is angry at Donald.

lavenderchimes

Fri, Feb 02 2018, 9:49 am

In addition to the above: women are largely discussed only in terms of how they look. I recall a big scandal about Michelle Obama wearing sleevless dresses! Ha. This time, it's Melania's possible feminist reference. The main theme is that we are largely concerned about how women look -- not about what they do or who they are or where they stand on important issues. It's also fun sometimes to create a big scandal, but even then we critique their clothing.