Well, I’m back! And now let’s talk about fashion choices and history
I got back home rather late, and at that point I wasn’t in the mood to write the big long heavy post I’d planned. So maybe tomorrow (always keep ’em wanting more).
For now I’ll do this one.
After the 2016 election I thought it might be fun to follow Melania’s fashions—because let’s face it, she’s probably the most beautiful and glamorous First Lady ever, although Jackie Kennedy could give her a run for her money. But why choose? Melania knows clothes, and she was a fashion model; ’nuff said.
But instead of having fun with this fact, the supposed fashionistas in the press have mostly indulged their snotty, catty, petty, envious, Trump-deranged negativity towards Melania. A good example is the recent flap over her Burberry-scarfed blouse and the suit that went with it that she wore on her arrival in Britain: She looks like a flight attendant! they carp.
Oh, really? And since when did “flight attendant” become a pejorative? Not to mention the fact that most flight attendants would kill to look like this (especially at the age of 49):
Melania Trump is being mocked for wearing a cabin crew inspired look as she landed in the UK for the Trump family’s offical state visit.
The 49-year-old First Lady had barely stepped off the plane at London Stansted Airport before Twitter blew up with jokes about her so-called “trolley dolly” look.
I dunno; isn’t that sexist or something? Or is it okay to be sexist if it’s in the service of dissing Melania? (I know the answer; that was a rhetorical question.) Here’s some sparkling wit from her critics:
Melania looks like a trolley dolly
— gareth pennington (@gazpen) June 3, 2019
In that same thread, here’s another one: “But a huge step up from her traditional porn star on a plane outfit, that we’ve all seen far too often! How can anyone consider her anything but a cheap trick?”
But actually, it turns out that Melania’s outfit wasn’t an homage to flight attendants (or stewardesses, to use the archaic term of my youth) after all. It was a tribute to Burberry, a British designer, during her visit to the UK. Plus another tribute, too.
Here’s what the blouse is actually about:
The first lady paired the [Burberry] blouse with a navy Michael Kors skirt suit. As Kors is an American designer, the ensemble symbolizes the two countries. The medals on the top are also the FLOTUS’s nod to the upcoming anniversary of D-Day. Later this week, the President will travel to Portsmouth to mark 75 years since the D-Day landings.
How about that? Very thoughtful gesture.
Later in the day Melania looked rather Diana-ish:
[ADDENDUM: Here’s my previous post about the days when stewardesses were stewardesses.]
yeah.. she did look like a flight attendant..
but one from brits in the 1970s or 80s..
this is what they remember and are comparing to
Flight attendants’ uniforms – 1970s
https://www.opodo.co.uk/blog/flight-attendants-uniforms-1970s/
specifically British airways..
https://internationalflygirl.tumblr.com/post/34826426365/flight-attendant-uniforms-over-the-decades
While they wouldn’t stand up to side by side comparison at all
the red white and blue colors evoke what was then very familiar to the world
it instantly did to me before i got that far down and read they said that
And like the Burberry (UK) Michael Kors (USA) connection, the red-white-blue color combination is a tacit reference to both the American flag and the British Union Jack without actually displaying either..
I first noticed The First Lady’s style of dress when she arrived in Saudi Arabia wearing a black formal coulotte-type outfit with black belt and large gold buckle. Covered from neck to ankle in black it seemed to be a veiled reference to the shador commonly worn by women there but clearly western in style (and of course. no veil). I realize that as a model we can assume she has an impeccable sense of style, but the subtle cultural references seem all too frequent to be just her alone (see also her dress in Japan resembling a kimono). If anyone is advising her at all that individual is a genius — or she, herself, is.
I think Melanie dresses beautifully and the critics have not looked in the mirror. She has conducted herself well as First Lady. She also hasn’t spent as much money travelling the world for vacations as some First Ladies of the past have. I agree with T that cultural references are brilliant.
Really like the First Lady’s choice of clothing for her UK trip. She at least deserves admiration for that.
My observation: The difference of how Michelle Obama and Melania Trump are treated is quite astounding. Any slings at the current First Lady have been far more pathetic than calling Michelle Obama Moochelle (still distasteful).
Not my type, but obviously beautiful. And a distinct differnce from the MO and her weird sense of ‘fashion’. Plus she stands tall for her equally high intellectual abilities.
It appears that she is a thoughtful dresser–more than I have been in life.
She looks elegant and beautiful.
FLOTUS takes regular beatings (as does POTUS) and never shows any evidence of a mark. Class.
So sad how our political opponents politicize everything, to the point of defying reality, as usual.
What’s wrong with looking like a flight attendant? Sounds like someone’s a bit jelly. And isn’t it terribly sexist to call them trolley dollys? Isn’t that the sort of thing that “sexist Trump” would say just before he grabbed a pussy? Confusing! Sad!!
“…is it okay…?
Of course it is.
It most certainly is—and such virtue is to be encouraged:
For the purpose of disparaging, disdaining, humiliating, execrating and excoriating Trump and anything and everything he stands for, EVERYTHING IS OK.
AOK.
MORE THAN OK.
EVERYTHING is permitted. And blessed. And sanctified. And virtuous. In particular the myriad virtuous lies.
ESPECIALLY from the man who has enabled London to challenge—and even overtake!!—-NYC in murders, attempted murders, acid attacks and general mayhem and violence.
ESPECIALLY from the man who has created—in his own depraved image—a Labour Party that is, itself, a cesspit of hate and rampant dishonesty.
It might be funny, except that these people don’t do irony, no matter what they say:
https://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/jeremy-corbyn-zionists-have-no-sense-of-english-irony-1.468795
“…mocked…”
They want flight attendant outfits? OK, let ’em have it:
https://www.pinterest.com/siwal2/vintage-flight-attendants-60s-70s-80s/
To be sure, nobody does SNEER like the Brits. (Actually, the French do come close—one must give credit where credit is due—and they, naturally, do it far more nasally, which heightens the effect.)
In fact, sneering may be one of the few things the Brits have left to be proud of—when one has lost so much one must bend over backwards to cherish what remains—so they dare not divest themselves of this all-important, self-defining national trait (at least for some of the classes).
Besides which, when you’ve “lost” London…what else is left?….
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/john-cleese-takes-another-swipe-at-london-as-he-defends-claims-the-capital-isnt-an-english-city-any-a4154626.html
I have written it before and will again- she could make a burlap sack look stylish- she is that elegant all on her own.
Smashed it. Beautiful people should not be ashamed of being beautiful. Equality has become to mean everyone should dress in sack cloth and smear themselves with dung. Reminds me of the PC adjustment of the Richard Scarry books I read as a kid:
https://www.thevintagenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/changes-updates-social-norms-best-word-book-ever-richard-scarry-3.jpg
Normal people love Melania. She is a credit to us, and she is diplomatically good at making her hosts happy.
Ruth: FLOTUS takes regular beatings (as does POTUS) and never shows any evidence of a mark. Class.
Yes, and isn’t it refreshing that she doesn’t try to show us the error of our ways? She’s an immigrant and speaks three or four languages. The lefties would be thrilled with her if she was a Dem.
I thought she made smart choices for the State Banquet, too. That white dress with those long gloves was very elegant and the lack of jewelry drew attention without competition.
Democrats will never reach their peak level of pettiness.
But instead of having fun with this fact, the supposed fashionistas in the press have mostly indulged their snotty, catty, petty, envious,
Recall Midge Decter’s observation ca. 1980 that homosexual men don’t behave like adult women; they behave like teenage girls.
==
NB: if Melania colors her hair, it’s done with great subtlety.
No clue how women walk around in shoes like that. Note that in heels, she’s about as tall as her husband. She must be approaching 6′ tall in bare feet. Now take a look at pictures of father, mother, and son you see her 13 year old son is almost as tall as his father.
than calling Michelle Obama Moochelle (still distasteful).
That’s not distasteful. It’s just not as precisely descriptive as calling her ‘Michelle Antoinette’.
Ruth: FLOTUS takes regular beatings (as does POTUS) and never shows any evidence of a mark. Class.
She is the most opaque figure to occupy the position of 1st Lady in donkey’s years.
Three beautiful women, my age, in their mid 70’s are good friends of mine who were stewardesses in the 1960’s and they make a distinction between flight attendants and stewardesses because they were the pick of the litter. They were very good looking, well trained, single and really enjoyed their profession back when flying was special. One friend told me they were all trim, had to weigh in and were written up if over a pound or two, they knew how to wear make up, flirt a bit and they were sexy sky goddesses with myths about mile high adventures.
A very different time when men were men and women were women and we knew the difference and stewardesses were not flight attendants.
The Democrat party and the lackey press herd are like High School mean girls.
Trump Derangement Syndrome STRIKES AGAIN.
Hatred makes (even good) people think strange thoughts and do bizarre things:
Sigh. The Truth that some people just cannot think….because…Trump.
https://pjmedia.com/instapundit/332376/
I found Melania beautiful, a classic beauty, and beautifully dressed, whereas–despite all the MSM puffery–no class Michelle Obama often looked like she had just hit the discard pile outside the dressing room at Marshalls.
“Trolley dolly?” I thought leftists were supposed to avoid remarks demeaning to women.
Melania is always elegant and dressed appropriately for the occasion and the country. This was not always the case with Michelle O.
Melania is lovely, smart, well mannered etc. A perfect first lady. The left have smeared her at every turn. Colour me surprised…NOT!
I am confident that the carpers have no idea how churlish they sound.
I suppose they have an audience of like-minded adolescents, but doubt seriously that Melania Trump even notices them. After all she surely has mirrors, and can see for herself that she exudes style and grace. To the best of my knowledge she has never made a misstep as First Lady.
Old Texan:
Here’s my previous post about the days when stewardesses were stewardesses.
no class Michelle Obama often looked like she had just hit the discard pile outside the dressing room at Marshalls.
I didn’t find there was a problem with her clothes or her speech. She presents herself satisfactorily. (I was surprised to discover she usually wore wigs, and that her natural hair is close to fuzz on a cue ball). The real objection to MO is her participation in grift and graft. She abandoned law practice in 1991 and allowed her license to lapse two years later. She had a succession of positions in city government and at the University of Chicago over a period of 17 years whose titles will puzzle anyone who did not work with her. She received handsome promotions each time he moved on to a new position in politics, and she was paid $300,000 a year by 2008. After she departed her last position (with the University of Chicago), her vital and handsomely paid post was eliminated in a hiring freeze. The woman has an appreciation of finery; she’s not Quaker, so that’s OK up to a point. The thing is, critics who’ve collated the available information contend that from 1992 to 2004 the pair of them kept sinking deeper into debt, in spite of the gift of a condo from Madelyn Dunham. And now they have hideously expensive 24 hour security and can buck rake to their hearts content.
Other than women, who might be expected to have an interest in this?
Maybe waspish, worthless, bitter-that-they-are-not-her, homosexual males?
I can fully appreciate your interest, Neo. And even if I’m not a big fan, Trump’s wife does look pretty good in sunglasses and a skirt. And exotic as her looks are from my point of view, she’s still a hell of a lot better looking than some of the other “first ladies” who have rolled into view. But who, I happily grant are not there in the first place in any official role, much less to serve as fashion plates (or targets) and items of gossip.
But when I followed your link to the punk who was pissing down her neck, and it turns out he’s gay … well … a worthless opinion from a worthless … thing.
I used to have a relatively live and let live attitude toward sexually disordered persons. But not much anymore. I’ve grown way sick of them and their “attitudes” and personalities. There are plenty of perverse molesters who are not gay running loose, obviously. And they need to be dealt with by the criminal system.
But homosexuals per se? They socially poison everything they approach; even if they are not trying to bugger young boys.
Thank you NEO for the link to the Stewardess post. Melania is alway elegant, poised, and appears to a have both a great sense of self and humor so it is egregious the way the media treat her.
“Vicki Barr is a popular mystery series for girls published by Grosset & Dunlap from 1947 to 1964.” – Wikipedia
Popular books back in the days when airlines were hoping to make the profession look appealing to the younger set of prospective hires.
I read most of these on original publication (!!), and re-read some recently before handing them off to the granddaughters.
Vicki had to study the passenger manifest so she knew who was on board (that became a plot point), and was trained in emergency first aid & rescue techniques.
It wasn’t just glamor & fancy clothes.
Neo’s old post was a nostalgic trip; I also remember when flying was fun.
AMartel on June 5, 2019 at 12:53 am said something really stupid that sounds like it belongs on the comment line of The Hill: Isn’t that the sort of thing that “sexist Trump” would say just before he grabbed a pussy? Confusing! Sad!!
nah, its probably what Clinton said before inserting a tobacco tampon..
One was consensual between adults – So what’s your problem, not getting any?
The other was a form of harassment and ruined a young ladies life…
So, your perspective is a bit off…
now, can we talk about the democrat president that cheated on his wife, had a baby, stole the baby, had the mother incarcerated as crazy (eventually they agreed the president was out to get her, and she was released)… was a very horrible thing…
but dems scrub their reputations better than Clinton can scrub a hard drive
Artfldgr:
I believe AMartel’s comment was a sarcastic joke.
Melania is not trading her MG for a Chrysler Lebaron, but evenso, you can bop it: https://youtu.be/u7aDstrDMf0
I do remember when being an airline stewardess was a plumb job for a woman. A neighbor of ours in the 1970s had retired from that, lived in the house down the hill, happily married and with two kids. She did say once that the high heels they had to wear — while being essentially a flying waitress were brutal …
One of my publishing clients for the Tiny Bidness had married a lady who was a Pan Am stewardess in the 1940s… she was movie-star beautiful and and an AMAZING and creative cook.
One of the books that I inherited from Mom’s bookshelves was an adventure, concerning a stewardess in the 1940s.
https://www.amazon.com/Nancy-Naylor-flies-south-Lansing/dp/B0007EDXSK
I wonder if Melania T. keeps each of these custom outfits and re-employs them at some point (or might), or does she donate them for auction, or what? I suppose she must have a formidable collection by now.
(The flight-attendant look does cause my heart rate to quicken just a smidge.)
“She abandoned law practice in 1991 and allowed her license to lapse two years later.”
Actually, Michelle Obama didn’t allow her license to practice law merely lapse — she surrendered it. The circumstances are not clear, but she did so through the disciplinary office of the State of Illinois Supreme Court, not the Bar Association. After publicly whining about the cost and debt of law school, it seems odd that she would chuck it only a few years into her expensive career.
As for her personal style, such as it is, she looked ridiculous much of the time.
I’ve noticed that Mrs. Trump likes to wear her blazers & jackets casually over her shoulders, rather than using the sleeves. I marvel at how she keeps her jacket on (my jackets always end up in the floor when I try that). I’m also amazed that she walks so gracefully in 4″ stilletos, especially on stairs!