As far as her personal style is concerned, Ivanka Trump has a look: slinky sheaths, stiletto heels, and signature bare legs. She rarely strays from that formula, but her wardrobe choices during her recent tour of the Middle East and Europe struck a different tone—still ladylike but more statement-making than anything she's worn in her new role so far. Say what you want about the First Daughter, she is a shrewd steward of her own image, if nothing else, and seems increasingly determined to send a message of “I deserve to be here” while using her clothes to do it.
“These days, when the world cares about what a public person wears to the grocery store, you bet they’re going to take notice of what a major political figure [is wearing]—what it means, what it looks like, and whether they like it or not,” fashion expert and author Melissa Magsaysay told Glamour of the role that fashion has come to play for political figures. It may seem trivial, but it matters.
For her appearance in Jerusalem at the Western Wall, Trump wore a Cédric Charlier pleated skirt along with a textured black and navy top and a fascinator (very royal). To visit the Holocaust museum, she wore a demure but striking $5,690 long-sleeved white lace Oscar de la Renta dress. And when she went to the Vatican in Rome to meet the Pope, she wore a long-sleeved black lace cocktail dress paired with a dramatic netted veil and simple strands of pearls—an obvious nod to Jackie Kennedy.
This style transformation hasn’t gone unnoticed. The Guardian, for instance, referred to it as “visual diplomacy” and “considered.” There are even rumors circulating that Trump has tapped a top celebrity stylist to meticulously plan what she wears for public outings. Suffice it to say, Trump isn’t just throwing these outfits together and walking outside; this is a full-on public relations strategy.
Lauren A. Rothman, a Washington D.C.–based stylist and author of Style Bible: What to Wear to Work, says Trump is intent on sending a very different message with her clothes than Michelle Obama did with hers.
“Michelle’s outfits were designed to make a statement, they were very well scripted, in that way of we are going to casually see her with her girls in these photo opportunities communicating her role in the White House,” she told us.”
Trump, meanwhile, is honing a less approachable, more glamorous image for herself. “She’s always very, very well dressed, stylish to a T, and she’s presenting herself as the complete package," she said. "It’s glossy.”
It’s a fitting time for Trump to be deliberate with her wardrobe choices. She’s been criticized for her role in the White House as a senior advisor. Her presence on her father’s first official trip overseas has raised more than a few eyebrows. The New York Times referred to it as “unusual,” and many on Twitter and other social media channels have been less kind with their choice of words.
Trump certainly wouldn’t be the first woman in history to use fashion as a tool to assert power. In 1478 B.C. when Hatshepsut, the Egyptian queen, came to power, she began incorporating men’s fashion into her look to assert her authority. In 1851 Amelia Jenks Bloomer, an American newspaper editor, became one of the first women to wear pants in public, a statement that she could be successful among men. Coco Chanel, in the 1920s, pioneered the idea of the feminine tailored suit as the de facto outfit for women who were working and leading busy lives.
In the 1980s we saw the rise of the power suit as women attempted to claim their place in the corporate world. “[Wearing] anything else at work is unthinkable,” proclaimed John T. Molloy in his best-selling 1977 manual, The Woman’s Dress for Success Book.
Women like Michelle Obama and Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge, have turned the idea of power dressing on its head in recent years, wearing feminine and colorful dresses and cardigans in lieu of suits, a look that has garnered the nickname soft power. On the other end of the spectrum, Hillary Clinton has become known for her pantsuits.
Here’s the thing: While Ivanka might be trying to make a PR play with her wardrobe, it doesn’t seem like people are buying what she is selling. Following her appearance alongside the Pope, it didn’t take long for memes to start popping up poking fun of both her outfit and her political role.
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Clothes can only take someone so far, something every woman sitting in a CEO job, or political office can attest to—you have to back it up with substance.
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