Melania style decoded: A nod to Jackie O and a hat to hide what she doesn’t want you to see

Once again, the first lady chose a wide-rimmed hat that cleverly shrouded part of her face and made a style choice that reveals an inner truth. Here, Fleur Britten takes a closer look at what Melania is trying to tell us

There was one question on the lips of observers when the president of the United States and the first lady arrived by military helicopter at Windsor Castle today to meet the Prince and Princess of Wales. Would anyone be able to see Melania’s eyes?

As it was, her felted aubergine hat was so low-brimmed – colour-matched to her husband’s tie and teamed with a charcoal Christian Dior haute couture skirt suit – that her eyes were completely shrouded from view. It was all very reminiscent of when the 55-year-old first lady donned a wide-rimmed boater by Eric Javits for her husband’s inaugural swearing-in ceremony. Then, the statement-making accessory seemed to handily keep her husband at a cool distance and spawned hundreds of hilarious memes online comparing her to fictional cartoons and evil movie characters.

“Melania’s hats almost function like Anna Wintour’s sunglasses and bob, where you can't actually see her face for her hair,” says Claudia Croft, editor of 10 Magazine. “It’s a little bit unsettling.”

The late Queen, she adds, would never wear a hat that hid her face. “Our Royals exist to be in public – part of their public duty is to be seen, and to look good while doing so. Maybe Melania doesn't feel the obligation to be seen in the same way that they do.”

The late Queen’s hats were, says Croft, “like replacement crowns – formal pieces that she would wear for daytime engagements”. Meanwhile, the Princess of Wales clearly got the memo, wearing a small, netted Jane Taylor hat, neatly positioned away from her face.

“Melania has taken a very different approach,” continues Croft. “There’s something about her hat that leaves you with more questions than answers. It makes you think, ‘What’s she hiding? Why doesn’t she want people to see her? Is she trying to create a mystery?”

It’s tempting to speculate that Melania might be playing a game with us. For nearly a decade, rumours have swirled that the first lady uses a body double for some of her official engagements, when, as the internet loves to speculate, “she can’t be bothered”, or “when she’s doing downtime for cosmetic surgery” – and of course they call her doppelganger #fakemelania.

Indeed, former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci fuelled this rumour in 2020 during an appearance on an Australian TV quiz show, reporting that the president’s lawyer, Michael Cohen, “insists” that this is true, and that, “Her sister sometimes replaces her on the campaign trail ... usually when you see somebody more affectionate with Mr Trump.”

The style of the first lady has been compared – not always favourably – with that of the Princess of Wales and Queen Camilla (PA)

While this is all, of course, gossipy nonsense, Melania was certainly in a “cover-up” mood when she wore an intriguingly long raincoat to step off Air Force One at Stansted Airport on Tuesday evening. Her Burberry Kensington Heritage trench coat was floor-skimming, worn with Christian Dior Empreinte leather riding boots. Why so long? Did her advisors not clock that, as glamorous as she looked, the ensemble was giving off some serious disguise vibes?

Nevertheless, says Croft, “It was good diplomatic dressing to wear Burberry – a great endorsement for a great British brand – though I was worried about her coming down the steps. One false move in a maxi-trench and you’re over.”

Usually, so much thought goes into planning outfits for official visits, you can expect some kind of messaging within the specific choices of designer, colour, style, etc. But what is it exactly that Melania is trying to say?

“It’s interesting that she’s chosen to wear prominent European couture,” notes the fashion historian Dr Kate Strasdin of Falmouth University – not least when Europe keeps being sent to the naughty step by JD Vance. Most likely, it’s a homage to Jackie Kennedy, who had a penchant for French couture, particularly Dior. Indeed, Melania has long admitted that the OG icon of first ladies is her style crush. In fact, the dress she wore to the state banquet, a bold yellow, off-the-shoulder column gown, was designed by Carolina Herrera, another of Jackie's favourite designers. It’s easy to see Jackie’s influence – say what you like about Melania, but she is undoubtedly the most sleek and stylish of any of the presidents’ wives to follow her.

Melania Trump wears Caroline Herrara – one of Jackie O’s favourite designers (AP)

It’s also interesting to note, adds Strasdin, that the Dior skirt suit has a military aesthetic, “with the suit’s button placement running down both sides from the shoulder to below the waist – there’s a strength to the outfit, and maybe a sense of an embattled first lady under fire”.

In sharp contrast to the sharp edges and sombre colour choice of Melania’s first outfit choice, both the Queen and Kate wore rich jewel tones to greet the Americans – for the Queen, 78, a royal blue Fiona Clare dress and matching hat by Philip Treacy, for the princess, 43, a dark red Emilia Wickstead coat dress. Red and blue, plus, for the state banquet, Kate’s white silk crepe couture gown by Phillipa Lepley (worn with a gold lace Chantilly evening coat): there’s the colours of the British flag right there – another tick for diplomatic fashion, albeit predictably literal.

“The royals dress to be seen in a crowd,” explains Croft. “The late Queen would only wear black for funerals, and all the royals follow that protocol. But the one thing everyone can agree on is a stiletto pump.”

Melania wore a similarly wide-brimmed hat to her husband’s inauguration in January (Getty)

The detail that might have been missed even more than Melania’s eyes is Kate’s choice of brooch, the historic three feathers. “It was a wedding gift to Princess Alexandra of Denmark when she married the Prince of Wales [who later became King Edward VII] in 1863,” says Strasdin. “She went on to become a much-beloved Princess of Wales.”

The brooch, made up of 18 brilliant-cut diamonds encircled by tiny emeralds, includes the emblematic Prince of Wales ostrich feathers and a scroll inscribed with the Prince of Wales’s motto “Ich Dien”, which is German for “I serve”. So very on-message for Kate, who rarely puts a stiletto-pumped foot wrong when her star power is needed most.