Melania Trump offered some nonsensical context for the dress she wore to her husband’s second inauguration.
During a ceremony in which her inaugural dress was donated to the Smithsonian, Melania, 55, described how the gown’s Z-shaped design represented her life.
The first lady, wearing leather leggings and knee-high high-heeled boots, said that the black ‘Z’ shape on the front bodice reflects “decades of my early memories, life experiences, and influences.”
“And all of these stories attach deep within crisp, strong seams forever,” she added.
The first lady’s dress was designed by her stylist Hervé Pierre, who also worked on the gown she wore for Trump’s first inauguration, which was also donated to the Smithsonian.
The designer said the combination of black and white was “true to her own style and vision,” in a statement shared last year.
The cost of the dress was not publicly disclosed, but the diamond brooch she wore as a choker, designed by high-end jeweler Harry Winston, reportedly cost around $100,000.
“This is not a dress,” she said. “This is more than 50 years of education, experience, and wisdom realized with each thread, each stitch, each sharp edge.”
“This dress speaks with a distinct point of view, a modern silhouette. Bold and dignified and ruthlessly chic,” she added.
Melania has taken on a more public-facing role in the lead-up to the premiere of her self-aggrandizing eponymous documentary last month.
The first lady gave a speech and rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange on Jan. 28 to promote the film, a publicity event that apparently required some encouragement for sufficient applause.
Since the documentary was released in theaters on Jan. 30, its box office numbers have stumbled considerably week to week. In its third weekend, the film suffered a 62.3 percent drop in moviegoer attendance, according to data from IMDbPro.
Melania is projected to gross a measly $15.4 million in total for its theatrical run, a far cry from the $40 million spent by Jeff Bezos’s Amazon to acquire it and the additional $35 million to promote it.
The film, directed by Hollywood creep Brett Ratner, has made her a “big movie star,” according to her husband, President Donald Trump. As the “star” of the family, he’s not too happy.
“She has a very successful movie out right now, like number one. Can you believe this?” Trump, 79, said during his first Board of Peace meeting in Washington, D.C., on Thursday. “Big movie star, and I always say it’s trouble, because I always say there’s not room in one family for two stars.”
“I told her that we can’t have two stars in one family, so I don’t know what that means, but it’s not, it’s not good,” he added.
Though the president declined to comment on what he gifted his wife for Valentine’s Day, he has continually praised Melania for her vanity movie, which he has called a “tremendous hit.”
“I’m proud of the fact that her movie is so successful,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One last weekend. “I think you’re going to see in the end that she’s going to go down as one of the truly great first ladies when you see what she’s doing with Russia, Ukraine, and so many of the other things she’s doing.”
