MELANIA TRUMP IS 50 YEARS OLD: WE REMEMBER HER STYLE BEFORE BEING FIRST LADY
Donald Trump's wife celebrates her birthday confined to the White House. Although she continues to be famous for her wardrobe choices, a few years ago she was famous for her sequined dresses, side slits and plunging necklines.
Before being the first lady of the United States, Melania Knauss was already a young woman without fear of anything. She grew up with her middle class family of hers in a modest apartment in the city of Sevnica (Slovenia). Her father worked in a dealership and her mother in a textile factory. When she came of age she moved to Ljubljana to study design and photography. A time that did not last long, as did her studies in Architecture at the University. Melania herself left everything to pursue her modeling career, which she had started at age 16, when photographer Stane Jerko noticed her stunning blue eyes and her 6 foot tall. In Italy she had a great job opportunity to consolidate her future on the catwalks, and she toured the great cities of fashion –Milan, Paris ...– until she settled in 1995 in New York, where she soon reaped fame.
It didn't take long for her to meet the one who would be her husband and who years later would make her the first lady of the United States. In 1998, at New York Fashion Week, the modeling agency representing the Slovenian organized a party attended by Donald Trump because of his link with the Miss World pageant. At the time he was getting divorced from his second wife, Marla Maples, before he atoned for the prenuptial agreement and Marla could keep the two million euros agreed. Melania was 28 years old, and he was 52. According to Melania, the businessman asked him for his phone number, but since he was accompanied by another woman, he preferred not to give it to him, so Melania asked him for hers instead. He gave her all the numbers she had for her: the one for her office, the one for her house in Mar-a-Lago, the one for her apartment in New York ... And yes, Melania called him .
A few months later they confirmed their romance in a reality show and in 2005 they got married in Palm Beach. The bride wore an ornate design by John Galliano for Dior with four meters of train and rhinestones whose value exceeded 200,000 euros, at the height of the guests, among whom were from Anna Wintour to Bill and Hillary Clinton (today it seems impossible but so was). A year later, Donald's fifth child, William Barron Trump, and Melania's first, was born. This is how the woman who had appeared nude on the cover of GQ a few years ago began to shape her style and who, unlike her predecessors, did have a stylistic past quite different from what she has achieved over the years.
On the occasion of her 50th birthday we recall the most iconic looks that Melania wore at events and parties before becoming one of the most sophisticated women in terms of style of the last decade, when she preferred Roberto Cavalli, Marc Bouwer Couture and Christian Siriano over the designs he is now betting on from Michael Kors, Ralph Lauren and Dolce & Gabbana
In the late 1990s, her skimpy dresses were laced with metallic sequins; the necklines were striking; the lateral openings, very accentuated; and fur coats, a must. A constant in the dressing room of Melania back then.
'Shine bright like a diamond'
The woman clad in small pieces of crystal on the red carpet. The model had recently arrived in America, but she had already become one of the regular guests at the coolest events on the Upper East Side. For these occasions she chose stunning dresses, like the one she wore, with silver sequins and spaghetti straps, at a posh party in the late nineties. Melania has never minded standing out from the crowd. Although she seems to be a woman of few words, her styling already spoke –and speaks– for itself.
With the entry of the new decade she stayed true to her brightest style of hers (literally) of hers. To the surprise of many, she did not leave the garments made from reflective beads, on the contrary, she bet even more on this type of outfit to go from party to party. Like the orange fringe minidress she wore to the MTV Music Awards in New York in 2003. Quite a show.
Infinite openings
The daring went like a glove to the stylistic repertoire of Trump's still girlfriend. One of the most repeated peculiarities of her in her turn-of-the-century ball gowns focused on a key aspect: the opening that ran down her entire leg in Angelina Jolie style - although the actress had not yet starred in that legendary moment at the Oscars. The pink satin design with a corset-effect neckline and knotted at the neck was the star piece at that New Year's Eve party in Palm Beach, where the couple celebrated their last Christmas with their friends before becoming husband and wife.
Unlike her current wardrobe, much more sober and elegant, her pieces to go to celebrations in the Big Apple became the protagonists of the red carpet, among other things due to their striking side cut that almost touched the model's hip. It was the highlight of the photocall.
Marilyn Monroe effect
From Marilyn Monroe Melania took the well-known phrase 'Diamonds are a girl's best friend' to make it the motto of her life as a public figure. Some of her outfits are also reminiscent of the interpreter's mythical white dress with a neckline tied around her neck.
Melania was neither an actress nor an icon of the time, but she took advantage of it better than anyone in all of Manhattan. The cut of her dresses did not matter, with flared skirts or piped. She dared to wear any garment no matter how impossible it might seem, because it was she who wore her dress and not her dress who wore her.
Shoulders in the air
Her status changed when she married, something that allowed her to attend major events such as the Monaco Rose Ball organized by the Grimaldi family to raise funds for the Red Cross. Of course, the couple could not miss celebrations of such caliber accompanied by a worthy wardrobe for the occasion. Melania used to go for strapless necklines during this time - that's how she did it with her wedding dress -. The satin dress with a voluminous skirt and beaded details that she wore for this party was a success.
As happened during the tribute to Susan Sarandon at the Lincoln Center Film Society gala, where her bicolor suit with small ruffles at the bottom that highlighted her figure - and formed a small tail - was immortalized by flashes of the paparazzi. But her triumphant accessory was the high-heeled shoes reminiscent of those of Queen Marie Antoinette and that combine perfectly with the look.
Gala
It was common to see the Trump couple at charity events like the one organized every first Sunday of May at the MET. For the 2005 gala in honor of Chanel, Melania opted for a spectacular black strapless dress finished in a mermaid skirt made with white tulle, a piece by Alexander McQueen that she combined with a brooch from the French maison according to the theme of the party. .
For these occasions, the Slovenian even dared with striking colors. The design that she wore at the 2008 MET Gala in New York captivated everyone present: a bright pink dress with small ruffles and a bow by Vera Wang, a piece that she was subtly reminiscent of flamenco dresses.
Fur coat
The fur coat was not missing in her winter wardrobe. In cold weather, regardless of the event she attended, Melania had the partner who never failed her. Her favorite coat was the brown mink coat with which she combined countless outfits during winters in the Big Apple. A whole classic.
Season after season, fur coats became a must-have in her sprawling dressing room of the early 2000s. She was and is a difficult woman to decipher, as are some of her most iconic outfits.
