What’s Up With Melania’s Collar?

Photo: MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images

At former president Jimmy Carter’s funeral service on Thursday, one extremely oversize white collar stood out in a sea of black suits and awkward eye contact. Melania Trump, bucking her usual uniform of Dior skirt suits and Dolce & Gabbana fitted coats, opted instead for a look — at least from the shoulders up. Her long black coat was topped by an extra-wide, pilgrim-esque collar printed with images of a Renaissance sculpture of a kissing couple. The coat is Pierpaolo Piccioli–era Valentino, from a collaboration he released with Japanese designer Jun Takahashi of Undercover in 2019. Quite the statement piece, but what’s the message? Melania doesn’t usually bake big ideas into her fashion choices, which by the end of her husband’s first term had landed on a dependable mix of classic, feminine, time-tested silhouettes from high-end European designers and major American labels like Ralph Lauren and Michael Kors. She loves a geographical theme, like when she wore a Gucci dress printed with images of Big Ben on a diplomatic visit to the U.K. that said I am indeed in London. Always perfectly tailored, no strand of hair out of place. More tasteful European royal than sultry former model.

Her approach to First Lady dressing was very different from Michelle Obama’s, who often championed lesser-known, independent American designers like Jason Wu and Tracy Reese, but also mixed in more accessible pieces from J.Crew. Jill Biden largely followed suit but could also veer kooky. (She loves a “vote” print.)

The one time Melania tried to send a message with her outfit — you know, when she wore that “I Really Don’t Care, Do U?” jacket to visit a migrant children’s shelter — it backfired. In her 2024 memoir, she wrote that her jacket’s message was intended as a kiss-off to the media, not the migrant children. (But according to Melania’s former press secretary, Stephanie Grisham, it was Donald Trump’s idea to spin that jacket as a message to the press, which further complicates the question of exactly what Melania was trying to do there.)

Was this funeral ensemble a not-so-subtle statement about the importance of love and unity in a divided nation? Given her stilted body language as her husband giggled with Barack Obama, probably not. (No one gives off an air of “I’d rather be anywhere else” like Melania.) Perhaps it indicated that she plans to take more fashion risks in her second round as First Lady. Or maybe she just wanted to shop her closet for this one. As with many things Melania related, we’ll probably never know.

Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images