United States of America (Newsweek)- Best-Dressed List Honors Obamas, Snubs Trumps: Barack and Michelle Obama have made their way onto Vanity Fair’s 2017 best-dressed list, while President Donald Trump and wife Melania are notably absent from the fashion file. The former president and first lady were joined on the magazine’s best-dressed couples list by Emmanuel and Brigitte Macron of France, and by King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands.
Meanwhile, those on the best-dressed men’s list included Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, singer Harry Styles and basketball star LeBron James, while the best-dressed women’s list featured singer Rihanna, actor Charlotte Gainsbourg and Queen Letizia of Spain.
But there was no nod for the current president and his wife. Many designers declared after Trump won the U.S. election that they would not dress the first lady, including Zac Posen, Marc Jacobs, Tom Ford and Humberto Leon. Some of Trump’s sartorial choices have come under fire since he became president, most recently his tendency to wear his USA Trump 45 cap to official events, a choice that Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a watchdog group, told CNN was “inappropriate.”
“As @realDonaldTrump leaves for Texas, he makes sure he’s carrying the hats he’s been advertising—yours for just $40 on his campaign website,” the group added in a tweet. The first lady recently made headlines for wearing stilettos on a visit to hurricane-ravaged parts of Texas. Indeed, Vanity Fair itself ran an article on Melania’s shoes, saying they were “what not to wear to a natural disaster.”
Striking out at the reporting on her fashion choices, Melania’s office told Fortune, “It’s sad that we have an active and ongoing natural disaster in Texas, and people are worried about her shoes.”
A comparison of the price tags of clothes famously worn by Michelle Obama and Melania Trump shows the latter is far more likely to splash the cash on outfits she wears for high-profile events, including a $51,500 Dolce & Gabbana jacket she wore to a meeting with spouses of world leaders at May’s G-7 summit in Italy, Business Insider reported.
The verdict? Michelle’s less expensive yet no less stylish taste appears far more accessible to Americans than Melania’s preference for expensive bling. And it seems Vanity Fair agrees.