Over the past few decades in the United States, women in the elected presidents of the countryhave left their mark (to a greater or lesser extent) not only on politics and culture, but also on fashion. There are those who have used it as a powerful tool to convey a message, like Rosalyn Carter or Michelle Obama did, but also women who turned their closet into a museum of Haute Couture pieces, like Nancy Reagan. Capable of defining the trends of an era and continue influencing the current ones, we take a tour of the style of some of the most influential first ladiesher most iconic looks and some curiosities.
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© Getty ImagesJacqueline Kennedy, icon of elegance (1961-1963)
“Jackie Kennedy and Marilyn Monroe, all women are one or the other,” they said in the series Mad Menset precisely in the sixties. A quote that reflects how the wife of the 35th president and the actress were the most powerful fashion references of the time. Opposite the glamorous and explosive style of the ‘blonde temptation’, there was the Classic Jackie Elegance. Born in Southampton into a wealthy family, her closet was full of French brands that she little by little replaced with others based in the United States when she became the First Lady. Although Chanel It would always be one of his favorites.
© GTRESHe turned double-breasted coats, suits tweedthe jacket and skirt suits and those hats pillboxround and with a high edge, in the most representative pieces of your dressing room. It’s that pink Chanel made of wool bouclé her most significant outfit, as it was the one she wore on the same day that John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Texas and that she did not want to take off until her return to Washington, the next day. Later, it was revealed that that look was actually an authorized copy actually made by the Chez Ninon brand, as explained by the writer Justine Picardie.
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© Getty ImagesAlthough the house French was very present in their elections, even more so Oleg Cassinidesigner and friend, in charge of creating for her more than 300 looks during his time in the White House. Among them, the dresses with an A-shaped silhouette, with straight and elegant lines, stood out especially, which she accompanied with gloves and often wore at events.
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© Getty ImagesRosalynn Carter, practical style (1977-1981)
When in 1977 the president’s wife Jimmy Carter appeared with that vblue chiffon and tulle dress with glitter During the inaugural ball with which they celebrated the beginning of his mandate, he gave a lot to talk about. And it was a design that she had already carried out years before, when before becoming president her husband was appointed senator. So it was not at all common for first ladies recycle looksespecially in events as important as that one. But Rosalynn Carter He showed that his time in the White House was not going to be conventional.
© Getty ImagesHe stood out for his active role, being lFirst Lady who had her own office and becoming her husband’s best advisor. A defender of mental health and involved in humanitarian causes, she changed the role that presidential wives had played until then. She was often criticized for her pragmatic, somewhat austere style, which featured plain dresses with simple lines and not so well-known brands. A practical way of dressing, which was sometimes surprising due to the use of fashion vintage and that it made sense in the context of the time, marked by the energy crisis and the tensions of the Cold War.
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© Getty Images“Women are the architects of their own lives,” Rosalynn once said, a philosophy that she also applied to her wardrobe, making her decisions. I was betting on monochrome setsshe avoided the prints of the time and even went so far as to dispense with high-heeled shoes during a public event, a small revolutionary gesture at that time.
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© Getty ImagesNancy Reagan, glamor and Haute Couture (1981-1989)
Before becoming First Lady, Nancy was an actress during the golden years of Hollywood, which would undoubtedly have to do with the way she landed in the White House. He ordered the dishes to be replaced with new ones at an exorbitant price and He filled his dressing room with Haute Couture designswhich caused as much criticism at first as fascination later. He had a close relationship with designers such as Oscar de la Renta, James Galanos and Bill Blass and his choices were planned in detail, including his hairstyles, as he traveled whenever he could with his hairdresser. “He has lived up to the word ‘style’ every day for eight long years,” ABC News journalist Barbara Walters said at the time.
© Getty ImagesHer gala dresses were iconic, especially the one he wore during the inaugural gala in 1981a bright white design with an asymmetrical strap, made by Galanos. Opulence sometimes marked their looks, which did not lack exquisite embroidery, ruffles or striking jewels such as pearl necklaces.
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© Getty ImagesAlthough red was undoubtedly the color that marked her dressing room, a tone that became baptized as the Reagan Red. Intense, brilliant and powerful, he dominated their dresses, skirt suits and jackets or coats. “It’s not just what you wear. It’s also the way you do things. She handled them in a very elegant and glamorous way, which is what the first lady of the country should be,” said designer Carolina Herrera of she.
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© Getty ImagesHillary Clinton, from power to pragmatism (1993-2001)
Although over the years his style would become recognized for its elegant suitshis practical combinations with pants and the designs he repeated, when he arrived at the White House he aroused attention for quite the opposite. And he chose that one for the inaugural ball. iconic midnight blue dress designed by Sarah Phillips, an unconventional lace and chiffon creation.
© Getty Images“My beloved Oscar de la Renta has always set himself the enormous challenge of becoming a fashion icon,” said the former First Lady and subsequent presidential candidate during the CFDA Awards in 2013. “You could say that I defend the trouser suit project”. And it is possibly Hillary Clinton’s most representative looka great friend of the designer of Dominican origin. Although it was Ralph Lauren the firm that was in charge of dressing her during her electoral campaign, managing to attract special attention with the blue one she wore in 2016 when she accepted her nomination.
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© Getty ImagesThe tones that most frequently covered his choices were blue, red and white, a nod to the flag of the United States which he used as a stylistic strategy during his candidacy.
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© Getty ImagesMichelle Obama, a breath of modernity (2009-2017)
Unforgettable is that white bridal-inspired dress that Michelle Obama wore to the inaugural ball, a design with tulle details and embroidered flowers signed by Jason Wu that drew as much applause as the complicity that the couple demonstrated to the public. The lawyer and writer, who was compared to Rosalynn Carter due to her involvement in the White House and the tandem she formed with Barack, stood out during her term for her mix of luxury clothing and affordable brandsamong which included J.Crew, Gap or Target.
© Getty ImagesThe vibrant colors were one of the novelties that she brought to fashion as First Lady, with looks in intense fuchsias, oranges, yellows, turquoises… He was also not afraid of striking or geometric prints, challenging the classicism traditionally associated with his position.
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© Getty ImagesHer interest in fashion led her in those years to support emerging designers such as Jason Wu, Narciso Rodríguez or Thakoon Panichgul, using their designs on relevant actors.
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© Getty ImagesMelania Trump, fashion of contrasts (2017-2021 and current)
Unlike her predecessors, the former model avoided becoming actively involved in political or legislative debates, remaining a symbolic rather than an executive figure during the presidency of Donald Trump. And now that the businessman returns to power, it seems that he will follow the same line, since it seems that for the moment he does not plan to move full-time to the White House. Will we see any significant changes in his style?
© Getty ImagesDuring the last years it has left us choices with a luxurious and sophisticated approachin which it has not been limited exclusively to American designers. Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein have signed some of their most formal outfits, but Dior, Givenchy, Valentino and Hervé Pierre, creator of that white inaugural dress with a Bardot neckline, also stand out among their preferences.
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© Getty ImagesIts aesthetics are more in line with the trend of silent luxurywith discreet accessories and jewelry, high Louboutin heels and elegant coats or cloth capes. Although it has also left room for controversial looks, like the one with a green parka from Zara in which the message could be read I Really Don’t Care, Do You? (I don’t really care, do you?) and that she chose in 2018 during a visit to a center where children of immigrants who were separated from their families following her husband’s policies were held.