Free Republic

While Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and U.S. President Donald Trump engaged in golf diplomacy, their wives spent time Sunday learning about Japanese pearl cultivation in Tokyo’s top luxury shopping district. Akie Abe and Melania Trump visited the flagship Ginza store of accessories firm Mikimoto, which has long been an official jeweler to the Imperial family. Kokichi Mikimoto, the brand’s founder, created the world’s first cultured pearl in 1893. The company now harvests the pearls offshore from an island in Mie Prefecture. The pair warmly greeted each other at the store before speaking with two ama, traditionally trained female divers who...

First Lady Melania Trump had all eyes on her as she stepped out in a black-laced cocktail dress for her and President Trump’s night-in with Vice President Mike Pence and his wife, Karen Pence. Melania wore her take on the Little Black Cocktail Dress in a sexy Dolce & Gabbana number that was covered in sheer, lace overlay and pointed black leather stilettos. The Dolce & Gabbana dress retails for $2,995.00. Dolce & Gabbana, friends of Melania’s, have become the First Lady’s signature designers as she has worn the duo’s high Italian fashion creations more than any other designer. Stefano...

Melania Trump’s latest look is a departure from the bright look she wore earlier this week at the White House. After wearing a light blue Michael Kors dress and floral Christian Louboutin pumps to meet with the president of Panama and his wife, she was spotted on Tuesday night wearing a black, long-sleeve lace Dolce & Gabbana dress that hit at her knees. She paired the dress with what appeared to be Manolo Blahnik’s BB pumps, although that’s not confirmed. President Donald Trump and Melania were on their way to dinner at the Naval Observatory, where Vice President Mike Pence...

Searching comments on presidential candidates’ Facebook pages in search of grammatical errors, typos, misplaced or missing apostrophes, unnecessary capital letters and redundant exclamation points bears fruit in seconds: Amid this flawed, headache-inducing verbiage, there is a pattern. So says Grammarly, a private, San Francisco-based company behind what’s billed as “the world’s leading automated proofreader.” The company analyzed comments on 19 presidential candidates’ Facebook pages and found that: 1) supporters of Republican candidates make more mistakes than supporters of Democrats; 2) supporters of Republican candidates use fewer unique words than supporters of Democrats; and 3) Donald Trump supporters made the most...

When Laura Bush became first lady four years ago she didn't know just how powerful her position in the White House would be. "It took me a while to really realize what podium I had, as Lady Bird Johnson says," Mrs. Bush said, recalling the reaction from women nationwide after she made her first radio address about the women of Afghanistan. "And, I think, you know, you kind of hear and certainly you watch your whole life — I certainly had a very close view of the role of the women in the White House, but it really takes a...