Free Republic

To dress Melania Trump or not to dress Melania Trump? That seems to be the question—or rather, the ongoing topic of hot debate—for so many designers since Election Day as they figure out how to navigate this new volatile political landscape. And that brings us to the most up-to-date tally of who’s for or against the matter: Christian Siriano is the latest to state on the record that he won’t be designing for the First Lady. “I don’t think I would. I think for a while everyone was trying to figure out what to do,” the designer told Time. “Unfortunately,...

Trend analysts have dubbed what they interpret as a new wave of feminism the "pluri-empowerment" factor, says Iza Dezon, a trend forecaster at Peclers Paris. "An empowered woman is no longer subject to a specific definition, nor must she live by a specific set of values," she explains. "We're seeing the opening up of what empowerment means, allowing women to create their own definitions." The modest movement has been gaining steam for a few years now and the hijab has become a recognized symbol. In 2014 DKNY launched a bespoke modest fashion collection. In 2016, Dolce & Gabbana released a...

Carla Bruni has likened herself to Jackie Kennedy Onassis, another First Lady who achieved style icon status The former model and wife of French President Nicolas Sarkozy said she welcomed comparisons to the woman who brought glamour to the White House alongside her husband, John F Kennedy. "She was so young and modern, and of course unconsciously I would project myself more like Jackie Kennedy than Madame de Gaulle, who would be much more like the classical French woman behind her husband," Bruni said. "There is a great photograph of Madame de Gaulle serving soup to her husband. I do...

As you know, there are two kinds of women's magazines in the world, nonsmiling and smiling. In the nonsmiling magazines, which tend to be upscale, the models in the photo spreads wear these blank or haughty expressions because, you know, happiness is so middle class. One model will look as if she is contemplating the meaninglessness of existence in her Helmut Lang dress. Another will look catatonically bored in her Givenchy gown, driven to this unbearable state of ennui either because she is forced to live in a world of people less perfect than herself or because she is in...