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Some have defended Melania Trump’s right to high shoes
Opinions about Melania Trump’s choice of footwear during the 2017 presidential trip to visit hurricane-ridden Texas are strong, but it should be noted that the first lady didn’t wear the shoes in the disaster zone; she wore them to board the plane from the White House, over 1,600 miles away. “So, when she leaves the plane, we’re going to Texas where they have the hurricane,” Donald Trump summarized for the press once the criticism started (via CNN). “And she leaves the plane, and she’s dressed appropriately for the White House, you know, because we respect the White House a lot. And she’s wearing high heels, like many of you would do, and they went after her … and then when she got out of the plane in Texas, she was wearing sneakers, which she had with her.”
Meanwhile, Melania’s communications director, Stephanie Grisham, released a statement to The New York Times: “It’s sad that we have an active and ongoing natural disaster in Texas, and people are worried about her shoes.” When criticized for wearing $540 Lanvin shoes to a food bank in 2009, Michelle Obama responded with the same sentiment: “They’re shoes” (via Vanity Fair). It appears that fashion faux pas aren’t limited to political lines.
Fans of Melania also decided to weigh in to the drama on social media, with one X supporter writing, “Anyone talking about Melania’s shoes has clearly never been to Russia or Eastern Europe in the winter get over it,” in reference to Melania’s Slovenian heritage. Ultimately, Melania Trump’s style transformation has shown us that, whether the shoes were inappropriate or not, the backlash doesn’t seem to have scared the FLOTUS away from boasting a stylish and expensive sartorial collection, disaster zone or no disaster zone. In that vein, check out Melania Trump’s most expensive outfits.
