Keralite in Sharjah has a dress similar to Ivanka’s

Expat causes stir on social media after she juxtaposes her picture with Trump’s daughter

AKeralite woman in Sharjah has caused stir on social media after she posted a picture of herself in a dress that looks similar to the floral outfit which Ivanka Trump wore during her visit to the Taj Mahal on Monday.

Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner, 38, are part of the US delegation accompanying Trump to India.

Ivanka shared several images from the trip on her Instagram account. The photographs show her posing in front of the Taj Mahal, looking chic in a floral splatter print dress from Proenza Schouler, a women’s wear and accessories brand founded in New York in 2002 by designers Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez.

As it turns out, her dress bears an uncanny resemblance to a sleeveless maxi gown, which Indian expat Nisha Ponthathil got made for herself in her home country nearly five years ago.

“My dress is made of crepe. I got the fabric from a small shop in Kozhikode in 2015 for Rs1,000 (Dh51) and spent another Rs800 to have it stitched by a tailor in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu,” she recalls.

In contrast, Ivanka’s dress is made of baby blue viscose georgette with a hanging tie detail. Initially priced at $1,690 (Dh6,207) it is now available online at a discounted price for Dh3,724.

A mother of one, Ponthathil said she last wore the floral gown when she visited Bali, Indonesia, for a vacation earlier this month.

“I was quite bemused when I saw everybody talking about Ivanka’s dress so I posted my holiday picture on Facebook and juxtaposed it with an image of Ivanka dressed in a similar gown as she greeted dad Donald Trump. For the sake of fun I also added a caption which read: ‘My frock went missing. But I never suspected the involvement of CIA behind it, until I see Ivanka Trump’s pic this morning!!,” Nisha wrote on her Facebook page.