Knees to meet you! The First Ladies’ fashion face-off
IT was the fiercest fashion face-off of the year so far.
In the French corner was the new first lady Brigitte Macron in a distinctly skimpy £2,200 black Louis Vuitton minidress paired with a chain-link bag by the same designer, likely to cost around £2,000.
Mrs Macron – who at 64 is more than 24 years older than her husband Emmanuel and used to be his teacher – had an undone top-knot and showed off an impressively toned pair of legs. The look was chic, age-defying and utterly French.
‘Look,’ it seemed to say, ‘this style has netted me a hunk 24 years my junior... while the best you’ve managed is a husband 24 years your senior.’
On the other side was glossy Melania Trump, 47, in the most American outfit imaginable: a bouncy blow-dry, pointy snakeskin First Lady heels and a suit made entirely from beige leather likely to cost around £3,500 by Belgian designer Maison Ullens – perhaps a nod to the fact she was on a visit to the nation’s capital. Certainly Brigitte seemed impressed by the ultra-smart outfit judging by her face... though it’s possible she was considering how much it must cost to dry clean.
The two women were meeting for the first time in Brussels yesterday, and both were clearly dressed to impress.
The pair visited the Magritte Museum while their husbands had a private meeting before a Nato summit. Mr Trump, 70, and Mr Macron, 39, had a ‘frank’ exchange about a range of issues, including climate change, the Syrian crisis and counter-terrorism.
Despite any tensions, Mr Trump described Mr Macron’s defeat of far-Right candidate Marine Le Pen as a ‘great job’.
Asked afterwards how he found the US leader, however, Mr Macron said: ‘It’s not for me to make psychological comments.’
But who won the war of the wardrobes between two of the world’s most powerful women?
Well, it is likely to come down to whether you favour cool and trendy over classic and polished. But on the back of the cleaning bill alone, Brigitte gets my vote.