Melania Trump’s $1,380 blouse: The perfect garden attire
In such a toxic, divisive climate that has our president seemingly more preoccupied with kneeling football players than with hurricane victims in Puerto Rico, it’s not surprising that the innocuous pastime of growing vegetables would further provoke political polarization — so it was inevitable that first lady Melania Trump’s photo op at the White House garden the other day would open another can of worms.
Unlike the stiletto heels she wore en route to flood-ravaged Houston a month earlier, Mrs. Trump donned sensible sneakers, but her red plaid shirt turned out not to be a ragged shmata from Goodwill but a $1,380 designer blouse from highend label Balmain, as an astute investigative reporter from CNN was quick to point out.
I have to admit she looked stunning in her outfit, accentuated by wrap-around shades and matching red gloves, while helping a group of kids from the Washington, D.C. Boys and Girls Club harvest lettuce, kale (Kale! Countercultural manna!), peas, radishes, Swiss chard and mustard.
At least Mrs. Trump was not as tone deaf as Louise Linton, the wife of Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who in August got into a kerfuffle over her haute couture wardrobe after a flight aboard a government-chartered jet, name-dropping European designers Hermes and Valentino in an Instagram post. After an Oregon woman went online to take her to task (“Glad we could pay for your little getaway”), Linton replied, “Have you given more to the economy than me or my husband? I’m pretty sure we paid more taxes toward our day ‘trip’ than you did. Pretty sure the amount we sacrifice per year is a lot more than you’d be willing to sacrifice if the choice was yours. You’re adorably out of touch.” Ouch. Or should I say, hiss. Back to Mrs. Trump, even more surprising than the fact that kale is grown on the South Lawn of the White House is that the garden is a survivor from the previous administration, having been created in 2009 by then first lady Michelle Obama as part of her “Let’s Move!” healthy children campaign.
It turns out, as the Politico website noted, that, shortly before last November’s election, Mrs. Obama shrewdly arranged to expand and fortify the garden with stone steps, cement adornments and a steel archway, just in case the next president decided, say, to salt the earth or rip up rows of vegetables and replace them with a putting green. She no doubt was aware that one of Ronald Reagan’s first actions after taking office in 1981 was to tear Jimmy Carter’s solar panels off the White House roof.
Anyway, I'm delighted that Michelle Obama's garden has survived and applaud Melania Trump for extolling the benefits of nutrition during last week's event (even if, as The Washington Post reported, the White House kitchen staff knows to deliver extra Thousand Island dressing and a double serving of ice cream to her husband while his guests get vinaigrette and a single scoop of vanilla).
"I'm a big believer in healthy eating because it reflects on your mind and your body," she told the youngsters. "I encourage you to continue to eat a lot of vegetables and fruits, so you grow up healthy and take care of yourself."
As far as I'm concerned, Mrs. Trump can wear Prada, Karl Lagerfeld or Oscar de la Renta while she's hoeing furrows and plucking weeds.
As for me, I'll stick with the same torn khakis and frayed T-shirts I've worn for decades of garden toil. I'll also match my kale against the White House crop — thanks to aggressive mulching, it's still going strong after a long, hot summer, and I hope to continue harvesting it until the ground freezes solid this winter.
Maybe by then the crisis involving kneeling football players will have passed, and Puerto Ricans will finally have running water and electricity.