Caped crusader
Melania’s look is one of the most accessible trends of the moment, writes Tamara Abraham
The dress that will solve every summer party dilemma
When Donald and Melania Trump hosted a dinner for Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall at Winfield House in London on Tuesday, the First Lady stepped out in a striking Givenchy gown.
The dress in question was already a strong choice – scarlet red and worth £5,610 – but it was its superwomanly caped silhouette that made for the ultimate power move: silencing her critics more effectively than any other look during last week’s State Visit.
Melania isn’t the first to embrace the cape dress, a fashion hybrid in which a train-like panel falls from the shoulders of a gown, skimming over the arms without covering them entirely. It was Tom Ford who first introduced the he idea to the A-list, A list, when he dressed sed Gwyneth Paltrow in a sleek leek white version with an asymmetrical l neckline for the 2012 Oscars. ars.
It wasn’t until ntil this year that the cape dress really gathered steam, m, though, appearing aring on countless red carpets, courtesy of Elle lle
Fanning at the e Cannes
Film Festival, Phoebe Waller-Bridge e at the Baftas, Priyanka nka Chopra at the Met Gala and the Duchesses esses of Sussex and Cambridge ambridge at royal engagements gements over the last few months.
Glenn Close e earned her place on the best-dressed lists at this year’s Oscars cars in a gold sequin-covered covered caped gown by Carolina Herrera, rera, as did Melissa McCarthy in monochrome me
Brandon Maxwell, xwell, while Amal Clooney looney
wore a Grecian-style vintage JeanLouis Scherrer incarnation for a Buckingham Palace reception in March. It’s easy to see why the look has become so popular: a cape dress is an effective way to make a fashion statement without showing a lot of skin.
Thanks to its dominance on the red carpet, the look has swiftly filtered through to the shop floor, making it one of the most accessible – and practical – trends of the moment, and a potential solution to many summer party dressing dilemmas. When attached to a dress, a cape won’t slide off your shoulders, it covers the tricky upper arm area and it’s not age or size exclusive. If you’re not brave enough to try something full length, why not start off with a flattering capelet-dress instead?
A cape could not only make the wearer look more powerful, but feel it, too, says psychologist Professor Carolyn Mair, author of The Psychology
of Fashion. “Historically, capes have been worn by those in professions that demand courage coura and altruism such as the t military and nursing and, a more recently, by superheroes,” she says. “Because of these connotations, when we see someone wearing a cape, we might associate them with power and courage, too.”
It could explain why the t cape dress has become such a hit with women like WallerBridge and Clooney – women who want the world wo to know that they have ha style, but who are also als at the top of their game ga in their respective res fields.
Whether this was Melania M Trump’s intention this th week is anyone’s guess, gu but that Givenchy gown go gave her the last word w in power-dressing for now.
It’s a solution to mamany summer pard party dilemmas dressing