a fashion trip

Melania Trump Ends Foreign Trip on a Colorful and Diplomatic Note

Italian fashion, in bloom.
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By Giovanni Isolino/Afp/Getty Images.

When Melania Trump visited the Vatican alongside her husband and stepdaughter Ivanka Trump on Tuesday, she wore a black veil and dress to follow Vatican tradition for formal visits. Though her choice of dress was appropriate for the occasion, it was also ripe for memes—anyone for “Hot Topic Melania”? The First Lady might have caught a glimpse of a few of these Internet jokes, because on Friday, her final day in Italy, she stepped out in a bright floral Dolce & Gabbana coat to greet Emanuela Mauro, wife of Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni.

As she exited her car on Friday morning in the coastal town of Catania, Sicily, the First Lady draped the coat, complete with three-dimensional flowers, across her shoulders—and paired it with a white floral-printed dress and shoes. Per People, the designer coat retails for $51,500—a pretty penny from a designer the First Lady has often favored in the past; her somber Vatican attire was from the same label. The matching floral clutch she carried on Friday reportedly costs $1,630 and appears to be sold out. As Vanity Fair’s Ben Landy notes, these pricey items could be a (cough) useful boost in parts of the now- lacking proposed federal budget:

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The Trumps’ first trip abroad since the inauguration has brought with it many headline-making moments—including President Trump’s shoving a fellow NATO leader at the Brussels headquarters Thursday. After finally successfully touching hands with her husband on Wednesday, Melania continued to make strides toward sartorial diplomacy while abroad.

While in Brussels on Thursday, Melania sported a beige skirt suit by Belgian fashion house Maison Ullens. She has also been making her own diplomatic choices, including opting not to wear a headscarf during her visit to Saudi Arabia last Saturday.

She chose to end this trip, though, with a nod to Gabbana, an iconic Italian fashion house. With that homage, and a pop of color, Melania might have proven she has a better grasp on this whole international diplomacy thing than her husband does.