She did not, despite her penchant for hats, wear an Easter bonnet. Instead, when Melania Trump materialized on a flower-festooned White House balcony next to her husband (who was in his usual red, white and blue) to celebrate the White House Easter Egg Roll, she did so wearing an Easter … coat. And not just any old Easter coat: a cream leather Easter trench complete with epaulets and raised collar, tightly knotted at the waist, from the Montreal-based brand Mackage.
Thus did the first lady again seem to scramble the messages.
As an outfit, the trench was giving less “avatar of spring” or “hostess of the nation” and more “ceremonial holiday general” in charge of the eggs. (Well, they are increasingly precious these days.)
While the trench might have been anomalous amid the gingham dresses, florals and shorts worn by many of the children playing on the South Lawn as their parents milled around, the fact the coat was by Mackage, a luxury outerwear company favored by Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, but not, typically, by Mrs. Trump, was even more unexpected. Mackage, which was founded in Quebec in 1999, was sold to the American private equity group Lee Equity in 2017, but remains headquartered in Canada.
Once upon a time, back when first ladies generally wore American designers unless they were deliberately engaged in the game of sartorial diplomacy, the fact that Mrs. Trump had suddenly decided to shine a light on a Canadian brand just when Canadian tariffs were a big part of the political conversation and a Canadian election was looming would have been a significant statement.
Once upon that time, her choice might have been interpreted as a sign either in support of free trade and cross-border cooperation, or a sign that — despite fears of Canadian goods becoming more expensive — the first family was proof positive not all trade would stop.
Or maybe the coat would have been seen as an implicit vote in favor of Canada becoming the 51st State, as her husband has mused. Or conversely, as a sign of support for our neighbors to the north. A gesture toward her husband, or toward trolling her husband.
The point is: It would have stood for something. And it still does. But it’s no longer necessarily political. It’s personal.
After all, Mrs. Trump long ago rejected the idea that, when it came to clothes, she would have to play by anyone’s rules other than her own. And when it comes to her rules, coats have played a central role in her image-making ever since she wore the notorious “I Really Don’t Care, Do U?” jacket during her husband’s first term. If Madeleine Albright, the former secretary of state, wrote a book inviting everyone to “Read My Pins,” Mrs. Trump pretty much invited everyone to read her coats, whether or not there were actual words on the back.
And so she has continued, whether she is outside or inside. She wore coats to the funerals of both Rosalynn Carter (a gray Dior) and Jimmy Carter (a black Valentino). She wore a coat (zebra-striped Michael Kors) to her husband’s Madison Square Garden rally in October 2024. She wore a strict, single-breasted governess-style coat by Adam Lippes to the inauguration in January, and kept it on even when the ceremony was moved indoors. And she wore a tightly-belted, sharp-shouldered leopard coat for her most recent public appearance, at the International Women of Courage Awards.
Indeed, since Mr. Trump was elected to a second term, the first lady’s coats have been her single most consistent signature, along with her stiletto pumps, serving as a sort of defensive covering. In that context, the Easter trench made its own kind of sense. Think of it as a shell.
Only one that wasn’t going to crack.
