Jimmy Kimmel Rips Melania Trumps Ridiculous Africa Trip Wardrobe
After a few days wandering Africa dressed like an Indiana Jones villain, Melania Trump would like us..
After a few days wandering Africa dressed like an Indiana Jones villain, Melania Trump would like us all to stop talking about what she was wearing. Unfortunately for her, it seems no one will oblige. When asked about criticism of her clothing for her first solo trip, which included a helmet with colonialist associations, the First Lady said, “You know what? We just completed an amazing trip. We went to Ghana, we went to Malawi, we went to Kenya. Here we are in Egypt. I want to talk about my trip and not what I wear.”
But as Jimmy Kimmel put it Monday night, “You cant go around Africa dressed like youre on the cover of the L.L.Bean catalogue and then be surprised when someone mentions it.”
Speaking about the helmet specifically, Kimmel said, “Apparently, this helmet is considered to be a symbol of colonialism and the exploitation of African people—which is probably something someone should have mentioned to her before they put it on her head.”
But Melanias wardrobe, as Kimmel and other late-night hosts know, has historically contained no shortage of controversial choices. In the early days of Donald Trumps candidacy, the future First Ladys sartorial choices—like the pussy-bow blouse she wore to one of her husbands debates—were parsed for clues. (That particular outfit was interpreted as a symbol of her true beliefs—the sartorial equivalent of writing “help” on the front window.)
But ultimately, Melanias taste in clothing has proven largely tone-deaf—either accidentally or intentionally. There was the $51,000 coat she wore to an economic summit; the stilettos she wore en route to Texas after Hurricane Harvey; the “I Really Dont Care” jacket she wore to meet migrant children as news of family separation at the southern border went viral.
Either way, Kimmel did note one thing: Melania Trump looks much happier in Africa than she does at her husbands side in the U.S. Perhaps she even tried, quietly, to find a way to stay longer—but given how her husband once described several African countries, its no surprise that shes already back in D.C.
Get Vanity Fairs HWD NewsletterSign up for essential industry and award news from Hollywood.Laura BradleyLaura Bradley is a Hollywood writer for VanityFair.com.
