For the festive evening, the first lady opted for a black velvet single-breasted blazer that nipped in sharply at the waist, with matching tailored cigarette-style trousers—both from Dolce & Gabbana. Underneath, she wore a sheer, high-necked black embroidered blouse. Mrs. Trump wore her blonde highlighted hair in her signature waves with her bangs swept to the side, and pointed nude nails. At a charged political moment, her relatively sober look seemed intended to keep the focus on POTUS.
It was much the same earlier in the week, when Mrs. Trump stood at the president’s side on the red carpet for the 48th annual Kennedy Center Honors on Sunday—the first time a sitting president has ever hosted the event. There, the first lady wore a sleeveless black wool gown from Givenchy’s fall 2025 collection with a modest round neck and column silhouette. Her choice of the French-owned label wasn’t arbitrary, either: LVMH—which owns Givenchy and another of FLOTUS’s favored brands, Dior—produced the honorees’ medallions.
Last week, Mrs. Trump embraced a similarly muted style to see Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli perform at the White House. Her silk black Valentino dress (it being an Italian label was surely no coincidence) featured billowing bell sleeves and a tulle-trimmed, scalloped high neck.
Mrs. Trump has often shown her appreciation for European designers, stepping out in Dior suits, Dolce & Gabbana gowns, and Manolo Blahnik pumps. But in her second term as First Lady of the United States, she’s been more intentional about wearing homegrown American designers, too. And while those severe shoulders remain, there have also been softer and more quietly luxurious moments—signaling some level of awareness of the political and social tumult that has roiled the country this year.