First lady Melania Trump wore the equivalent of an average American family's income on her back for her appearances Friday in Sicily, Italy, on the final day of her first foreign trip as FLOTUS.
Trump looked stunning emerging from a car outside the Chierici Palace in the town of Catania, where she would meet and pose with other spouses and partners of the G7 Summit leaders meeting in Sicily, including President Trump.
She wore Dolce & Gabbana, the Italian fashion house she has worn several times during the nine-day, five-country trip, which included stops in Rome, the Vatican and Sicily.
Her D&G cream jacquard sheath dress was topped by a brightly-colored 3D floral silk crew-necked jacket, flung over her shoulders. She carried a clutch in a similar 3D floral pattern, and wore cream-colored heels in a floral jacquard pattern.
But it was the jacket that everyone noticed; it was breathtaking — and so was the price tag: On the ModaOperandi.com luxury website, interested buyers can see it costs $51,500 (a $25,100 deposit required) and will not be available until July.
White House Wardrobe, the Twitter account dedicated to tracking Trump's style, seemed thrilled with the choice on its Instagram page.
A post shared by White House Wardrobe (@whitehousewardrobe) on
Just for comparison, the U.S. Census Bureau reported that median family income in 2015 was $56,516. Sicily is much poorer.
As the wife of a billionaire, one of the richest men ever to become president, Trump can easily afford it, although she may have borrowed it from the fashion house. And she has worn expensive couture outfits before as first lady, although nothing as pricey as this.
Trump shared a picture of Sicily from her plane window on Instagram.
On may way to a lunch & mtgs as part of #G7. Taormina ➡️ Catania #Italy
A post shared by First Lady Melania Trump (@flotus) on
Her press secretary, Stephanie Grisham, traveling with the first lady, did not respond to email queries about the jacket, although she tweeted about the "warm welcome" Trump received in Catania.
Later, POTUS and FLOTUS went to a concert of La Scala Philharmonic Orchestra at the ancient Greek Theatre of Taormina, the eastern Sicily town where the summit is taking place within sight of the still-active volcano of Mount Etna.
Trump wore another Dolce & Gabbana outfit for that event, a slinky tulle and mesh mirror dress in silver.
