As I’ve said before, I enjoy Tom Ford’s interviews. I enjoy the fact that Tom Ford does a normal promotional tour for his films, which he’s doing right now for Nocturnal Animals. Tom is funny, bitchy, judgy and he never really speaks without thinking. Nocturnal Animals will probably rack up some Oscar nominations this year, possibly for Aaron Taylor Johnson and Jake Gyllenhaal, and possibly for Tom Ford (for his screenplay). During the course of his promotion, he’s been asked about the incoming Baby Fists administration, and even more specifically, he’s been asked about Melania Trump’s fashion. He said last year that he “declined” an offer to dress Melania years ago, basically saying that he doesn’t want to dress tacky golddiggers (I’m paraphrasing). Now Tom says that he strongly believes that Melania – and any First Lady or Madame President – should always wear inexpensive to moderately-priced clothing (note: Tom did say this before Baby Fists threw a tantrum a few days ago):
It’s not personal. When Tom Ford commented recently that he wouldn’t be dressing the new First Lady (and “declined” when he was asked to dress her years ago), the social media machine seized on it as his big anti-Trump statement. But, it turns out he had something way more diplomatic in mind.
“Given this President’s beliefs about ‘made in America’–I think the clothes they wear should be made in America,” Ford told ELLE.com on the Golden Globes red carpet. “I think that whoever is the President, or the First Lady, should be wearing clothes at a price point that are accessible to most Americans, and wearing clothes made in America. My clothes are made in Italy, they’re very, very expensive. I don’t think most women or men in our country can relate to that, and I think the First Lady or the President should represent all people.”
Ford insists he isn’t being biased against Melania Trump in particular. “If you watch that show where I said it, I said I would not have dressed Hillary had she become President.”
In general, women in positions of power are absolutely top of Ford’s most-admired list. “I love strong, powerful women,” he said. “I’ve worked with strong, powerful women for the last 30 years of my life. I had one as a mother and as a grandmother and I admire and respect strong, powerful women. Why wouldn’t women be strong and powerful?”
I was pleasantly surprised by how the “designers don’t want to dress Melania” conversation had legs, but I’d like to also point out that every First Lady is different, and wears different kinds of statement-fashion for different events. It was a really big deal that Michelle Obama wore J.Crew and The Gap. It was a big deal that she wore inexpensive mass-market stuff because most FLOTUSes did not do that in the past. And at this point, even if Melania does convince designers to dress her for special events, she’s still going to have to buy her own clothing for the most part because most designers won’t lend her anything. So… beggars can’t be choosers. Despite what Tom Ford says, I do think he’s poking at Trump a little bit with the “made in America” stuff. That being said, I agree with him. Practice what you preach.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
Oh the SHADE!!!!! He designs AND destroys
Exactly. Such subtile shade. I just realized he has to be my pick for a celebrity to have wine with
Classic Tom Ford!
Mr Botox Shades “American Made”. Then Calls Iconic Designer Ralph Lauren; “cheap”. Jealous much?
I don’t look to designers, celebrities, or gossip sites for their political opinions.
Doesn’t matter? We’re never going to see her, she’s going to hide in Trump Tower until he gets impeached or keels over in a fit of rage tweeting.
But I very much agree with practice what you preach.
We won’t see her often anyway, but we will see Ivanka all the time, the real First Lady. Plus, I’m pretty sure Melania will file for divorce once he is out of the office.
I think melania is waiting(hoping, praying)for him to die, thinking she’ll get a better payout than in a divorce. I’d check the will, though. I bet everything is going to surrogate wife ivanka.
I’d love to see their prenup but yeah when it comes to Trump’s will, I also think Ivanka would receive more money/things than Melania.
Without knowing his true finances, it’s hard to know. I think there is more to their relationship than meets the eye. I don’t buy the supermodel-meets-‘billionaire’ story.
Nowhere near a “supermodel.” Soft core nudes.
Melania has it too good to file for divorce. If anyone will file, once out of office, is Donald.
Maybe, she’s too old for him anyway 😉
He’ll ditch her first, and possibly while they’re in the WH, er, Trump Tower, er, “The Western White House, Mar-a-Lago” (vomits). He won’t want to be burdened with a wife who is an “unsuitable” FLOTUS. He wants Ivanka to totally take over that role. Melania’s days are numbered.
Love him… he’s a lovely guy just stop with what you are doing with your face. He’s right not many can fork over $30k for a dress.
I think it’s a facelift. His eyes look very small now. A friend told me her mum had a facelift and her eyes ended looking smaller. It’s a shame, he used to look so good.
Kinda loving his comments on this-there is definite shade, but what he says is true. Not that anyone in Babyfists camp recognizes what that word means.
The entire BF clan is crass and vulgar and I’m sure it doesn’t matter a jot to any of them where her clothes are made as long as they cost the most and are really showy. Like they give a flying f*ck where they are made (they would lie about it anyway) because for all the flag waving, the Orange Faithful have shown that no bit of hypocrisy is too big to ignore when it comes to their fuhrer.
Made in America..pfft! Irony at its best considering the Orange Turd aka EBF has his Drumpf menswear products made in ChY-nah or Guatemala. I believe the same re Ivanka’s crap.
Has anyone asked him if he has any plans to stop making his own products or the stuff that has his name on it in Mexico and China? I know he wouldn’t answer. There were so many missed opportunities to hold his feet to the fire and instead the media treated him like a baby taking his first steps. Ugh.
Recently on a FB post about Trump bringing jobs to America, I posted that he needs to lead by example. One commenter told me that he couldn’t bring his hotels and casinos back to America (another idiot Trump supporter). I had to explain to him that first that I was not an idiot but Trump either needed to take his name off brands that are not made here and/or bring his and his daughter’s clothing businesses back to the USA. I was promptly told that Trump had not violated any laws and so had every right to have his goods made outside of America. While I agreed that he may not have violated any laws (and who knows he may have), he certainly was a hypocrite. Also was told that because of the taxes and regulations, Trump was right in not having his/his daughter’s goods produced in the USA. It was a fruitless argument and I quit because this commenter just couldn’t see the hypocrisy in it all.
@Swak, if they voted Trump they’re incapable of an intelligent conversation, or an open debate. That’s why the “we should educate them” ideal won’t work.
They support Trump and they don’t want to be wrong, end of the story.
You know if you run on a platform of Making America Great, maybe you should live it as much as you possibly can…there are a lot of great American designers, now finding clothes MADE in America might be another story, but those two should probably give it a try. Though whoever posted above is right, we probably won’t see much out of Melania.
I think I’m a little bit in love with Tom Ford. He has the classiest line in put downs.
Doesn’t he? It’s just done so elegantly. He’s a great role model.
Really he should be talking about Ivanka because she’s the real First Lady (ew). But it was a big deal that Michelle often wore unknown American designers or wore designers from the country she was visiting or hosting. I thought that showed great care as FLOTUS
Shade. I don’t know how many of you watch Housewives of Atlanta, but this Phaedra Parks level shade, which makes me love Tom Ford even more. 🙂
I want to go to tea with Tom Ford. We can eat scones and drink tea and throw shade all about.
Will no one speak of the wig in this photo?
I think Melania should get her clothes at Value Village.
I wish I liked Tom Ford, the person, more so that I could enjoy his epic put downs and bitchy asides, but he’s just too creepy for me what with his discussing Jake Gyllenhaal’s pubic hair, his awful headless women sex-doll print ads or telling reporters he cast Amy Adams because of her boobs. He’s one of those people who’d grope you then say “Don’t be offended, it means nothing, I’m gay!” (which, I believe, he did/said to Ellie Bamber while filming Nocturnal Animals according to an interview with her). He gets it right so often so I hate that he also gets things wrong and creepy even more often.
He’s the ‘entitled’ kind of gay, the one who thinks he’s still above women because he’s male.
I don’t like him either, but he’s right in what he said.
Not for nothing, but every guy I’ve dated who has gone on and on about how he appreciates powerful women, because of the strong presence of his mother and/or grandmother has turned out to be pretty misogynistic. The gentleman doth protest too much?
I was wearing a cashmere sweater from J. Crew the other day and the tag said, “Italian cashmere, made in China”.
Sounds as if Ralph Lauren will be dressing Melania for the Inauguration. After the weekend is over, I doubt we see her for quite awhile.
She’s trying to get a new identity and go into the Witness Protection Program. Bless her heart.
Lol
Do you mean Witless Protection Plan or Nitwit Protection Plan….?
My sister bought me an awesome jacket in Finland (Icebreaker brand, just so the world knows) and when I read the the tag said “made in China” it shattered my heart because 1. it was expensive AF and, 2. I bet they paid just a few cents to the Chinese workers who put it together.
Edited to add: Yes, J. Crew and GAP are also made in China.
I just find it delicious that Tommy Hilfiger tried to sell himself so hard and early on in November, and Melania chose to wear his carbon copy competitor. I’m also relieved that Lagerfeld didn’t dress the fembot because I would’ve had to clean out my closet.
She looked absolutely fabulous. Ralph Lauren sky blue.
I would like Tom Ford more if “Nocturnal Animals” hadn’t been a misogynist piece of garbage.
MTE.
If the goal is to be “relatable,” most men don’t wear suits or even ties to work anymore, to say nothing about casual wear. If Trump wants to be relatable, his outfit should consist of Crocs, patterned pajama pants, and a T-shirt featuring his favorite sports team.
Are Ivanka and Melania allowed to take borrowed clothes?
Aren`t there any laws against corruption? They have the money to buy it.
I Don`t like when people in office or relatives of people in office – doesn`t matter which kind of office – take gifts or get something borrowed.
It`s fishy in my opinion.
I just watched the Obamas greet the Trumps at the white house and had my first real cry.
For all the drama about dressing Melania I think her outfit is gorgeous.
The Obamas are probably glad to be leaving.
Melania’s ensemble is very nice! She’s got great posture and that shade of blue looks pretty on her. (I’m surprised she didn’t pick red, though!) Have you seen Kellyanne Conway in her ridiculous outfit??? That will give you a well deserved laugh today!!!
OMG! Yes! I was going to post that she is wearing an outfit suited for a 2 year old!
”My clothes are made in Italy and are very very expensive”
I have no idea why that line is so cutting and brusque but I LOVE IT. Ford is one of those people who will cut you down with a knife then smile and ask you to buy his makeup. HA HA HA.
I’m getting cold in all this shade.
Dude seems like an asshole, but he’s growing on me with the shade!
Both donald and ivanka have clothing lines themselves. The entire family have designers and ateliers at their disposal. Why would they expect designers to dress them?
Obamas were not independently wealthy like them. Now they say the obamas are wirth 250 million… raises eyebrows.
I doubt any designer would refuse her.
! It’s the chance for their fashions to be seen worldwide. She is now the First Lady, whether you like it or not.
It’s one thing for them to say it, but once things die down, I bet they all clamor for her to wear their stuff. They are businessmen, after all.