Secrets of Melania Trump's brilliant style tactics: From statuesque suits to Dior opulence... how the First Lady now lets restrained elegance do all the talking

Even when she says nothing – Melania seems intent on being heard.

Standing beside, but slightly behind, her husband as he triumphantly rang the opening bell of the New York Stock Exchange before Christmas, she might have been forgiven for ceding the day to a man who had just been named Time Magazine's 'Person of the Year.'

Instead, statuesque and impeccably attired in a Ralph Lauren Collection chalk grey and white flannel double-breasted pant suit – a crisp white cotton blouse peeking out from her open blazer – Melania stood out and stood tall amid an assembled group of women who had predictably worn black.

Striding on stage, her left hand perched suavely in her pocket, she exuded a cool confidence that spoke volumes – even as she failed to utter a single word, including refusing to join in the chants of 'USA' that erupted as her husband prepared for his moment.

Repeating the effect of the grey Dior 'New Look' skirt suit that she wore on Election Night 2024, when restrained elegance contrasted with the garish Palm Beach-inspired ensembles of the extended Trump family, Melania achieved something even more remarkable on this occasion: by making black – the color of choice for most New York fashionistas (financial and otherwise) - seem parochial.

That even applied, by extension, to the women gathered immediately around her at the stock exchange, including stepdaughters, Ivanka and Tiffany.

This was Donald Trump's day. Melania said nothing whatsoever. Yet, still she stood out from the distinguished crowd.

It was a telling reminder of how far the former and future First Lady has come, in both style and substance. 

When the world first met Melania Trump in the early 2000s, she was mostly known for her credentials as a socialite and model, often to be seen sitting front row at fashion shows or making glitzy appearances on New York's party scene.

In those days the Slovenian-born glamazon favored sequins and silk – alongside sky-high hemlines, cropped tops and decidedly plunging necklines – styles that maximized her curvaceous credentials.

Dolce & Gabbana's satin corseted cocktail dresses were a particular favorite. Suggestively sexy, they paired perfectly with the showmanship image that Trump - first boyfriend and then, in 2005, husband - cultivated during his years as a television personality.

Yet as Donald's ambitions evolved, so too did Melania's style, with the exception of the cleavage-barring white bandeau cocktail dress that she wore in 2015 as she rode down the escalator in Trump Tower to watch her husband announce his first presidential bid, the prospective First Lady embraced an increasingly lady-like demeanor.

At first, though her couture creations often drew praise, she lacked a real style. Fashion watchers would suggest the clothes seemed to wear her, rather than the other way around.

In 2019, just three years into her unasked-for public secondment, Melania herself was asked to ring the opening bell – something to keep her busy while her husband opened the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly.

Instead of making stylistic waves, she opted for cautious predictability in her choice of an all-business black, sleeveless, form-fitting Prada midi dress.

Melania is a fast learner, however. Her confidence clearly grew, particularly after entering the White House for the first time and now, after almost a decade dressing for the political arena, she seems to have hit her stride.

Take for example her headline grabbing appearance on the final night of the Republican Convention in July.

Though unlike 2016, when she had stood at the podium in the confection-like froth of her white silk Roksanda cocktail dress and - embarrassingly - poached lines from Michelle Obama's convention speech of 2008, this time Melania declined to say a word.

Instead, clad in her repeat red Dior 'New Look' two-piece skirt suit (she'd worn the same outfit to huge effect on a 2017 Presidential visit to Paris) strode across the convention stage oozing sartorial self-assurance.

Embracing the razor-sharp tailoring of one of 20th century's iconic female silhouettes - the New Look was deliberately created to celebrate femininity and opulence in women's fashion – Melania expressed her determination to defy conventional expectations for both a First Lady and a female member of the Trump clan.

The success of this moment provided a template for her Election night appearance in November, too.

As her husband celebrated his historic victory in the warmth of the Florida small hours, and the members of his entourage embraced their cocktail glitz, Melania basked in the glow of the conservative elegance that reminded the public how different their future First Lady was both from the rest of her family - and from her predecessors.

Melania has embarked upon a new era in which clothing seems to not only express her desire to look beautiful but her intent on demonstrating that she remains very much her own person.

Some like to dismiss her as no more than a mannequin; she begs to differ.

Aware of her outsider status – and clearly recognizing that she will never join the pantheon of traditional First Ladies – Melania has embraced her difference and found in clothing a language that ensures she will never be lost in a Trumpian crowd.