服装政治：特朗普夫人的“香奈儿”和马克龙夫人的路易威登

The first lady’s couture selection was an exceptional, if not unexpected, choice by a woman adapting the role to fit herself.

对于一个让身份服从自我的人而言，美国第一夫人的着装选择，不说出人意料，至少也可以说与众不同。

In the end she played the part, donned the costume — and gave everyone something to chew on.

终于，她担起第一夫人的职责，身穿盛装，结果，所有人都有话要说。

Melania Trump, who orchestrated the first state dinner of the Trump administration, a.k.a. the most fancy ceremonial evening since the inauguration, stood next to her husband and welcomed President Emmanuel Macron of France and his wife Brigitte while wearing a Chanel haute couture dress of black Chantilly lace, hand painted with silver, and embroidered with crystal and sequins.

梅兰妮亚.特朗普策划了特朗普政府的第一场国宴，这也是总统就职以来最阔气的晚宴。她站在丈夫身旁，欢迎法国总统马克龙和妻子布里奇特。梅兰妮亚穿着饰有黑色尚蒂伊蕾丝的香奈儿高级女装，指甲涂成银色，上面嵌着水晶和装饰亮片。

Mrs. Trump’s dress looked kind of like sparkling sleeveless body armor and reflected a desire to pay homage to the guests of honor and what may be a new “special relationship” (identified thusly by President Trump earlier in the day while brushing what he identified as dandruff off Mr. Macron’s shoulders). Chanel is, after all, a brand that is almost synonymous with French fashion and couture, a specific segment of the fashion industry that exists formally only in France.

特朗普夫人的服饰看起来有点像闪光的无袖防弹衣，品牌旨在向贵客致敬，特朗普总统当天早些时候认为马克龙双肩上有头皮屑而伸手掸去时，体现出两国领导人可能新建了一种“特殊关系”。香奈儿毕竟是与法国时尚几乎同义的品牌，而且高级女装在法国成为时尚产业的一部分。

It was the first time Mrs. Trump had worn Chanel at a major public occasion since becoming first lady, and one of the rare times that a first lady’s office has advertised the fact she was wearing couture.

这是特朗普夫人成为第一夫人后头一次在重要公开场合穿香奈儿，也是第一夫人办公室为数不多地宣传她穿了女士时装。

Her predecessor, Michelle Obama, often had dresses altered to her specifications — and wore an Atelier Versace chain mail couture gown to her final state dinner with then-Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi — but couture is a sector unto itself, rooted in French history, unabashedly elite, and symbolic of what is known with pride as “savoir-faire,” or know how.

前任第一夫人米歇尔.奥巴马常按需而装，她在最后一次国宴上身穿范思哲高定的锁子甲华服，招待时任意大利总理伦齐，可高级女装本身就根植于法国的历史，毫不掩饰属于精英阶层，象征了一种令人骄傲的品鉴力。

It is also handmade to order, exists only as one-offs, and comes complete with prices that can run into the six digits. Mrs. Trump, for example, seems to have taken what was originally a jumpsuit from the Chanel spring 2018 couture collection and had it remade as a dress.

高级女装手工定制，一款一件，价格高达六位数。例如，特朗普夫人的礼服貌似取材自香奈儿2018年春季连衣裤系列，但将其改成裙装。

But in a world of Trumpian excess, where the first lady once wore a coat that cost $51,500, maybe such a willingness to spend should have been expected (besides, the dress can be donated to the national archive by the designer, which defrays the cost). Mrs. Trump has always been unapologetic about the price of her clothes, and this gown had a dual purpose.

然而，在特朗普式的奢华世界里，第一夫人一度穿着价值51500美元的上衣，舍得一掷千金并不令人感到吃惊。另外，设计师还可将裙子捐赠给国家档案馆，这也能节约成本。特朗普夫人对衣服的价格从不加掩饰，这身衣服还有着双重目的。

As Louise Linton, wife of the Treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin, said when she and her husband made their entrance, she was excited for “everything French!” There was something ironic about the fact she said that while wearing a silver beaded gown from Roberto Cavalli, an Italian brand designed by an Englishman, but it may not have occurred to her.

财政部长史蒂文.努钦的妻子路易.林登说，她和丈夫走进去时，她很激动，“到处是法国范儿！”这话有点讽刺，她自己身穿英国人设计的意大利品牌罗伯特.卡沃利的银珠礼服，可她竟然没感觉到。

In any case, Mrs. Trump’s decision to wear Chanel was smart, given that her counterpart, Brigitte Macron, had her entire trip wardrobe — from stilettos to handbags to the ivory gown she wore to the dinner, embroidered with a lattice of gold chains across the arms and shoulders — made by Louis Vuitton.

不管怎么说，特朗普夫人决定穿香奈儿很聪明，毕竟法国第一夫人布里吉特.马克龙把衣橱都带到美国来了，从细高跟女鞋到手包，还有她出席晚宴时身穿的象牙白路易威登晚礼，两臂和双肩镶着十字花金边条。

“It is a huge honor for me to see Brigitte Macron wearing my designs while on this trip,” said Nicolas Ghesquiere, the artistic director of Louis Vuitton. “I love her style and fashion sensibility,” which now represents her country.

“布里吉特.马克龙出访中穿着我设计的衣服让我倍感荣耀，”路易威登设计总监尼古拉.盖斯奇埃尔说。“我喜欢她的时装品位，”她代表了她的祖国。

Vuitton is, of course, another ur-French brand that happens to be owned by Bernard Arnault, chairman of LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton. Mr. Arnault, said to be the richest man in France, and his wife, Helene, also were guests at the dinner and he was one of the first businessmen to visit Mr. Trump at Trump Tower after his election. Given that LVMH owns Dior and Givenchy, brands favored by Mrs. Arnault, it is probably a good thing Mrs. Trump avoided them, too.

当然，路易威登是另一个法国品牌，恰好归路威酩轩集团主席贝尔纳.阿尔诺所有。阿尔诺先生据说是法国最富有的人，他的妻子伊莲娜也出席了晚宴，阿尔诺是大选后第一拨在特朗普大厦谒见特朗普的商人。路易威登旗下拥有迪奥和纪梵希，这些品牌都是阿诺德夫人喜欢的品牌，特朗普夫人不选择这些品牌可能也是好事。

That left it to Ivanka Trump to represent American fashion, which she did in a pink tulle and swiss dot Rodarte confection. Otherwise the clothes were relatively low-key.

美国时尚则由伊凡卡.特朗普来代表，她身着粉纱瑞士点罗达特女装，服饰相对低调。

Jerry Hall showed up with Rupert Murdoch in bright sapphire blue; Nancy Kissinger, Karen Pence, and Sarah Huckabee Sanders in black lace. Christine Schwarzman, who will soon be standing atop the Metropolitan Museum of Art steps with her husband Stephen as one of the hosts of the Met Gala, wore white opera gloves.

瑞莉.霍尔身着亮宝石蓝礼服与默多克一同亮相。基辛格夫人南希.基辛格、副总统夫人卡伦.彭斯和白宫秘书莎拉.赫卡比.桑德斯穿黑色蕾丝裙。克莉丝汀.施瓦茨曼戴着白色歌剧手套，她很快要和丈夫华尔街私募大佬史蒂芬.施瓦茨曼站在大都会博物馆的台阶上，主持慈善舞会。

It was the first lady who stood out in her glinting metallic gown, just as she had earlier in the day, with a broad-brimmed white hat that shadowed her face and matched her white suit with its military mien. And as she had on Day 1 of the French visit, in the black cape that she wore to Mount Vernon.

脱颖而出的正是第一夫人亮晶晶的金属装，正如她白天时也与众不同，白色宽檐帽挡住了面庞，搭配白色军装样套装。法国总统访美第一天，她在弗农山身穿黑袍。

Though each garment came from a different designer, together they created the impression of a woman who has found the glamour in self-protection, and who is gradually tailoring the unwritten rules of her role to her own specifications. Creating her own recipe, as it were.

尽管每套服装都有不同的设计师，但它们总体让人感觉，一个女人在自我保护中发掘出魅力，将第一夫人的潜规则逐渐裁剪为她的个人特色。她有自己的范儿，一如既往。