First lady style: Brigitte Macron vs. Melania Trump

Hooray for Brigitte Macron, who’s 63 and still wears skirts above the knee!

France’s new first lady has thrown “age-appropriate dressing” out the Elysée Palace window; Macron, who edits her husband, French President Emmanuel Macron’s speeches, is a woman who knows her own mind.

She also knows her own body. Brigitte, or “Bibi,” as she is nicknamed, must know she’s got great legs, so she flaunts them at every occasion, in miniskirts — without stockings, at that — skinny jeans, and skintight leggings with stiletto heels.

According to British Vogue, Brigitte is turning the tables on the “Chic Bobo” aesthetic worn by French women of a certain age in politics. Instead of the “slim-cut navy tailoring, low-heeled shoes, shiny but not obviously coiffed hair” they favor, Macron goes for “allure rock,” which L’Express defines as “a deep tan, a peroxide to honey-blond hairdo, an expensive designer handbag and car-to-carpet heels.”

Apparently, for Bibi, who’s from a very well-off chocolatier family, low-maintenance and age-appropriate are out; high-glam and youthfully sexy are in.

“She’s rock-’n’-roll,” says Paris-based art director Delphine de Canecaude. “Not for a second does she say, ‘I’m 63, so I cannot wear short skirts.’ Twelve-inch heels, sleeveless dresses, leather trousers — she dares everything.”

The style maverick has been dubbed everything from “cougar” to “menopausal Barbie” to “the French Jane Fonda.” I agree with the last comparison: not only does she resemble the toned exercise guru, who looks fabulous at 60-plus, but she’s also associated with unconventional politics, courtesy of her husband. (Fonda was dubbed “GI Jane” for protesting the Vietnam War.) Since Brigitte has been Macron’s closest advisor and coach since he was 15 — “without (her) I wouldn’t be me,” the French president has said — “unconventional” describes every aspect of their relationship.

As pundits have pointed out, the Macrons are the inverse of the Trumps. The Donald is 24 years older than Melania in their more conventional pairing but, instead of the affectionate teacher-pupil relationship the Macrons share, Melania acts more like a rebellious daughter to Trump’s befuddled father. That now-viral hand slap said it all.

On Trump’s first trip abroad, Melania drew the world’s gaze — and reams of press — with her high-fashion wardrobe. First ladies accompanying American presidents can often soften their male image — if not steal their thunder. JFK famously joked that he was simply “the man who accompanied Jacqueline Kennedy to Paris” on their first foreign trip together.

On their first international outing, not only was Trump the man who accompanied Melania, but FLOTUS (First Lady of the United States) also defined her signature look. If, for Jackie Kennedy, it was the jacket and pillbox hat, or a cardigan and sheath dress for Michelle Obama, for Melania it’s the sharply tailored coatdress cinched with a thick belt. She wore it in different fabrics and colors to many a country: in military-inspired olive to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; in immaculate white to pray at Israel’s Western Wall; in nude-colored leather to visit Belgium’s Magritte museum with the G7 Summit wives.

Alternating between American designers like Michael Kors and Italian designers Dolce & Gabbana, D&G clearly won out during the European leg of the Trumps’ trip.

In Sicily, Melania was called out for wearing a floral Dolce & Gabbana jacket that retails for $51,500 — slightly less than the average American family’s income in 2015, according to the US Census Bureau — which sparked outrage online.

Meanwhile, fashion watchers have also taken note of Brigitte Macron’s weakness for Louis Vuitton. Bibi became friends with Louis Vuitton director and EVP Delphine Arnault in 2014, and now sits front row at all the LV shows, reportedly owns Capucines bags of all colors, and wore a Louis Vuitton LBD accessorized with a Twist bag monogrammed “BM” to sightsee with the G7 first ladies.

The meeting of Brigitte and Melania during this NATO summit led to speculation about a style war between the two online. “Which first lady won in the style stakes?” asked the UK’s Telegraph. With her model looks and carriage Melania seemed to have the upper hand — a point she brought home when she upstaged the other NATO spouses by changing outfits in the middle of the day. While the other first ladies opted to keep wearing what they’d worn to the museum, including Brigitte, Melania changed her beige Maison Ullens coatdress to a sexy, off-the-shoulder black Dolce & Gabbana number for dinner. Online wags observed that Brigitte looked irked about this.

Less flattering to Melania, though, were the tweets on her veiled, all-black outfit to visit Pope Francis in the Vatican: “Who died?  Oh yes. Democracy,” tweeted George Takei. “At the funeral for Social Security and Medicare,” wrote Trumps Bounced Czech. “Dumbledore meets Slytherin House accompanied by hooded Dementors,” chirped The Hummingbird. “Dress for the job you want. #widow” joked Nicol Huntington.

Critics also wondered why she covered her head at the Vatican but not in Saudi Arabia, where most Muslim women wear headscarves, or hijabs. In truth, Vatican protocol requires that women who have an audience with the pope must wear long sleeves, formal black clothing and a veil to cover their head. Though not strictly enforced, it turns out Melania is Roman Catholic and must have adhered to the dress code out of respect. Even Ivanka, who converted to Judaism before she married Jared Kushner, wore a veil.

In contrast, foreign women are not required to wear a head covering in Saudi Arabia and so, like many American first ladies before her, Melania chose to keep her head bare. When she emerged from Air Force One wearing a black Stella McCartney pantsuit cinched by a thick gold belt — which resembled Arab women’s long black robes, or abayas — Melania was lauded for being “classy and conservative” by Arab News.

Brigitte definitely dresses within Melania’s age demographic, but in that effortlessly chic way that all French women seem to be born with. Off duty she’s been caught on camera in hoodies and New Balance sneakers, while I don’t recall ever seeing a photo of Melania in sensible shoes and loungewear, not even with her son Barron.

Both women favor fashions that cover yet accentuate their femininity, and hint, “There’s a great body under here.” When state protocol is looser, like at dinners and parties, Brigitte will give good leg, while Melania will expose both her nice stems and abundant cleavage.

Following in the footsteps of high-maintenance French First Lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, who was more popular than her husband, President Nicolas Sarkozy, critics say that in a country where French political wives are expected to blend in, Brigitte might be too fabuleux for her own good and eclipse her husband as well.

President Macron has said, “She will have the role that she always had with me, she will not be hidden, because she shared my life, because her opinion is important, and because the presidential position carries something of a personal dimension. She has always been by my side; she’s my equilibrium.” What a guy.

Brigitte’s take on the campaign, chronicled by Nicolas Prissette in his biography Emmanuel Macron En Marche Vers L’Elysée (Emmanuel Macron On the Way to the Elysée), shows that the first lady doesn’t take her role too, too seriously. She is quoted as telling a friend, “He had to run in 2017 because, by 2022, his problem will be my face.”

A stylish, smart first lady not afraid to make fun of herself? It’s going to be an interesting five years.

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