Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wonder how many coats she had as a teenager in Community Slovenia. I’d guess one.

She probably had an italian tailored wool coat in a pastel color from United colors of Benetton bought in Italy or Austria. Or maybe one of the coats made in Yugoslavia - they were top notch quality at the time and especially Slovenia produced excellent woolmark quality knits.
Yes, you’d have just one coat, nothing wrong with that.

I didn't take the comment you were replying to as implying there was anything wrong with her having one coat. I took it to mean she grew up in a communist country and likely wouldn't have had the wardrobe of an American teen. I know her parents were educated and had good jobs but they were still living under communism.

Would she have even had access to United Colors of Benetton? I don't know much about communist Slovenia but I imagine it was like Russia and there was a ban on imported goods.

I was a bit of a Sovietologist decades ago when that was a thing. Yugoslavia had access to more western goods because it wasn’t behind the iron curtain but I’d be surprised if it was the same as living in Austria or Italy. In general communist countries tend to have more closed economies because they are state controlled with different attitudes toward import/export. Anyway, it would be super interesting to have articles about that in particular — it’s sort of crazy we’ve had this First Lady for 5 years and know so little about her background and childhood. If anyone reading this is from Yugoslavia. I’d love to know about fashion options in 1980s Yugoslavia!!!

I'm from there, Melania's age and similar background (although my parents were not communists) and that was my comment about a Benetton coat.
With her being from a well situated family and only 2 hrs drive from Trieste, Italy, a very popular town for shopping at the time, I can pretty accurately say that she was dressed as good as an American teenager, if not better. Slovenia was officially the most developed part of Yugoslavia, their women were stylish and weekend trips to Austria or Italy were common. Also, the garment industry in Yugoslavia was pretty solid, with Slovenia having some amazing brands and covering production for Adidas (70's and 80's Adidas made in Slovenia or Yugoslavia are currently gold in vintage market, especially in Japan). I think Melania's always been deliberate about how she dresses, and that most probably started in her childhood in former Yugoslavia.

Very cool, thanks for sharing! I actually didn't realize until this thread that Yugoslavia wasn't part of the USSR*, so I expected her childhood to be much more spartan than what the GQ profile and your post describe.

*I am sure I learned that in European history in tenth grade but I was born after the Berlin Wall fell so it's not like something I would remember and to be perfectly honest I don't think about Yugoslavia frequently lol.

God that poster made me feel old. I for one remember when the Olympics were in Sarajevo. Yugoslavia wasn’t just part of the USSR—it wasn’t even part of the Warsaw bloc. It was sort of “softly” in the Soviet influence sphere because Tito had basically a deal with the soviets. I think Yugoslavia actually had a lot of spy activity and smuggling activity because it was one of the few entry points behind the iron Curtain. (Others were through the tunnels under Berlin or maybe Syria).

? That is not true, Tito has no deal with the Soviets. He broke away from Stalin in 1948, and the Yugoslavs strongly disliked the Warsaw Pact system and USSR. Many citizens of Warsaw Pact countries could only travel to Yugoslavia, and that is how they escaped to the West.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wonder how many coats she had as a teenager in Community Slovenia. I’d guess one.

She probably had an italian tailored wool coat in a pastel color from United colors of Benetton bought in Italy or Austria. Or maybe one of the coats made in Yugoslavia - they were top notch quality at the time and especially Slovenia produced excellent woolmark quality knits.
Yes, you’d have just one coat, nothing wrong with that.

I didn't take the comment you were replying to as implying there was anything wrong with her having one coat. I took it to mean she grew up in a communist country and likely wouldn't have had the wardrobe of an American teen. I know her parents were educated and had good jobs but they were still living under communism.

Would she have even had access to United Colors of Benetton? I don't know much about communist Slovenia but I imagine it was like Russia and there was a ban on imported goods.

I was a bit of a Sovietologist decades ago when that was a thing. Yugoslavia had access to more western goods because it wasn’t behind the iron curtain but I’d be surprised if it was the same as living in Austria or Italy. In general communist countries tend to have more closed economies because they are state controlled with different attitudes toward import/export. Anyway, it would be super interesting to have articles about that in particular — it’s sort of crazy we’ve had this First Lady for 5 years and know so little about her background and childhood. If anyone reading this is from Yugoslavia. I’d love to know about fashion options in 1980s Yugoslavia!!!

I have a Master's in History, focused on the Balkans, and I lived in Yugoslavia and know firsthand what it was like living there until the wars in the 90s. My parents were highly educated for that time. Tito's regime took much of my grandparents' land right after the war. The country was not Spartan nor lacking in much of anything until the late 80s. We had good clothes, but nobody had six pairs of jeans, and I did not have fancy tennis shoes until the late 80s. I went shopping in Italy when I was 17, 18, and then 20; my parents sent me. I had a wool coat, I had great vacations, every single year we went to the sea, sometimes to Greece. Most winters, we went to the mountains. My dad would go to Western Germany and buy us presents.

Things changed in the 90s. At that time, it was hard going, but for my wedding in 1993, my parents, in the worst time ever in my part of Yugoslavia, bought me a fur coat as a wedding present. I married an American, and financially, when you take into account economies and standard of living, we were much better off than my husband's family.

Based on the jobs Melania's dad and mom said they had, we were better off than her family. However, she was in Slovenia, which had the best economy in former Yugoslavia. Slovenia is a beautiful country; her childhood was pastoral, running around everywhere, and just plain fantastic, if I were to presume it was very similar to mine.

I assure you, life in Yugoslavia, for the more educated strata, was better than life in Italy until at least the mid-80s. Italy was very poor, but, like Yugoslavia, it would depend on your family's income. Villages in Italy were impoverished.

Something about Tiffany reminds me of Sydney Sweeney. I think it’s their eyes and/or cheeks. Anyone else see it?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Omg I actually love the spiderweb dress. Marla looks amazing as always.

I love the spider web dress but I hate the choker with it. Makes it way too costumy. Plus why a choker with a neckline that low? Chokers look better with boat necks, like Jackie K used to wear.

It IS a costume.

I can’t quite tell but I suspect that Melania is wearing pants to tonight’s Congressional ball at the White House.

Anonymous wrote:
Omg I actually love the spiderweb dress. Marla looks amazing as always.

I love the spider web dress but I hate the choker with it. Makes it way too costumy. Plus why a choker with a neckline that low? Chokers look better with boat necks, like Jackie K used to wear.

Anonymous wrote:I love the spiderweb dress, although I wish the placement of the webs was a little off-center.

I like it too! She looks great here.

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Gosh. Her face is so homely. She looks like her dad.

I hate those sleeves. What is it called when they reach your fingers like that?

I don't think she's homely at all, but if that's a belt I think it was a bad choice. Also I think sometimes long slits in skirts are gratuitous. I think the dress would be more elegant without the slit and certainly without the belt. In that long white coat she also had the belt high up in a very unflattering way.

wait, are those sleeves like the sweatshirts with the little holes so you can pretend the sleeves are mittens? Please no

Yes, they do go around her hand. Reminds me of Morticia Addams. The neckline too a bit. That color is gorgeous. No belt and different shoes and bag would have been better. She should also join the other women her age and get a bob. The giant tresses are overpowering.

I love the spiderweb dress, although I wish the placement of the webs was a little off-center.

Anonymous wrote:I'm not thrilled about how all the photos are coming from that one twitter account now.

Here's a photo dump from Tiffany from a week ago:

--is this a generic superhero Mommy and Baby match or am I supposed to know who they are? I guess if it was a designated character we'd be seeing someone's gender fluidity

--looks grandmotherly to me. But Michael and Trump have the same blazing blue suits.

--I know we saw the spiderweb dress earlier--at the Gatsby party? but here's a full view.

It's The Incredibles. I think she looks a tiny bit like Amanda Seyfreid in that second picture and OMG I love that spiderweb dress. It's amazing.

Anonymous wrote:

Gosh. Her face is so homely. She looks like her dad.

I hate those sleeves. What is it called when they reach your fingers like that?

I guess she's pregnant again.

Omg I actually love the spiderweb dress. Marla looks amazing as always.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Gosh. Her face is so homely. She looks like her dad.

I hate those sleeves. What is it called when they reach your fingers like that?

I don't think she's homely at all, but if that's a belt I think it was a bad choice. Also I think sometimes long slits in skirts are gratuitous. I think the dress would be more elegant without the slit and certainly without the belt. In that long white coat she also had the belt high up in a very unflattering way.

wait, are those sleeves like the sweatshirts with the little holes so you can pretend the sleeves are mittens? Please no

Yes babe yes. She thinks she is catwoman or something

Anonymous wrote:I'm not thrilled about how all the photos are coming from that one twitter account now.

Here's a photo dump from Tiffany from a week ago:

--is this a generic superhero Mommy and Baby match or am I supposed to know who they are? I guess if it was a designated character we'd be seeing someone's gender fluidity

--looks grandmotherly to me. But Michael and Trump have the same blazing blue suits.

--I know we saw the spiderweb dress earlier--at the Gatsby party? but here's a full view.

Totally agree, it's like they saw this thread, created the Twitter to make money and repost back to the thread.

Also I dont think she looks like Dozy Don at all, but she's still ugly, outside and inside. She lives in her sisters shadow but her sister is FULL of plastic. She looks nothing like she should.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Gosh. Her face is so homely. She looks like her dad.

I hate those sleeves. What is it called when they reach your fingers like that?

I don't think she's homely at all, but if that's a belt I think it was a bad choice. Also I think sometimes long slits in skirts are gratuitous. I think the dress would be more elegant without the slit and certainly without the belt. In that long white coat she also had the belt high up in a very unflattering way.

wait, are those sleeves like the sweatshirts with the little holes so you can pretend the sleeves are mittens? Please no