His big hat had a clear and unmistakable message for all of us.

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There were a handful of stories that seemed to shake America the most after Donald Trump’s second inauguration and first day back in office. There were the decrees. There were general pardons for the January 6 defendants. This is how Elon Musk decided to mark the occasion. And then there was Melania Trump’s hat.

You may not like that these moments have sparked jolts of speculation and frenzied discussion online in much the same way, but it’s the new Trumpworld — and in Melania’s case, there’s no need to quibble about his intentions. Rather than blending into the background, as you might expect from someone who plans to do this part-time job, Melania made a bold statement, and she mostly did it via a hat wide-brimmed navy blue that hid his eyes and at one point. thwarted her husband’s ill-fated attempt to kiss her.

The hat quickly inspired many comparisons: I saw people comparing the first lady to a pilgrim, Zorro, the Hamburglar, the spy from Mad magazine. Spy versus spyand even Jim Carrey in The mask. Most of them aren’t exactly flattering; I also thought about Madeleine children’s books about the little French girl, for what it’s worth, at least she’s chic, right?

What all of these references have in common is that they’re about costumes: Americans can’t really be trusted to interpret a hat, or take it seriously as anything other than a silly outfit. And so, any hat Melania wore put her at risk of becoming the next Pharrell meme. But Melania nevertheless has a penchant for hats, as the Washington Post points out. Defiance is a theme here: you may recall that Melania has long sought to remind us with her fashions that she doesn’t care what we think of her.

It all painted quite a different picture than Melania’s first look on Inauguration Day, back in 2017. Then she opted for a pastel Jackie Kennedy thing, simple, soft and very feminine, but that’s gone now, exchanged for something more severe, less aimed at earning praise and admiration. If you were one of the thousands watching this video clip of President Trump attempting to kiss and failing, blocked by the wide brim of the hat, it only reinforced the fortress-like quality of the whole thing.

Also at President Jimmy Carter’s funeral last week, Melania’s outfit seemed to take a matronly turn. Maybe Madeleine Isn’t that the right point of reference, but rather the nuns who guide her? It’s not that Melania was ever considered particularly nice, but the message now seems to be moving closer to “No More Ms. Nice First Lady.” Between her $40 million Amazon “documentary” and her lucrative new crypto scheme, Melania finally learned a thing or two from her husband about making the most of the moment, and the blue-hat moat she created around from her Monday show it in its entirety. adversarial mode, not only with the media, but with anyone who might want to watch it. We’ve come a long way from “I really don’t care, do I?” » – we arrived at “You can all go directly to Hell.”