Donald Trump: Style icon?

Or: It's not a cult, part 674

Former Trump White House senior advisor Stephen Miller was on Fox News last night when the subject turned to fashion — specifically a New York Times piece that praised President Joe Biden as a “dapper” dresser.

Which is when Miller unleashed this steaming hot take:

The most stylish president and first lady in our lifetimes are Donald Trump and Melania Trump. Donald Trump is a style icon. He changed American fashion in ‘The Apprentice.’ People spent the next 10 years trying to dress like Donald Trump.

When I first saw the quote, I thought Miller was kidding. But then I remembered, Stephen Miller, who oversaw Trump’s draconian immigration policies while in office, isn’t much a jokester.

Because while we can debate the advisability of the Times running a piece praising Biden’s sartorial choices, no one — and I mean no one — thinks that Donald Trump is some sort of fashionista.

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In fact, to the extent what he wears has drawn any comment during his time in public life, it’s been on the negative side.

Most of the focus has been on Trump’s ties. Or, more accurately, the way he wears them. See, most men — yours truly included — are taught at a young(ish) age that your tie should hang right to your belt buckle. Shorter and you look like the mobsters in those old timey- movies. Longer and, well, you look like Donald Trump.

Example #1:

Many — and I mean many — people have commented on the tie-length thing over the years.

Here’s Town and Country magazine back in 2017:

The issue is that Trump has a unique way of tying his ties, making the longer end significantly longer than the shorter tail. The tail is so short, in fact, that the president has to resort to scotch tape to keep it in place—the loop on the back of a men's tie is designed for exactly this purpose, but Trump's trying strategy results in a tail that's too short to reach the loop.

Yes, scotch tape!

This, er, trend, was first spotted in December 2016 when Trump was merely president-elect. And then, it happened again — this time at Trump’s inauguration.

As Quartz wrote in 2017:

The tape, one suspects, is consistent—the rarity is a breeze stiff enough to show it. It delivers ripples of schadenfreude through Trump’s detractors, producing the kind of fashion-fail headlines one would normally associate with red-carpet commentary.

There’s something tawdry about this little sartorial revelation, intimate and tinged with shame. “Held together with sticky tape” and “President of the United States of America” are not phrases any taxpayer wants near each other.

But, tape aside, the question remains: Why does Trump wear his ties sooooo long? And the answer appears to be a simple one: Vanity.

According to former New Jersey Governor — and one-time Trump confidant turned Trump critic — Chris Christie, the former president resorts to the long tie to appear thinner.

As the Guardian wrote of Christie’s tell-some memoir in 2019:

Trump recommends the fashion hint as “slenderizing”. Or so he told New Jersey’s former governor and White House wannabe Chris Christie, according to the latter’s forthcoming book.

In the new memoir Let Me Finish, Christie wrote of how Trump encouraged him to wear a long tie to make him look thinner during the 2016 presidential campaign.

Which, well, makes a whole lot of sense. Also, is “slenderizing” a word?

The ties are the leading edge of Trump’s fashion issues but not the only ones. There is also the matter of his ill-fitting suits.

When Trump headed to England in 2019 to meet with Queen Elizabeth II, this picture of him in formal wear made the rounds:

To which actress Bette Middler, no fan of Trump of course, offered this critique:

“PROPORTION FAIL!! His white waistcoat is at least two inches too long; tailcoat is supposed to be almost the same length as the waistcoat beneath, sleeves should be shorter and show a bit of the cuff below, waist itself is nipped in...what a figure he cuts! Fire the tailor!!”

And, as far back as 2016, even the august Financial Times had noticed that Trump’s suits just didn’t fit him quite right:

Donald Trump’s clothes do not fit him. This fact has not been widely noticed, which is unsurprising. In a fight for attention, his outfit was always going to come in a distant fourth, behind his bouffant, his spray tan, and whatever last tumbled out of his mouth. Yet the clothes reward study. The shoulders of his suits are too wide by at least a size, and slump over to the side. The jackets are a solid inch too long, and billow. The trousers, through bagginess, manage to look worn out, though they are not.

Again, vanity is likely the explanation here. Trump’s weight does yo-yo a bit — and that would make it very difficult to always have on a perfectly-tailored suit.

There also could well be a political calculation: Trump has cast himself, amazingly, as the everyman. Looking like a runway model — or even being described as “dapper” in the pages of the New York Times — would run counter to that image.

(Sidebar: A site called “Racked,” which no longer exists, did a ranking of presidents from worst to best dressed. But, they did it in 2014 — so no Trump. Who was #1? Chester Arthur!)

This may all seem, well, stupid to you. Who gives a crap about how presidents dress? Focusing on how Trump dresses misses the broader point on how he governed. Which I get!

But, I DO think there is a larger point to be gleaned from Miller’s ridiculous comment that Trump is a “style icon” who “changed American fashion.” And it’s this: The best way to ensure that Donald Trump likes you and listens to you is to praise him in lavish and utterly over-the-top terms.

Donald Trump’s inauguration crowd was the largest ever!

Donald Trump is God’s warrior, fighting the evil forces among us!

Donald Trump is Rocky!

And, yes, Donald Trump is a “style icon.”

It’s all of a piece. Turning Trump into the best, smartest, strongest, toughest and coolest dude plays to the billionaire businessman’s self image. And makes him like you.

So, while you and I might have been laughing at Miller’s ridiculous comments last night, Trump wasn’t. He was almost certainly nodding his head in agreement.