When Ivanka Trump stepped onto the dais for Friday’s presidential inauguration ceremony, she was a vision of polished perfection. Turned out in an Oscar de la Renta asymmetrical white pantsuit with an American flag pin on the jacket, her nude makeup was subtle and her blond mane carefully curled.
Trump is poised to be one of the most fashionable first daughters in history, but that’s partly because the 35-year-old former model is already a seasoned style pro. The real estate heiress grew up in the spotlight, enjoying her first runway shows when she was just a child. She’s on a first-name basis with top designers from Ralph Lauren to Vera Wang, who made her Grace Kelly-inspired wedding gown in 2009.
She’s even a garmento herself, although she recently announced a leave of absence from her eponymous apparel-and-accessory company to comply with ethics laws.
“Ivanka is in the Who’s Who of fashion,” says style expert Mary Alice Stephenson, who has known Trump professionally for 20 years. “She understands the power of image and knows how to use it to empower her platform.”
Blessed with Barbie features and an hourglass figure, the 5-foot-11 glamazon signed with Elite’s celebrity division when she was a baby-faced 15-year-old and went on to grace dozens of magazine covers. It’s almost impossible to find a bad picture of the photogenic entrepreneur, who was unavailable for comment.
“Everything she wears looks fabulous on her,” designer Carolina Herrera tells The Post. “Ivanka is a very special woman. Not only beautiful, but kind, intelligent, a great wife, great mother and she loves fashion.”
But she didn’t always look so irreproachable. Like most mere mortals, the mogul has worn her fair share of horrors. When the University of Pennsylvania grad was in her 20s, for instance, she fell into the trap of rocking all the latest trends, whether they suited her or not. There was the butterfly-festooned slip dress a size too small that she paraded at the 2004 Met Gala, as well as an evening gown with a giant rosette blooming on the butt that she wore to a Guggenheim Museum ball in 2006.
It’s only been in the last decade, as she started her company, married fellow real estate scion Jared Kushner and had children, that Ivanka has found sartorial maturity, ditching the tie-dye prints and denim minis and replacing them with timeless pieces.
By day, the former star of “The Apprentice” favors a demure, ladylike look channeling Jackie Kennedy and the aforementioned Princess Grace. It starts with a tailored or fit-and-flare dress, like the $168 navy-and-white floral number she sported on “Good Morning America” in July. She tops her frocks with elegant belted coats when the temperature dips, and never misses an opportunity to show off her Rockette-level legs in heels from her own collection. Like Vogue Editor-in-Chief Anna Wintour, who once offered her a job at the fashion bible, she avoids stockings.
“She projects competence, authority and professionalism, but not at the expense of femininity,” says Stephenson, founder of the Glam4Good organization, to which Ivanka has donated products. “It’s never just pretty packaging — she always looks purposeful.”
And pleasingly predictable — but not boring.
“Where Michelle Obama was always about a surprise, injecting life into the oft-staid wardrobe of the first lady, Trump will aim for a very specific, consistent, stable image,” says Whitney Robinson, style director at Town & Country, which featured Trump on the cover in February 2016.
Ivanka mixes pieces from her affordably priced brand with costly designer attire from Herrera, de la Renta, Prabal Gurung, Joseph Altuzarra and others. Although the jet-setter also shops European labels, including Roland Mouret and Dolce & Gabbana, it’s a safe bet that, like Obama, she’ll champion American ready-to-wear for the next four years.
But when it comes to galas, the savvy businesswoman unleashes her inner bombshell. For last year’s Met Gala, Ivanka called in a Hollywood glam squad and documented the primping on her Snapchat. Celebrity fashion stylist Micaela Erlanger, who wardrobes Lupita Nyong’o and Michelle Dockery, outfitted her in a custom Ralph Lauren scarlet jumpsuit. The socialite’s locks were artfully tousled by hair stylist Seiji (who has coiffed Kendall Jenner and Karlie Kloss). Makeup artist Tina Turnbow (who paints Keri Russell and Amanda Peet) perfected her scarlet pout and smoky eye.
Even when Ivanka is off duty, being berated for her father’s politics by a stranger on a JetBlue flight, she’s Instagram-ready in simple black jeans, sneakers and a maroon sweater.
“Her taste is refined and classical,” says Gilles Mendel, creative director of J. Mendel, one of Ivanka’s red carpet mainstays. “She will absolutely be able to stay true to her own style as she enters the world stage.”
