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First lady Melania Trump goes full-on French in Chanel for first Trump state dinner

Mrs. Trump's gown was described as a black Chantilly lace haute-couture gown, hand painted with silver and embroidered with crystal and sequins.
Credit: Mark Wilson/Getty Images
U.S President Donald Trump, and first lady Melania welcome French President Emmanuel Macron, first lady Brigitte Macron after their arrival at the North Portico for before a State Dinner at the White House April 24, 2018 in Washington, DC.

First lady Melania Trump's choice of gown for her crucial first state dinner β€” for France β€” was a glittering silver-and-black sheath with spaghetti straps, cutouts and sparkles everywhere from that most French of all fashion houses: Chanel.

Mrs. Trump's gown was described as a black Chantilly lace haute-couture gown, hand painted with silver and embroidered with crystal and sequins.

The Trumps welcomed French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Brigitte Macron, at the North Portico of the White House for the second day of their three-day state visit shortly after 7:30 p.m. ET.

Mrs. Macron was wearing a creamy white gown by Louis Vuitton with gold beading details including a cinched waist and a lattice design across the bodice, arms and shoulders.

The first state dinner of the Trump White House is taking place 15 months after the inauguration, relatively late compared to previous administrations which typically hosted these elaborate ceremonial sitdowns by the end of their first years in office.

Credit: Pool
President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump stand with French President Emmanuel Macron and French first lady Brigitte Macron after their arrival  before a State Dinner, April 24, 2018. (Photo by Alex Edelman-Pool/Getty Images)

The dinner is a fairly intimate one, with about 130 guests at 10 tables in the relatively small State Dining Room.

The White House described Mrs. Trump as completely in charge of designing every detail, from the lack of spring lamb on the menu to the color scheme and flowers to the choice of china (from the Clinton and Bush eras).

It helps that the first country chosen for the honor of a state dinner by the Trumps is France and its dynamic and young new president, Macron, who has developed one of the best working relationships with the president of all his European rivals.

It helps that Melania Trump spent time in Paris as a model and that French is one of the multple languages she speaks. And it helps that the president was impressed with the welcome he received in France when he visited last year.

Earlier, Trump tweeted pictures of herself huddled with her staff, including her widely respected social secretary, Rickie Niceta Lloyd, going over last-minute details of the preparations.

"Spent yesterday with my team checking on the final details of our first State Dinner with France," read her tweet.

Although the Slovenian-born first lady is still feeling her way in her job as FLOTUS, she has some experience planning and executing major bashes, such as her 2005 wedding to Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago.

Her East Wing staff is small, a tight-knit group of 10, but they function without the drama of the West Wing comings and goings, and they never leak.

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