Melania Trump vs Carrie Symonds: US first lady's bold fashion trumps UK first girlfriend's conservative style
While the US obsesses over first lady Melania Trump's fashion choices, the United Kingdom can't seem to get enough of Carrie Symonds, the girlfriend of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, and the first unmarried partner of a leader to reside in 10 Downing Street.
While many might not know much about Symonds when one googles her name, some of the articles that pop up are titled, 'Carrie Symonds Is Winning With Her 'First Girlfriend' Style' and 'Carrie Symonds Has A Stellar Autumn Wardrobe – And It's Mostly From The High Street' - automatically telling one that Johnson's girlfriend has made quite a name for herself in her country's fashion industry.
Symonds does not have any ties to America if you don't count the fact that she was banned from entering the United States the month following her boyfriend being sworn in as the PM, as her visa application was rejected due to a previous visit to Somaliland, which the Trump administration considers to be part of immigration-restricted Somalia.
And although there is not much in common between Melania and Symonds - Melania, not unlike her husband, having no prior experience of politics or working in the government before becoming the first lady, while Symonds having joined the Conservative Party as a press officer, working at the Conservative Campaign Headquarters and going onto assisting Johnson in the 2010 London Conservative Party mayoral selection - both the women have made headlines in their own respective nations due to their distinct sense of style.
One stark difference when it came to their respective outfit choices is the fact that Melania was a lot more fearless and open to trying out new looks than Symonds. Provided that the mother-of-one has become a lot more comfortable in her role as the first lady after living in the White House for almost three years now and Symonds was still finding her footing, Melania, being a former model, is more comfortable showing some skin and wearing body-hugging numbers than Symonds, whose fashion sense is more conservative.
Rarely does Symonds choose outfits with slits or even dresses that are shorter than knee-length. She prefers to pair most of her dresses with medium-high boots in order to bare as little of her legs as possible.
2019 was an important year for both the US first lady as well as Britain's first girlfriend and both the women successfully used fashion as a way to take control of the narrative and generate positive press.
While Melania experimented with gorgeous 'caped' gowns as she tried to divert the media's rhetoric away from her husband's possible impeachment to her outfits. Symonds, on the other hand, created a lot of negative buzz when her affair with Johnson became public at a time when he was married to his second wife, Marina Wheeler.
However, before long the country was focusing on her floral dresses and chic overcoats instead.
Both Melania, as well as Symonds, were also seen standing strong beside their men, unwavering and with smiles permanently pasted on their faces, in eye-grabbing outfits, as important events like state dinners and nationally significant events as they slipped into their roles which entailed lending support to the world leaders.