Lauren Sánchez’s official dinner dress sparks heated White House fashion debate

In a city typically unfashionable and rife with partisan friction, what a high-profile figure wore to a ostentatious White House affair touched off a fierce debate, apparently as polarizing as politics in Washington.

Lauren Sánchez, the former TV host turned philanthropist and fiancée of Amazon founder and The Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos, turned heads at the White House last week when she wore a ruby ​​red dress to the state dinner for Japan. $2,300 rosary corset dress It featured a low cut, lace off the shoulders and a cinched waist.

The racy number set off a political fashion storm. A post on social platform with a photo of Sánchez’s outfit on display, it received more than 4.4 million views.

Many social media users were highly critical of Sánchez’s state dinner look, slamming it as “totally inappropriate,” “embarrassing” and “the trashiest thing” ever seen at the White House black-tie gala.

But Kate Bennett, a former fashion editor who covered state dinners and countless other events while CNN’s former White House correspondent focused on the first lady, praised Sánchez for staying “on brand” with her burgundy outfit.

Sánchez’s style, Bennett said, “is incredibly sexy and feminine and she makes no apologies for it.”

“She’s doing black tie. Was it the traditional White House black tie? No. But maybe people are interested in government disruption,” joked Robin Givhan, Pulitzer Prize-winning senior critic at The Washington Post.

“Honestly, I think it’s funny that traditional Washington got itself into an upheaval because of the red dress and the cleavage,” said Givhan, a famous former fashion writer.

The sartorial choices for the state dinner, Bennett said, “really run the gamut” and represent the “fashion gray area” that exists in the nation’s capital.

“Some guests really like the country they are hosting in, using certain colors or designers. And some look like they just grabbed something off the shelf and ran out of the office for the state dinner. I mean, that’s what makes DC fashion DC fashion,” said Bennett, author of 2019’s “Free, Melania: The Unauthorized Biography.”

“You are never sure, you never have time and you never know what other people are going to wear. And this is unlike any other city in terms of style and fashion,” she said.

“There’s no written protocol, but it’s just common sense,” said a longtime East Wing member who helped prepare state dinners. “If you have any doubts about what this might be, you can consult Ms. Manners, but you have to use common sense.”

“I can’t say you’ve never been on display at the White House before,” the former White House staffer said, “but a lot of people would probably choose something else and still be able to make a statement in a beautiful dress.”

The Hill has reached out to a representative for Sánchez for comment.

Kelly Johnson, the stylist who allegedly helped coordinating Sánchez’s state dinner look, did not respond to The Hill’s request for comment.

Deirdre Clemente, a fashion historian and associate director of the Reid Public History Institute at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, said any type of dress code is “inherently sexist because it regulates women’s bodies.”

“I think his open sexuality or something like that really rubs people the wrong way,” Clemente said of the 54-year-old Sánchez.

It’s not the first time the typically buttoned-down Washington has erupted into chatter — and snark — as part of a sartorial controversy.

In 1971, Sonia McMahon, wife of the Australian prime minister, made headlines for wearing “the most daring but tasteful dress seen in the White House during the Nixon administration” to a state dinner in the couple’s honor.

McMahon’s dress, described by The Sydney Morning Herald as a “full-length, thigh-slit royal cream with continuous side panels filled with flesh-colored material,” it made a statement.

The prime minister’s wife, said the Australian newspaper, “put Australia on the map for Americans without saying a word.”

The haute couture discourse is not just limited to women in Washington. Then-President Obama sparked a fierce debate about fashion victims in 2014 when he wore a beige suit to a news conference.

So-Rep. Pete King (RN.Y.) said at the time that the lawsuit showed a “lack of seriousness” taken by the commander in chief.

“I don’t think any of us can excuse what the president did yesterday,” King said.

The White House defended Obama’s coat in a statement released a day after the viral moment, saying he “strongly supported the decision he made” to “wear his summer suit.”

Like the drama of Obama’s beige suit, Givhan said, the raised eyebrows at Sánchez’s style “say a lot more about Washington than they do about her.”

“Washington still has a surprising ability to be outraged by something fashion-related,” she said.

Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) also found himself at the center of a fashion frenzy.

Last September, the Senate voted to require business attire be worn on the House floor following bipartisan backlash after Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (DN.Y.) attempted to loosen the code of clothing.

Schumer’s move was seen by some as a way to accommodate Fetterman, who is known for opting for shorts and sweatshirts over suits on Capitol Hill.

The “rules” of fashion, said Clemente, a historian at the University of Nevada, “are always changing.”

“As the boundaries of where we can use things, and who can use them, and in what context and when change, people get angry. Cultural change bothers people,” said Clemente.

The debate over D.C. failures isn’t likely to go away anytime soon. Although an official state dinner has not been announced, President Biden plans to welcome Kenyan President William Ruto to the White House for a state visit next month.

As for Sánchez’s choice of dress, former CNN journalist Bennett said that although the red dress was not to her taste, she praised the licensed pilot for staying true to herself.

“She certainly wore that dress with confidence, and I think that maybe made her a bigger target. But I’m sure, personally, that’s how she is: she’s incredibly confident.”

Clemente said he loves seeing “when people dress for themselves and do what they want for themselves.”

“I thought she looked beautiful,” said the fashion guru.

“I like people who are willing to jump into the fight and don’t care what people say because they’re still going to wear that dress,” Clemente said. “I respect people like that.”

Asked what Washington might think of the fuss over Sánchez’s fashion in a few years, Givhan said: “We might look back and think that this was the time when Washington’s black tie didn’t need to be so buttoned up.”

“It can be fun, sexy or edgy,” she said.