--- title: Melania Trump: Here's the Subtle Message in Her Dress description: For her national debut at the Republican National Convention Monday, Melania Trump chose a white dress that had a subtle message behind it. canonical: https://time.com/4412183/heres-the-subtle-message-in-melania-trumps-dress/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-07-19T04:46:25.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-06T09:42:05.840Z article:section: Politics og:title: Here's the Subtle Message in Melania Trump's Dress og:description: A shoutout to a designer whose life mirrors her own. og:url: https://time.com/4412183/heres-the-subtle-message-in-melania-trumps-dress/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4b4a919d9a09ff88/69889c74e20a8745cfa91a3f/gettyimages-577294938.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 594 og:image:height: 334 og:image:alt: Melania Trump, wife of Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, waves to the crowd after delivering a speech on the first day of the Republican National Convention on July 18, 2016 at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Here's the Subtle Message in Melania Trump's Dress twitter:description: A shoutout to a designer whose life mirrors her own. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4b4a919d9a09ff88/69889c74e20a8745cfa91a3f/gettyimages-577294938.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Here's the Subtle Message in Melania Trump's Dress > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=9b3da8f6-fa2c-4c47-8068-2b9cc725474d&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Melania Trump Echoes Michelle Obama's 2008 Convention Speech [Watch (HLS stream): Melania Trump Echoes Michelle Obama's 2008 Convention Speech](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/a9mrHqjy.m3u8) (1:37)  _Published 2016-07-19. Shortly after the speech, observers on Twitter noticed that a passage Trump read about her upbringing borrowed heavily from the structure and phrasing used by Michelle Obama in her 2008 convention speech._ by [Ryan Teague Beckwith](https://time.com/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/) ## Ryan Teague Beckwith Jul 19, 2016 4:46 AM UTC by [Ryan Teague Beckwith](https://time.com/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/) ## Ryan Teague Beckwith Jul 19, 2016 4:46 AM UTC For her national debut, Melania Trump chose a chic white dress that had a subtle message behind it. Speaking at the Republican National Convention about her husband’s presidential campaign, Trump wore [a dress from Roksanda](https://www.net-a-porter.com/us/en/product/730230/roksanda/margot-cotton-and-silk-blend-dress) currently selling online for $2,190. The brand is popular with such luminaries as Michelle Obama and Kate Middleton, but it’s also notable because designer [Roksanda Ilincic](http://roksanda.com) was born in Serbia. Serbia, of course, was once a part of Yugoslavia, along with Slovenia, where Trump was born—[“a small, beautiful and then-communist country in Central Europe,”](http://time.com/4412008/republican-convention-melania-trump-2/) as she described it in her speech. The two countries have been separate since a series of ethnic conflicts in the 1990s divided Yugoslavia. Like Trump, Ilincic moved away and now lives in London, where her company is based. In choosing the dress, Trump chose elegance, but also chose to give a shoutout to a designer whose life mirrors her own. ## Transcript Barack and I were raised with so many of the same values, like you work hard for what you want in life. [ APPLAUSE ] From a young age, my parents impressed on me the values that you work hard for what you want in life. That your word is your bond. That you do what you say you're going to do. That your word is your bond. And you do what you say. And keep your promise. That you treat people with dignity and respect. Even if you don't know them. And even if you don't agree with them. That you treat people with respect. They thought and showed me values and morals in their daily life. [ APPLAUSE ] And Barak and I set out to build lives guided by these values, and pass them on to the next generation. Because- That is the lesson that I continue to pass along to ou sons And we need to pass those lessons on to the many generations to follow. Generation because we want our children and all children in this nation to know that the only limits of the height of your achievements is the reach of your dreams and your willingness to work hard for them. Because we want our children in this nation to know that the only limit to your achievements is the strength of your dreams and your willingness to work for them. 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