Year in Review: 2018’s Top Fashion Slays, Worst Nays

Despite the fact that this year was all about politics for me, I didn’t expect my two favorite fashion moments to emerge from the political arena. But earlier this month, Michelle Obama came to slayyyyyyyyy in thigh-high, glittery Balenciaga boots and my eyes nearly fell out of my head.

Obama was actually my second-best slay of the year, because as admired as she is by people with brains, she’s a former First Lady. My top choice for Fashion Slay of 2018 goes to a woman currently in a position of power — badass Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker-Elect of the newly Democratic House, 11 years after she previously served as the first woman Speaker.

Pelosi was so ON during the insane December 12 televised meeting with Trump — during which she got the alleged president to publicly claim his responsibility for the government shutdown — that she actually made my own often-disappointing senator, Minority Leader Charles Schumer, look like he had some spine. I guess she sprinkled some toughness on him, like glitter. Then she strutted out of that meeting in a fabulous AND slow-fashion (2013!) rust-colored Max Mara coat, accessorized with sunglasses and a smirk. Did I mention she’s 78? What a fucking icon. Naturally, she was immediately meme’d.

More surprisingly, the same day of the meeting, Max Mara announced it would re-release the coat style in 2019. Political power AND fashion power.

As for the worst fashion nays, the obvious rock-bottom was Melania Trump’s terrible Zara coat. Take a note: An IDGAF fashion statement is meant to be directed at people who are trying to keep YOU down, not at people who ARE down thanks to your own machinations. But Prada’s horrendous (and quickly recalled) blackface figurines were a close second. This isn’t a first strike for the brand. In 2013, I was aggravated when Miuccia Prada claimed that she didn’t have the courage to put an older woman on her runway; she also, apparently, didn’t have the courage to use a black model in ads for a whopping 19 years. So there was really no wiggle room there. I have a lot of Prada pieces and the brand is hugely damaged for me personally. I’m not sure if it’s at the level of brand damage that Dolce & Gabbana has been racking up since 2015 — this year the designers offended ALL OF CHINA — but I feel a lot less love for what I already own, which doesn’t bode well for future purchases.

But let’s not end the 2018 blog posts on a down note. Let’s resolve to strut into the New Year like Nancy Pelosi with a Hamilton soundtrack. Sound up!