Here’s Why Melania Trump Is Rarely Seen Without Her Sunglasses, According to Experts

When one conjures up an image of Melania Trump, it’s most likely that sunglasses are part of that image, as the First Lady is rarely without a pair.

In fact, her appearance at the 75th D-Day commemoration in Normandy, France with President Donald Trump was heavily criticized for her decision to keep her sunglasses on, with some calling the move “disrespectful” given the somber occasion.

But one reason why Trump, 49, dons sunglasses most of the time could be in order to protect herself from public scrutiny and criticism, one expert says.

“She tends to wear sunglasses and hats to shield herself from the public eye. As she’s stated in previous interviews, she often feels as though she is being bullied,” fashion psychologist Dawnn Karen told MirrorOnline, adding that hats are another way Trump uses her style as a shield to block herself from the public.

“I believe that the hat serves as armor of some sort. When she’s looking out into the audience, she cannot see the entire crowd due to her sunglasses on her hat,” Karen continued.

One of Trump’s most controversial attire choices was a pith helmet worn during a Kenyan safari in October 2018; the style of hat was worn by European explorers and imperial administrators in Africa, parts of Asia and the Middle East in the 19th century before being adopted by military officers, quickly becoming a symbol of colonial rule across Africa.

The first lady fired back against critics of the attire choice, telling press in Egypt while wrapping up her solo tour of Africa that she wished the media would ask her about the trip itself rather than her outfit.

“You know what, we just completed an amazing trip. We went to Ghana, we went to Malawi, Kenya, here we are in Egypt. I want to talk about my trip and not what about what I wear,” she told reporters. “It’s very important what we do, what I’m doing with U.S. aid, and what I do with my initiatives, and I wish people would focus on what I do, not what I wear.”

In June 2018, Trump sparked headlines when she accompanied the president on a trip to visit and immigrant children’s detention center in Texas and wore perhaps her most controversial outfit: a Zara jacket emblazoned with the phrase “I really don’t care, do u?”

Trump’s spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham said in a statement that there was “no hidden message” in the jacket. “It’s a jacket. There was no hidden message. After today’s important visit to Texas, I hope the media isn’t going to choose to focus on her wardrobe.”

However, Trump later said that the jacket was a message to the left-wing media and not the children of the undocumented immigrants she was visiting.

“I’m often asking myself if I would not have worn that jacket, if I would have had so much media coverage,” she said in an interview with ABC News. “It’s obvious, I didn’t wear the jacket for the children. I wore the jacket to go on the plane and off the plane. And it was for the people and the left wing media who are criticizing me and I want to show them I don’t care.”

Trump continued, “You could criticize… whatever you want to say, but it will not stop me [from doing] what I feel is right.”