# Melania Trump's first official White House portrait photo **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 4, 2017, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/melania-trumps-first-official-white-house-portrait-photo/783721 "2017-04-04T10:45:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2017, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/melania-trumps-first-official-white-house-portrait-photo/783721/1 "2017-04-04T10:45:17Z")
[Melania Trump’s first official White House portrait photo is out](https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/2017/04/03/melania-trumps-first-official-white-house-portrait-photo-out/99983518/) Like or loathe Trump, and I’ve recently switched to loathing him, it surely must be admitted that Melania has to be the foxiest First Lady ever and most definitely for me a MILF. Oh, Michelle Obama only loses the contest by a hair’s breadth but I still think she loses. Jackie and the others just aren’t in the running. I respectfully submit if you’re not seeing how gorgeous this woman is that your optics are distorted by politics. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2017, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/melania-trumps-first-official-white-house-portrait-photo/783721/2 "2017-04-04T10:49:49Z")
She’s a lovely woman and it’s a lovely picture. Personally there’s something about her eyes and overall expression that niggles at me, like she’s always just slightly squinting (or maybe is wearing a touch too much mascara). But that’s just me. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2017, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/melania-trumps-first-official-white-house-portrait-photo/783721/3 "2017-04-04T10:53:00Z")
Of course she looks pretty. It’s what she does for a living. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2017, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/melania-trumps-first-official-white-house-portrait-photo/783721/4 "2017-04-04T10:53:11Z")
That picture has so much _flo_ it gave my hair a feathering. Don’t know what _flo_ is called in English, it’s that thing photographers did so much in the '80s of making everything in the picture kind of misty. Blur? ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2017, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/melania-trumps-first-official-white-house-portrait-photo/783721/5 "2017-04-04T11:02:29Z")
Why does she always look so smug? ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2017, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/melania-trumps-first-official-white-house-portrait-photo/783721/6 "2017-04-04T11:40:25Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > That picture has so much _flo_ it gave my hair a feathering. Don’t know what _flo_ is called in English, it’s that thing photographers did so much in the '80s of making everything in the picture kind of misty. Blur? Airbrush? [Meanwhile, Michelle Obama is sporting a natural look.](https://www.google.com/amp/amp.dailydot.com/irl/michelle-obama-rocking-natural-hair-internet/) ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2017, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/melania-trumps-first-official-white-house-portrait-photo/783721/7 "2017-04-04T12:20:15Z")
I don’t think anyone can deny that she is an intrinsically attractive woman but she comes off as the stereotypical “Eurotrash”. There’s something really unappealing about her styling and now, in typical Trump fashion, her official portrait looks like it was done by Glamour Shots. ---
**Author:** ![RobDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f07891/32.png) [@RobDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobDog)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2017, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/melania-trumps-first-official-white-house-portrait-photo/783721/8 "2017-04-04T12:30:40Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > That picture has so much _flo_ it gave my hair a feathering. Don’t know what _flo_ is called in English, it’s that thing photographers did so much in the '80s of making everything in the picture kind of misty. Blur? Soft focus. Old school photographers used to smear Vaseline on the lens - or the sitter 🙂 - to achieve a similar effect. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2017, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/melania-trumps-first-official-white-house-portrait-photo/783721/9 "2017-04-04T13:34:20Z")
Yeah, this one isn’t so much soft-focused as edited as if for a fashion glamour spread using all the skin smoothing tools available in Photoshop. If they blended this photo with the original one at about 33%-50% opacity, it would at least look somewhat more natural. The effect really is a bit heavy-handed here. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2017, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/melania-trumps-first-official-white-house-portrait-photo/783721/10 "2017-04-04T14:05:18Z")
Could she look any _less_ approachable? [Previous first lady portraits](https://www.google.com/search?q=previous+first+lady+portraits&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiZn4qP-4rTAhWmxVQKHQUPB1MQ_AUICCgB&biw=1512&bih=818) ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2017, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/melania-trumps-first-official-white-house-portrait-photo/783721/11 "2017-04-04T14:12:52Z")
> [@RobDog](#): > > Soft focus. > > Old school photographers used to smear Vaseline on the lens - or the sitter 🙂 - to achieve a similar effect. Soft focus and A LOT of plastic surgery. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2017, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/melania-trumps-first-official-white-house-portrait-photo/783721/12 "2017-04-04T14:51:32Z")
I disagree with the OP completely. Melenia’s eyes look far too _alien_ to be attractive to me in any way. She looks like a passing Lizard Person. ---
**Author:** ![Paintcharge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paintcharge/32/7946_2.png) [@Paintcharge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paintcharge)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2017, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/melania-trumps-first-official-white-house-portrait-photo/783721/13 "2017-04-04T15:04:39Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > Personally there’s something about her eyes and overall expression that niggles at me, like she’s always just slightly squinting (or maybe is wearing a touch too much mascara). But that’s just me. I think she has the look of “I met you somewhere, but can’t remember where or what your name is.” Slightly squinty and somewhat puzzled. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2017, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/melania-trumps-first-official-white-house-portrait-photo/783721/14 "2017-04-04T15:21:40Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Why does she always look so smug? Fully vested in her pre-nup (with a rock-solid way to get/keep custody of Baron)? ---
**Author:** ![Turek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/turek/32/18782_2.png) [@Turek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turek)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2017, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/melania-trumps-first-official-white-house-portrait-photo/783721/15 "2017-04-04T15:24:26Z")
> [@Paintcharge](#): > > I think she has the look of “I met you somewhere, but can’t remember where or what your name is.” Slightly squinty and somewhat puzzled. As in “I think the ruffies are wearing off.” ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2017, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/melania-trumps-first-official-white-house-portrait-photo/783721/16 "2017-04-04T15:40:18Z")
The list of things I don’t give a shit about regarding this pre-apocalyptic president of ours is how much you or anyone wants to have sex with his wife. Christ. Previous first ladies have used their newfound position to do everything from promote childhood physical activity to promote equal rights for African Americans. Call me when Melania does something more interesting than looking pretty. ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Gay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3ab097/32.png) [@Enola\_Gay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Gay)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2017, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/melania-trumps-first-official-white-house-portrait-photo/783721/17 "2017-04-04T15:44:29Z")
For some reason, having a sultry First Lady is a turnoff to me. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2017, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/melania-trumps-first-official-white-house-portrait-photo/783721/18 "2017-04-04T15:49:34Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > She’s a lovely woman and it’s a lovely picture. > > Personally there’s something about her eyes and overall expression that niggles at me, like she’s always just slightly squinting (or maybe is wearing a touch too much mascara). But that’s just me. The slight squinting is called a “squinch” in photo/fashion circles [assuming this is what you’re talking about.](http://www.marieclaire.com/beauty/news/a15195/squinching-photogenic-technique/) (Although the first lady’s photo exhibits the squinching, it doesn’t quite have the intensity/seriousness of a proper “squinch.” It’s like a squinch combined with a far-off stare somehow.) ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2017, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/melania-trumps-first-official-white-house-portrait-photo/783721/19 "2017-04-04T15:54:02Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > …It’s like a squinch combined with a far-off stare somehow. Plotting her escape, no doubt. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2017, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/melania-trumps-first-official-white-house-portrait-photo/783721/20 "2017-04-04T15:54:08Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > The slight squinting is called a “squinch” in photo/fashion circles [assuming this is what you’re talking about.](http://www.marieclaire.com/beauty/news/a15195/squinching-photogenic-technique/) (Although the first lady’s photo exhibits the squinching, it doesn’t quite have the intensity/seriousness of a proper “squinch.” **It’s like a squinch combined with a far-off stare somehow.** ) She’s thinking of England. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/melania-trumps-first-official-white-house-portrait-photo/783721.md?page=2)