Melania Trump donned Timberland boots and white jeans during her visit in Puerto Rico today, not long after being pictured leaving the White House in an elegant outfit and five-inch stilettos.
The First Lady, 47, arrived to Carolina modeling a practical outfit, complete with a khaki jacket, a baseball hat, and aviator sunglasses, as she and her husband visited the US territory two weeks after Hurricane Maria’s passage.
It was a striking departure from her choice of clothing this morning, when she left the White House wearing a pair of sky-high, navy blue pumps paired with matching crop pants and a loose turtleneck, while shielding her eyes with a different pair of shades.
Change: Melania Trump donned Timberland boots and white jeans during her visit in Puerto Rico today, not long after being pictured leaving the White House in five-inch stilettos
Comfortable: The First Lady, 47, arrived to Carolina, Puerto Rico, modeling a practical outfit, complete with a khaki jacket, a baseball hat, and aviator sunglasses
Transformation: Melania’s look when she and President Trump arrived in Puerto Rico was a striking departure to the glamorous outfit she donned earlier in the day
Disaster heels: The First Lady once again wore stilettos on her way to a disaster zone this morning, as she and her husband stepped out of the White House to head to Puerto Rico
Journey: The First Lady, 47, donned the sky-high, navy blue pumps as she and President Trump went to visit the US territory almost two weeks after Hurricane Maria hit
Melania previously came under fire for wearing similar stilettos during two previous visits to hurricane-stricken Texas.
Today, as she did on the two past trips, she came out of the White House in a glamorous outfits and changed mid-air into practical clothes and footwear.
During the visit, President Trump is expected to have to navigate resentment from Puerto Ricans, frustrated that they are still struggling with basic necessities two weeks after they were hit by the worst hurricane in 90 years.
Tensions escalated last week when Trump berated critics of his government’s response. He lashed out at San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz for ‘poor leadership’ after she criticized the federal response, and said some people on the island ‘want everything to be done for them’.
Puerto Rico, home to 3.4 million people, was already in recession when the hurricane hit, and its government filed for bankruptcy in May. The storm wiped out the power grid, leaving less than half of residents with running water.
Accessories: The First Lady paired her stilettos with matching crop pants and a loose turtleneck, while shielding her eyes behind a pair of oversized sunglasses
Context: President Trump expected to have to navigate resentment from Puerto Ricans, frustrated that they are still struggling with basic necessities two weeks after the disaster
The First Lady was first seen in August wearing a pair of Manolo Blahnik stilettos while on her way to Corpus Christi after Hurricane Harvey struck Texas.
Many slammed her outfit as being tone-deaf and thought wearing the luxury shoes was tone-deaf at a time when the hurricane swamped entire neighborhoods, leaving thousands waiting for rescue.
Critics took to Twitter with comments such as: ‘And here we have Melania Trump modeling what NOT to wear to a hurricane: 5-inch stilettos. How out of touch can you be?’
Someone else chimed in: ‘I wouldn’t normally comment on Melania’s shoes but I’m not sure if this is what you wear to go meet ppl who’ve lost all of their belongings.’
However, the First Lady appeared to ignore her critics when she wore $650 shoes by the same designer, this time in a beige snakeskin design, during a trip to Houston four days later.
Her new outfit prompted renewed outrage, with one person calling it ‘a big FU to hurricane victims’.
‘Melania in heels again. Does she know it’s flood week and not fashion week in TX? Maybe she’ll emerge in her white sneakers again?’ another person tweeted.
During both of her Texas trips, the former model changed into sneakers before her plane touched down while also changing into more comfortable clothes.
She stepped out of Air Force One both times wearing pants, a collared shirt, and a baseball hat.
Previously: Melania initially came under fire for wearing Manolo Blahnik stilettos while on her way to visit Hurricane-stricken Texas (pictured in Washington, DC in August)
Repeat: Four days later, she wore $650 shoes by the same designer, this time in a beige design, during a subsequent trip to Texas (pictured earlier this month in Washington, DC)
New: On both occasions, Melania changed (pictured left in Corpus Christi on her first visit to and right in Houston on her second trip) into pants, sneakers and a hat when she arrived
One person, however, vocally backed Melania for wearing the shoes: Manolo Blahnik himself, who made it clear he doesn’t have a problem with the First Lady’s ‘disaster heels’, as they have been dubbed.
‘I don’t think she’s insensitive,’ he told Harper’s Bazaar UK last month. ‘I think she’s working non-stop to make it work—possibly she was just wearing the shoes she left New York in. Yes, I think probably she could have worn Hunter boots but she was wearing what she was wearing.
‘I’m not good at advising people on what to wear because they wear what they want to.’
Manolo further praised the former model for her looks and sense of style.
‘They should just get rid of everybody and keep her,’ he added. ‘Aesthetically I mean, I’m not talking about politics—I don’t give a damn about that and I don’t know much about it. But in terms of fashion and beauty—well, I love her, she’s a beauty and that’s all there is to it.’