Melania Trump Picks Adam Lippes Dress for Fourth of July Celebration

Despite an intense heat wave and thunderstorm delays, thousands turned out Saturday night to celebrate the nation’s 250th anniversary in Washington, D.C.

While red, white and blue are a given on the Fourth of July, attendees, who checked out the Freedom 250 site, were offered some free fashion advice. With temperatures soaring past 100 degrees on Saturday, visitors were advised to wear lightweight, light-colored, loose-fitting clothing and wide-brimmed hats. In the end, the choice was theirs, since fashion is a form of self-expression.

First Lady Melania Trump dressed for the elements, wearing an Adam Lippes white midi cotton shirtdress with tiny dots woven into the jacquard fabric. FLOTUS has selected the American designer for other key events, like President Trump’s 2025 inauguration and a private tea with Queen Camilla and King Charles III at the White House in April.

She polished off the look with go-to white Christian Louboutin pumps.

Trump’s dress choice was similar to the Thom Browne cotton poplin shirtdress that she wore to last year’s Fourth of July picnic. Last year’s choice, however, featured a grosgrain tab at the waist with the designer’s signature red, white and blue stripe – a subtle salute to the federal holiday’s unofficial preferred colors.

The “Salute to America 250” celebration on the grounds of the Washington Monument capped off what has been a full day of festivities around the National Mall. The Great American State Fair and the FIFA Fan Zone opened as scheduled at noon, but the extreme heat caused the fair to be evacuated early on Saturday. (Attendance at the 16-day Great American State Fair has reportedly been sparse despite such attractions as a ferris wheel.)

There were 33 flyovers planned throughout the day, including ones by the U.S. Navy’s Blue Angels, the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds, the U.S. Marine Corps MV-22 Osprey and even Air Force One. Complimentary water stations, cooling stations, misting areas and shaded rest areas were set up to help attendees beat the heat.

President Trump was slated to speak at 9:45 p.m. but it was after 11 p.m. before he took the stage, due to the unsettled skies. That change in plans also pushed back the scheduled fireworks.

Presidents and fireworks have a long lineage, thanks to President Thomas Jefferson, who first established the tradition of a Fourth of July celebration at the White House in 1801.

Lippes wasn’t the only American designer to have a hand in the nation’s 250th anniversary. In May, the U.S. Postal Service invited Ralph Lauren to create a collection of commemorative stamps.