Melania Trump And Marla Maples' Wedding Dresses Couldn't Be More Different

As the current and former wives of President Donald Trump, respectively, Melania Trump and Marla Maples are often compared. From the outside, it could seem that these two women must have a lot in common in order to have been drawn to the same man, but from a fashion point of view, their sartorial stories show that they couldn't be more different — and their wedding days prove it. 

Of course, both Melania and Marla had the standard "Trump" touches to their big days. Both ceremonies were grand affairs with extensive high society guest lists; while Marla got hitched at New York City's famous Plaza Hotel in 1993, Melania's reception was naturally at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, in 2005. Both wedding gowns were appropriately lavish, too, but while Marla largely went with a minimal, understated look by the standards of the decade (and the billionaire she was marrying), Melania went full dramatic princess. Marla reached for a slim silhouette and barely there details, and Melania served volume, ruffles, and overall extravaganza. 

As we've seen both ladies transform to some extent since their wedding days more than 20 years ago, it's become clear that their bridal aesthetics were representative of their overall styles. As the FLOTUS, Melania has leaned into high-end designers, making her one of the most glamorously dressed first ladies in White House history. To this day, she loves opulent ensembles and the statements they make, and her elaborate bridal gown was just one of Melania Trump's most expensive outfits. Comparatively, Marla Maples' style transformation after her divorce from Donald Trump shows that comfy, muted, and subdued are her styles du jour. 

In January 2005, Slovenian model Melania Knauss officially became the third Mrs. Donald Trump (after Marla Maples and Ivana Trump). They tied the knot at the Church of Bethesda-By-the-Sea before moving to a party at Mar-a-Lago, with the likes of the Clintons and Barbara Walters in attendance. Her dramatic Dior gown was a glimpse of her future style as a billionaire's wife and first lady, which had no expense spared. The duchesse satin dress had a sweetheart neckline and a silhouette that was a cross between a mermaid and ballgown style, as the skirt poofed out with excessive volume while the bodice was skintight right down to the thigh. When you look at the dress, it's not hard to believe that it weighed around 60 pounds and cost approximately $100,000 at the time.

Perhaps the most princess-like element of Melania's bridal look was the 16-foot train, or it might have been the 1,500 pearls and diamonds that were stitched throughout. All in all, it took Dior more than 500 hours to complete (the average wedding dress' creation time is about 80 hours). Interestingly, Melania decided to forgo a tiara, but she did carry rosary beads embellished with white roses, which were wrapped around her right hand in lieu of a bouquet. 

A few months after the wedding, Melania told Larry King on CNN that she "had a great time in Paris" attending fashion week shows with Vogue's André Leon Talley and Anna Wintour, so we can only presume the fashion gods gave this look their tick of approval. The frock also made it to the cover of Vogue and InStyle's Weddings. "I loved my dress," Melania gushed to King.

On the opposite end of the spectrum from Melania Trump's high-drama Dior gown, there was the sleek and simple Carolina Herrera dress that Marla Maples wore to wed Donald Trump in December 1993. The pair got married at the Plaza just two months after their daughter Tiffany Trump was born, and the festivities themselves seemed elaborate compared to Donald's later nuptials. There was reportedly $60,000 worth of caviar on offer to the guests, including figures like Howard Stern, along with an ocean of white orchids to decorate the reception room. However, Maples' dress was significantly more subdued than Melania's.

The satin off-the-shoulder dress was slim-fitting but not the kind of skintight that creates a more dramatic look. It flared out slightly from the knee into a train and was complemented by a full veil. The most theatrical element of this gown was the tiara, which included 325 diamonds, landing it at being worth a cool $2 million.

When you consider the tiara, the full veil, and the train, this look is still more maximalist than some of the truly minimal bridal styles we've seen on celebrities in the past. But considering this was the '90s, when it could have easily been a crystal-adorned princess gown à la Céline Dion, it was pretty quiet and tame. The way that the dress resisted the melodrama of the era's bridal fashion was one of the reasons why we ranked it on our list of Trump ladies' wedding dresses with timeless appeal. Once we saw Maples lean into neutral tones, smart and sophisticated corporate-coded basics, and even elevated athleisure in her post-Trump life, it became clear that her wedding dress spoke to her style comfort zone.