Melania Trump wore a navy wool boater by Eric Javits to the 2025 inauguration.Â
It was made by hand, it was made twice, and the shape it grew out of was a Gondolier boater bought from this website some summers earlier.
This is the story of that commission, told through what the milliner actually said about it at the time.
If you are here for the hat itself, the closest piece we sell is the Gondolier Boater Hat, and there is an honest answer further down about what is and is not available.
What Melania Trump Wore to the Inauguration
A navy wool boater with a wide, flat brim and a plain white band. Invisible elastic secured at the back, with loops toward the front for additional pins, because a January morning in Washington is no place for a hat that moves.
It was worn with a navy silk wool coat, a navy skirt and an ivory silk crepe blouse, all by the American designer Adam Lippes. The hat was the only piece in the look made by Eric Javits.
Speaking to CBS News afterwards, Javits said: "I thought she looked amazing, very polished, very pulled together." He added that it "reflected the formality of the occasion", and that "her presence and her grace and beauty really brought the whole thing alive."
The Gondolier Boater That Started It
One detail is worth correcting, because it is often reported loosely. Javits did not work directly with Melania Trump.
The commission came through HervÊ Pierre, her stylist, and it was Pierre who had bought a gondolier-style hat from this website beforehand.
That earlier purchase is what set the shape.
As Javits told NBC Washington: "Then I sent another style from my archive for her to try on that I thought would be very becoming, and she liked that."
And on where that led:Â "Those two styles basically became the springboard to develop what she ended up wearing for the inauguration."
So the line runs from a boater ordered online, to a second archive shape sent as a reference, to a custom navy wool hat worn on the steps of the Capitol.
Not a marketing story. His own account of it.
The Hat Was Made Twice
The fabric arrived just before Christmas, which left very little time. The first hat was finished, boxed and shipped, and did not survive the journey.
"It did arrive damaged," Javits told NBC. "And I was texted a photograph right away and I could see that I had to do another one. So I started on the next one right away."
He has elsewhere described the cause plainly: the box was crushed in a snowstorm. The second hat was made from scratch, in the days before the inauguration, and that is the one in the photographs.
It is the part of this we would rather be known for than the name attached to it. A hat that is blocked by hand can be remade by hand in a week. One that is not, cannot.
The Gondolier Boater Today
The Gondolier is still made, and it is the same shape Pierre ordered. A flat-topped crown drawn from the hats worn by gondoliers on the Venetian canals, a cotton grosgrain band with a man-tailored bow, and a 3.75 inch brim.
It is woven from SquisheeÂŽ, our patented straw alternative, which is what makes it packable: it can be rolled into a bag and returns to its blocked shape. It carries a rated UPF 50+, blocking 95% of UVA and UVB.
If you want the technical version, we explain what Squishee is made of separately.
Seven colorways are available, including the Gondolier gold black, which is the evening version of the same silhouette.
The full range of our straw hats sits alongside it.
What You Can and Cannot Buy
The direct answer, because it is the question most people arrive with.
The inauguration hat is not for sale. It was a one-off, made in navy wool for one occasion and one person, and there is no production version of it. There never was.
The Gondolier boater is. It is the shape the commission grew out of, in straw rather than wool, and it is the same hat Pierre ordered from this site. That is as close as the connection goes, and we would rather say so than imply more.
If you are choosing between our boater shapes rather than following this particular story, our guide to the best boater hats for women compares all four side by side, including brim widths and which suits which occasion.
Why a Boater at All
The boater is the most formal of the straw shapes, and the reason is geometry.
A flat crown and a flat brim read as deliberate in a way a soft shape cannot. It is why the boater survived from the seaside resorts of the 1880s into evening wear, and why it works under a tailored coat where a floppy brim would not.
It is also the least forgiving. There is no slouch to hide behind, so the fit and the proportion have to be right.
Where the boater sits among the other silhouettes is covered in our guide to hat shapes.
Summary: Best Boater Sun Hats Loved By Melania Trump
The hat on the Capitol steps was a one-off, and the honest version of this story is the better one: an archive boater ordered online, a second shape sent as a reference, and a navy wool hat made twice in a fortnight because the first one did not survive the post.
If you want the shape it came from, the Gondolier boater is where to look.
FAQs: Best Boater Sun Hats Loved By Melania Trump
Who made Melania Trump's inauguration hat?
Eric Javits, working with HervÊ Pierre, Melania Trump's stylist. The hat was hand-made in navy wool as a one-off for the January 2025 inauguration. It was made twice, because the first arrived damaged after its box was crushed in transit during a snowstorm, and the replacement was built from scratch in the days before the ceremony.
What Eric Javits hat did Melania Trump wear?
A custom navy wool boater with a wide flat brim and a plain white band, secured with invisible elastic at the back and loops at the front for pins. It was worn with a navy coat, skirt and ivory blouse by Adam Lippes. The hat itself has no production equivalent.
Can I buy the hat Melania Trump wore?
No. It was a one-off commission in wool and was never produced commercially. The closest piece we make is the Gondolier Boater Hat in SquisheeÂŽ straw, which is the archive shape the commission grew out of and the hat her stylist originally ordered from this website.
What is the Gondolier boater hat?
A flat-topped straw boater drawn from the hats worn by Venetian gondoliers, with a 3.75 inch brim and a cotton grosgrain band with a man-tailored bow. It is woven from SquisheeÂŽ, so it packs into a bag and returns to shape, and it carries a rated UPF 50+ blocking 95% of UVA and UVB. Seven colorways are available.
Did Melania Trump buy the hat herself?
Not according to the account given at the time. Eric Javits worked with her stylist HervÊ Pierre throughout, and it was Pierre who had bought a gondolier-style hat from the website some summers earlier. Javits then sent a second archive shape as a reference, and in his words those two styles "became the springboard" for the hat she wore.
Is the Gondolier boater good for sun protection?
Yes, within the limits of its brim. It carries a rated UPF 50+ and blocks 95% of UVA and UVB, so the fabric itself is doing its job. At 3.75 inches the brim shades the face well but not the shoulders, so for full coverage a wider brim is the better choice.
Our UPF 50+ hats cover the range.
