From red neckties to spray tans: How Donald Trump dresses (down) for success

A staple in Trump's wardrobe has been red. The colour is often associated with leadership, particularly when worn with a tie. The latter is often long to accommodate his stout build in an attempt to avoid a comical appeal of a medium length. This is accompanied by dark shades in his suits, including navies, charcoal and ink black tuxedos.

Perhaps in his attempt to relate to the working class voters, Trump’s approach to tailoring leaves little to be desired. This includes how well his clothes fit him. This can be seen in his approach to casual styling with frumpy unironed pieces that sit dowdy and are rarely tucked in throughout his appearances.

While he also opts for expensive fashion designers and tailors like Martin Greenfield — who has been worn by Hollywood favourites like Frank Sinatra and Shaquille Oneill — Trump rarely pulls off a lot of formal wear with oversized cuts being his preference for jackets and trousers. The staple does not always translate in items like tuxedos, that often create odd shapes when he wears them.

With sloping shoulders, Trump is more than suited for formal jackets but seems to make the odd choice of padding the ones he wears. This is one of the instances where we see his ’80s influences coming in as a popular staple at the time.

Power shoulders, as they are affectionately known, were popular with men and women attempting to create an imposing image in their style choices. With Trump’s ill-fitting choices, the padded jackets can often stand out, creating a jarring visual effect where they droop or highlight how much they don’t fit him.

Speaking of dated trends, Trump also turns to spray tans when making certain public appearances. A number of his accessories, like Patek Philippe and Vacheron Constantin, were popular staples of the 2000s, a big time for bold bling era staples. This influences seep into his beauty ideals where he is often seen with darker spray tans at the height of public appearances and duress, but rarely uses tans and poor shades of foundation at moments when he’s in control.