What Female Trump Staffers Could Never Wear, According To Rumored First Term Dress Code

With a ridiculous bleach blonde coif, a tangerine-colored fake tan, and deception about his true height, we can surmise that Donald Trump has a thing for appearances. Now, he may not take the right steps to achieve the Hollywood look he appears to be going for, but — in one form or another — the effort is certainly there. It's not just his own appearance on which the president fixates; his staffers need to come to the office meeting the expectations of their boss. A man's tie color is one thing, but Trump's guidelines for female employees are another.

According to a source who spoke with Axios in 2017, the women employed during Trump's first term as president were expected "to dress like a woman" on the job — whatever that means. The insider, who worked on the Republican politician's 2016 presidential campaign, continued: "Even if you're in jeans, you need to look neat and orderly." Women who worked in satellite offices during his 2016 campaign were reportedly burdened with the pressure to wear a dress to please Trump.

When Trump's reported dress code for his female staff made headlines, women on the internet were outraged and furious. Luckily for them, they had an outlet to share said anger. And luckily for us, it reads on X (formerly Twitter) like a record in history.

In 2017, female users on X began sharing their impressive attire as a form of resistance to Trump's comments about how his female staffers should dress. From soldiers to doctors to scientists, working women across the nation were showing the president that there is no one way to dress like a woman. Well, according to one X user, these are the parameters: "1. Be a woman. 2. Get dressed."

Yes, I'm doing an autopsy wearing pearls. #DressLikeAWoman pic.twitter.com/l3QBlCeJ2m

— Judy Melinek M.D.🔬 (@drjudymelinek) February 3, 2017

The hashtag "#dresslikeawoman" soon went viral on the social media platform and became a movement. The clothing brand Wildfang even participated in the crusade, posting a campaign of women who defy the gender stereotypes on clothing. In one post on Instagram, the company shared a photo of Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzai underneath the words "dress like a woman #wildfeminist." The rest of the photo series included Janelle Monae and Beyoncé in suits, Ruth Bader Ginsburg in her Supreme Court Judge robe, pro-athlete Megan Rapinoe in her soccer uniform, and NASA astronaut Mae Jemison in her space suit. In the post of Monae, the brand wrote: "Hey Donald, was this what you had in mind?"