<\/p>\n
\n\tIn turning up at the Kennedy Center Wednesday night in a strapless black Shoshanna dress, Usha Vance sported an American-made design.<\/p>\n
\n\tWhile her vice president husband JD Vance took the traditional route wearing a tuxedo, she wore a strapless black gown with white accents and a high slit from the New York City-based designer Shoshanna Lonstein Gruss. Usha Vance, a former corporate lawyer, has another connection to the Kennedy Center, having been appointed to the Washington National Opera Board by President Donald Trump. The Vances were on the red carpet before the premiere of \u201cLes Mis\u00e9rables,\u201d where the First Couple were greeted with a mix of jeers and cheers.<\/p>\n
\n\tLike Usha Vance, First Lady Melania Trump kept things conservative in a black gown from Bottega Veneta that had two gold motifs. Just as Trump\u2019s stylist Herv\u00e9 Pierre is known to be a New York City shopper, apparently Usha Vance\u2019s stylist Isabella Nardone is a Tristate one. Vance\u2019s black strapless dress was one of several Shoshanna designs that she has worn and purchased from the Windswept boutique in Mendham, N.J. Lonstein Gruss said the $635 design is from her resort collection and was nearly sold out, but there were a few pieces on her site as of Thursday afternoon.<\/p>\n
\n\tVance sported an \u201carchitectural twist on the brand\u2019s classic column strapless dress, which is constructed with separate bustiers and boning on the interior and smooth, elegant structuring on the exterior,\u201d Lonstein Gruss said. <\/p>\n
\n\tThe style was entirely made in New York City, which is where 75 percent of the designer\u2019s Made in New York-certified production is done. The Shoshanna site traffic was on par with the norm Thursday. The designer said, \u201cWe\u2019re always happy to see a boost in traffic after a public figure wears Shoshanna, but we don\u2019t rely on it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tAs for navigating the praise and criticism that inevitably follow a designer after a political figure wears their label, Lonstein Gruss said she is \u201calways flattered when anyone chooses to wear our pieces. With literally hundreds of thousands of options available, it is truly a compliment for someone to select a Shoshanna piece. I have seen women on both sides of the aisle wear our clothing, and I assume it is because it made them feel beautiful, comfortable and appropriate.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tThe designer said she has never felt criticism for having someone wear Shoshanna pieces. \u201cWe rarely actively dress people, so it\u2019s their choice \u2014 which is what makes it authentic and organic. And that\u2019s who a Shoshanna customer is, and it is so much of the brand,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\n\tVance\u2019s stylist Nardone is deeply connected with the Windswept boutique \u2014 her mother Elizabeth has owned it for nearly 20 years. The store owner said, \u201cIsabella has said that Usha\u2019s great to work with, and that she is smart, funny, discerning and definitely knows what she likes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tThe second lady has also worn Generation Love pants, as well as blazers, dresses and silk blouses from the New Jersey boutique. After Vance wore a pair of Catherine Canino pearl earrings that had been purchased at Windswept, during Trump\u2019s second inauguration weekend in January, Nardone posted an image of her on the store\u2019s social media. That brought in shoppers looking for the earrings, which retail around $120, she said.<\/p>\n
\n\tLike Lonstein Gruss, Nardone isn\u2019t kowtowing to party lines. \u201cOur Instagram post said, \u2018We believe that fashion transcends politics.\u2019 We included in that post Jill Biden wearing the same earrings. We take it from the perspective that [dressing Vance] is an honor. She\u2019s obviously an educated, beautiful woman. It\u2019s an honor to be part of it and we would do this for either political party if we had the opportunity,\u201d Nardone said.<\/p>\n
\n\tIn recent days it was Vance\u2019s husband who sparked social media debate. The menswear style specialist Derek Guy, who has critiqued the Vice President\u2019s style in the past, sounded off on \u201cX\u201d about the Trump administration\u2019s immigration policies. On \u201cX,\u201d Guy described his family\u2019s \u201cescape\u201d from Vietnam, via Canada and then the U.S. and criticized the Trump administration\u2019s immigration policies. Vance later posted on \u201cX\u201d a screenshot of a gif of Jack Nicholson nodding his head.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In turning up at the Kennedy Center Wednesday night in a strapless black Shoshanna dress, Usha Vance sported an American-made design. While her vice president husband JD Vance took the traditional route wearing a tuxedo, she wore a strapless black gown with white accents and a high slit from the New York City-based designer Shoshanna Lonstein Gruss. Usha Vance, a former corporate lawyer, has another connection to the Kennedy Center, having been appointed to the Washington National Opera Board by President Donald Trump. The Vances were on the red carpet before the premiere of \u201cLes Mis\u00e9rables,\u201d where the First Couple were greeted with a mix of jeers and cheers. Like Usha Vance, First Lady Melania Trump kept things conservative in a black gown from Bottega Veneta that had two gold motifs. Just as Trump\u2019s stylist Herv\u00e9 Pierre is known to be a New York City shopper, apparently Usha Vance\u2019s stylist Isabella Nardone is a Tristate one. Vance\u2019s black strapless dress was one of several Shoshanna designs that she has worn and purchased from the Windswept boutique in Mendham, N.J. Lonstein Gruss said the $635 design is from her resort collection and was nearly sold out, but there were a few pieces on her site as of Thursday afternoon. Vance sported an \u201carchitectural twist on the brand\u2019s classic column strapless dress, which is constructed with separate bustiers and boning on the interior and smooth, elegant structuring on the exterior,\u201d Lonstein Gruss said. The style was entirely made in New York City, which is where 75 percent of the designer\u2019s Made in New York-certified production is done. The Shoshanna site traffic was on par with the norm Thursday. The designer said, \u201cWe\u2019re always happy to see a boost in traffic after a public figure wears Shoshanna, but we don\u2019t rely on it.\u201d As for navigating the praise and criticism that inevitably follow a designer after a political figure wears their label, Lonstein Gruss said she is \u201calways flattered when anyone chooses to wear our pie…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2155,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2154"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2154"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2154\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2155"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2154"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2154"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2154"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}