Melania Trump Looks Completely Different In Throwback Pics

Long before Melania Trump was wearing ridiculously expensive outfits to keep up appearances as first lady, she was just a humble Slovenian girl hoping her natural beauty would help her break into the modeling industry. While she seems to have a somewhat ageless appearance, Melania underwent a remarkable transformation, from a print model to first lady. This can be seen in how different she looks in throwback photos.

Photographer Stane Jerko takes credit for discovering Donald Trump's future wife in the late '80s. He told Today that he spied Melania outside a fashion show — in which she was not participating. "There stood a tall, slender and attractive long-haired girl with distinct eyes," he recalled. Jerko's pictures helped Melania build a portfolio, which she used to find modeling work in America.

Why does Melania Trump have an alien look?
Quite a bit of plastic surgery. pic.twitter.com/dCg04iGIEP

— Mynameis...Miro (@zg4ever) February 3, 2024

Melania's bright blue eyes appeared to be a bit wider when she launched her modeling career, and her face was rounder. She was also sporting a feature that many models covet. "Melania has very well-projected cheekbones," plastic surgeon Dr. Vartan Mardirossian told Life & Style. "The high cheekbones are a feature that is commonly encountered in the Eastern Europeans." Melania's look helped her land work with Bergdorf Goodman and Levi's, and after she started dating Donald, other opportunities opened up. They included posing for Sports Illustrated and the cover of Vogue. Even at the beginning of her relationship with Donald, Melania looked much different than she does now.

When Donald Trump won the presidency, Melania Trump and her longtime hairstylist Mordechai Alvow came up with a game plan for how she would wear her hair during her tenure as first lady. "We took into account that she'll suddenly be in the public eye in a big way," Alvow told Yahoo! Life. "We wanted a consistent look that allowed the public to feel more connected to her." Melania's glossy bronde locks became her signature, and she usually wore them styled in soft waves.

Melania has never been one to experiment with drastic changes in length, but sometimes she would try a darker hair color. It stood out in stark contrast to her porcelain skin, as having a sun-kissed look didn't seem to be that important to her back in the late '90s and early aughts. But at some point, having a tan became a key component of her beauty look. In 2017, Melania's makeup artist Nicole Bryl told The Telegraph, "Looking pale isn't a makeup vibe I would ever create on Melania. It's just not her style." (Perhaps Melania began embracing the bronze look around the same time Donald became enamored with having orange skin.)

For her book, "The Art of Her Deal: The Untold Story of Melania Trump," biographer Mary Jordan spoke to former Trump family housekeepers who claimed Melania used to wear temporary self-tanner that made cleaning her bathroom difficult (via Express).

In some 2009 photos, Melania Trump's eyes look squintier than they used to, but she has insisted she's never gone under the knife or needle. "I didn't do anything. I live a healthy life, I take care of my skin and my body," she told GQ in 2016. "I'm against Botox, I'm against injections; I think it's damaging your face."

Several plastic surgeons suggested the former first lady was fibbing by offering their expert opinions on her flawless visage. "Melania's forehead is as smooth as a baby's rear end, so she's had liberal amounts of Botox for sure," Dr. Franklin Rose told Life & Style. Medical experts who spoke to Express opined that Trump has used various cosmetic procedures to enhance her appearance, including lip injections and a nose job. "I would say Melania has had forehead contouring with filler to make it more rounded, with Botox to lift the brows," said Dr. Munir Somji. 

Plastic surgeon Dr. Jack Zoumaras also offered an explanation for her eyes' seemingly altered appearance, and it wasn't a facelift. He told 9Honey that Trump possibly used a less invasive procedure to give them a little lift: muscle relaxant injections. But Trump credits her even, smooth complexion to getting an early start on adopting a skincare routine. "When I was a teenager I really took care of my skin," she told Allure, adding that she simply stayed out of the sun and used moisturizer.