text: In the lead-up to the second US presidential debate tonight (Oct. 9), the electorate waited anxiously to see how Donald Trump would respond to video surfaced by the Washington Post in which Trump talked about forcibly kissing and groping women. By now the comments are familiar to many, including the part where Trump boasts he can grab women “by the pussy” if he feels like it. 
   
   Given the highly charged situation, the top that Melania Trump, the candidate’s wife, chose for the evening was risky, to say the least. She opted for what’s called a “pussy-bow” blouse—a sartorial reverberation of her husband’s lewd remarks, apparently by Gucci in silk crepe de chine. 
   
   There’s no indication that the choice was meant to symbolize anything. The Trump campaign told CBS the choice was not intentional. But it didn’t keep people from noticing. 
   
   Campaign spokeswoman says this was not intentional. https://t.co/Yuka1Pli2j — Sopan Deb (@SopanDeb) October 10, 2016 
   
   The style, which has actually come back into fashion in recent months due largely to Gucci’s influence, has a mixed history of its own—especially among feminists, as I’ve written. Some loathe it, because it recalls the way women entering the workforce en masse in the 1970s and 1980s had to conform to office dress codes established by men: The blouse was seen as the women’s equivalent of the shirt and tie. 
   
   Other women embrace that history, and the empowerment they find in the name, which some believe started because of the bow’s resemblance to a vagina. (It’s more likely the name is derived from the bows people used to tie on their cats’ necks, as implied by the style’s other name: the pussycat-bow.) 
   
   The shirt also became closely associated with Margaret Thatcher, Britain’s prime minister throughout the 1980s. The conservative leader wore them because she found them “rather softening and pretty,” as a contrast with her notoriously tough persona. 
   
   Whatever Melania Trump meant to convey with her look, her pink bow unfortunately managed to remind many of her husband’s comments about women—which weren’t pretty. ||||| Just a few days before the second presidential debate between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, a video surfaced in which the Republican nominee boasts about participating in a form of sexual assault. Specifically, Trump tells then-“Access Hollywood” host Billy Bush that he just goes up to “beautiful” women and “grab[s] them by the p***y.” What’s more, Trump explains, “When you’re a star, they let you do it.” 
   
   For the Trump campaign, “P***gate” is the stuff of nightmares. In the minds of many pundits, it’s a near fatal blow that has cost the business magnate crucial endorsements, female votes and any edge running mate Mike Pence had won for their ticket in last week’s vice presidential debate. 
   
   For the political party of the elephant, it was undoubtedly the elephant in the room. So, imagine fashion connoisseurs’ surprise when they noticed that Melania Trump walked into the debate hall wearing Gucci’s fuchsia pussy-bow blouse. 
   
   WWW.NET-A-PORTER.COM 
   
   Yes, you read right. In the fashion world, a women’s blouse with a bow tied at the neck is known as a pussy bow or pussycat bow. The look became popular in the mid-20th century, thanks to such designers as Coco Chanel, Yves Saint Laurent and Omar Kiam. In fact, after Margaret Thatcher became Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in 1979, the pussy bow became a signature part of her look. 
   
   Rick Wilking-Pool/Getty Images 
   
   According to retail website MatchesFashion.com, “A pussybow blouse is one of the prettiest ways to embrace Gucci’s new-found eclecticism. This fuchsia-pink design is cut in Italy from silk-georgette, and detailed with softly gathered shoulders and buttoned cuffs to maximise the vintage vibes. Tuck it into a knife-pleated skirt, finishing with statement accessories.” 
   
   Melania, for her part, chose to pair the ironically named blouse with a pair of matching fuchsia-pink pants -- a choice that set social media on fire. 
   
   The Trump campaign maintains that the choice of blouses was made exclusively for aesthetics, not monikers. The Internet, it seems, will agree to disagree. ||||| An unfortunate choice? Melania Trump was stylish in a fuchsia top paired with matching pants while supporting husband Donald Trump at the second presidential debate on Sunday, October 9. 
   
   But while she looked great, the $1,100 Gucci shirt was perhaps not quite the best fashion choice given the blouse's style: pussy bow. Just two days earlier, a 2005 video surfaced in which the Republican presidential nominee was recorded on an Access Hollywood bus bragging about groping women's genitals. 
   
   "You know, I'm automatically attracted to beautiful — I just start kissing them. It's like a magnet. Just kiss. I don't even wait. When when you're a star, they let you do it. You can do anything," the business mogul, 70, told then Access Hollywood host Billy Bush during the conversation. "Grab them by the p—y. You can do anything." 
   
   He also boasted about trying to seduce a married woman, who Access Hollywood has since identified as Nancy O'Dell. 
   
   A spokesperson for the Trump campaign told CBS News Sunday night that the former model's shirt choice "was not intentional." 
   
   Viewers of the debate were quick to ponder on Twitter why she may have selected to wear this particular style after the presidential hopeful's latest scandal: 
   
   Melania is going to vote for HRC the #PussyBow and matching pants (suit) confirm that she is a double agent. pic.twitter.com/uUscYfEOOG — Christen Clifford (@cd_clifford) October 10, 2016 
   
   Love Melania's pussy-bow blouse, wonder if her husband grabbed it from the closet for her? — Lizabeth (@lilbit_liebs) October 10, 2016 
   
   https://twitter.com/stellabugbee/status/785323907184222208 
   
   It seems both Melania Trump's speech writer and stylist do not read the news and/or do their research #pussybow #debates via @MegletNY pic.twitter.com/icOfAsZCjg — Kristen Massaro (@KreeBeau) October 10, 2016 
   
   Though Melania, 46, attended the debate, she did condemn her husband's lewd remarks. "The words my husband used are unacceptable and offensive to me," she said in a statement Saturday. "This does not represent the man that I know. He has the heart and mind of a leader. I hope people will accept his apology, as I have." 
   
   But according to The New York Times, the former model refused to do a joint TV appearance with her husband to address his 2005 comments. 
   
   The presidential hopeful initially labeled his words as "locker room banter," which he reiterated again during Sunday's presidential debate. After co-moderator Anderson Cooper pressed him on the topic, the former Apprentice star denied that he had sexually assaulted women. 
   
   Bush, 44, who was heard also making inappropriate comments in the leaked video, has been suspended from the Today show. 
   
   Sign up now for the Us Weekly newsletter to get breaking celebrity news, hot pics and more delivered straight to your inbox! 
   
   Want stories like these delivered straight to your phone? Download the Us Weekly iPhone app now! ||||| Melania Trump opted to wear a Gucci garment to the second presidential debate with an eyebrow-raising name: a “pussy-bow” shirt. 
   
   The hot pink blouse, which retails for $1,100, was identified by multiple fashion mavens on social media as the one Donald Trump Donald John TrumpMcMaster complained that Trump 'thinks he can be friends with Putin': report Manafort requests Virginia trial be moved, citing media coverage Giuliani: Mueller needs to prove Trump committed crime before agreeing to interview MORE’s wife was sporting at the Sunday debate in St. Louis. 
   
   ADVERTISEMENT 
   
   “Pussy-bow shirts are one of Gucci’s signature silhouettes,” a product description for the “pussy-bow silk crepe de chine shirt” reads. “We think it’s a chic way to elevate office or weekend looks.” 
   
   The fashion choice came just days after Trump, the Republican was widely condemned following the Friday release of an audiotape from 2005 in which he described, in vulgar terms, his attempts to have sex with women. 
   
   Saying he’s “automatically attracted to beautiful” women and “just starts [kissing] them,” Trump told then-“Access Hollywood” host Billy Bush, “And when you’re a star they let you do it. You can do anything. Whatever you want. Grab them by the p---y.” 
   
   Melania Trump, the GOP presidential nominee’s wife of 10 years, released a statement Saturday calling her husband’s remarks “offensive” and “unacceptable.” She said she had accepted an apology from Trump.
target: – Melania Trump, master troller? While what Donald Trump's wife was wearing during the "ugliest debate in American history" at first glance didn't seem newsworthy, it's now creating buzz based on name alone, the Hill reports. There was no "wardrobe malfunction," but Melania's bright fuchsia $1,100 Gucci silk crepe de chine shirt set Twitter aflutter because the style is one of the fashion house's "signature silhouettes" known as the pussy-bow—which immediately brings to mind Trump's recently revealed "hot mic" tape from 2005. CBS News notes that the style—also known as the pussycat bow—was popular in the mid-1900s and a favorite of Margaret Thatcher. Quartz reports that this "sartorial reverberation" of Donald Trump's 2005 comments—which Melania called "unacceptable and offensive"—wasn't any kind of jab or joke on her part, per CBS journalist Sopan Deb, who tweeted, "Campaign spokeswoman says this was not intentional." But the Internet is a cynical bunch, with the Cut's Stella Bugbee wistfully noting, "I really want to believe the Pussy Bow was an artful act of silent rebellion," while George Takei is simply incredulous: "You can't make this stuff up." (Here's who won and lost the debate.)