The Rise of the Mar-a-Lago Face and the Politics of Beauty

It’s hard to miss the look taking over social media right now—smooth, sculpted, heavily “perfected” faces paired with bold makeup, big lashes, and an unmistakable glam aesthetic often nicknamed the “Mar-a-Lago face.”

What started as a niche style reference has exploded into a viral talking point, with people debating everything from cosmetic trends to what this very specific version of beauty says about culture, status, and identity in modern America.

Shopping From A Plastic Surgery Menu

Many procedures go into the Mar-A-Lago look, including fillers, rhinoplasty, a boob job, chin surgery, facelifts, and more. I’ll drop in what Wikipedia had to say below:

“According to Women.com, Mar-A-Lago face is characterized by excessive makeup, fake tans, fake eyelashes, dark smoky eyes, and lip augmentation.[1] The Week called the look a “must-have accessory” for the inner circle of President Donald Trump.[5] Mar-a-Lago face is named for Trump’s home in Florida, Mar-a-Lago.[2] Melinda Anna Farina, an aesthetic consultant, identified the Mar-a-Lago face as attempting to emulate the appearance of Eastern European women.[2]

Board-certified surgeon Jeffrey Lisiecki characterized the Mar-a-Lago face as “overfilled cheeks that are high and firm, full lips and very taut, smooth skin”.[9] Writing for The Guardian, Arwa Mahdawi commented that when the appearance is applied to men, enhancements are applied to the jawline rather than lip size.[11] Mark Epstein, a New York City plastic surgeon, observed an increase in requests in the wake of the attempted assassination of Donald Trump in Pennsylvania.[12]”

If you look at some of the women, you can see it doesn’t look natural. It actually looks pretty unhealthy, if not just outright unflattering. In recent years, people have started to ask why women have been asking for Mar-A-Largo-style plastic surgery.

As someone who’s worked extensively in the fashion and modeling worlds, let me enlighten you.

Fashion, including plastic surgery (to a point), is all about sending a message

Think about how often people have used fashion as a form of rebellion against the status quo in recent decades. There is a process of mainstreaming fashion as it becomes more popular, and this often means that the beliefs that come with it also become more mainstream.

Let’s start looking at the 1950s. During this era, bikinis were so scandalous that they were actually named after the Bikini Atoll nuclear testing site. Women were often written up for “indecency” if they went on a beach in a bikini.

The ideal body type was buxom, like Bettie Page or Marilyn Monroe. However, since purity culture was heavily enforced, this often led models to lead absolutely horrible lives. Both Page and Monroe had died by suicide, which was partially caused by the stigma they experienced as models.

They were also famously depressed throughout most of their lives.

Feminine Power

Fashion had a way of making a statement against the way women were treated. In the 1960s, hippie fashion and bell-bottom jeans were a way to show rebellion against the Vietnam War. Miniskirts were a way to embrace feminine power and tell women they don’t need to hide their curves.

By the 1970s, bells became mainstream, but we saw the rise of punk and metal. Guess what is still around today: punk. Punk clothing is a loud way to show respect and solidarity with the working class while bucking the status quo.

The 1980s saw the rise of post-punk, pop, and glam rock. All of those fashions have since become iconic. And the ideals those clothes carried also tended to become more mainstream—inclusivity, non-judgmentalism, and, yes, sex-positivity. See what I mean?

Trending Body Types

With the changes in fashion came changes in “popular” body types. The 1940s and 1950s were all about buxom femininity. Twiggy, from the 1960s, was a way to turn that standard on its ear and re-examine what it meant to be feminine. The 1980s saw the aerobics slender look, meant to convey strength and power.

Body changes, be it the skeletal “pro-ana” of the 2000s or the all-inclusive plus-size renaissance of the 2010s, have always been linked to fashion statements. And those? Those are also linked to statements about society.

So, keep that in mind when I talk about the Mar-A-Largo face and the modern conservative woman look.n?

What Really Is Female Empowerment?

Traditionally, the fashion industry was about pushing the envelope in society and making people question what’s “okay.”

The best example of this in modern times was Victoria’s Secret (VS). Victoria’s Secret might be hated by feminists today, but in the 80s, 90s, and 2000s, it was a major step forward in female empowerment.

Having grown up in that era, I remember being slut-shamed for dancing, walking with a sway in my hips, and even having boobs. It was drilled into girls that their bodies were dirty, wrong, or filthy. To be openly sexual was social suicide.

I ought to know, I suffered the consequences of existing while “sexy” as a teen.

Victoria’s Secret packed a powerful punch in the fashion world by being the first store to cater to mainstream shoppers while turning up the heat. The original commercials had a fictional woman named Victoria who spoke in a posh British accent and was clearly successful in her own right.

Angels Became A Major Trend

Creating her character, both sexy and intelligent, changed things. It gave women around the world the opportunity to say, “It’s okay to be sexy,” and turned the runway-ready “Angels” into a major cultural phenomenon.

That’s what made VS explode. What made it shrink was when others started asking why all the Angels seemed to be size 0, 5’11 models who looked a little sick. That pivot took them too long to make, which is why the company is struggling today.

Victoria’s Secret was provocative and designed to be sexy, avant-garde, and intelligently alluring.

MAGA fashion and Mar-a-Lago face are the anti-fashion of their time.

While traditional fashion houses like Victoria’s Secret tend to be all about provocation and evolving what it means to be well-dressed, MAGA took things backward. They’re not progressing. They’re regressing.

A Blast From The Past

Let’s talk about the suits we see so many women in the MAGA world wearing. In the 80s, a woman wearing a power suit was a feminist. Today, it’s a throwback to what many GOP voters deemed “a simpler time,” because women were still mostly homemakers back then.

This is why so many MAGA women look like they’re still wearing the 80s power suits you’d see in vapor wavy commercials. That’s why they all have that conservative veneer and do not deviate from the standards set for them.

It’s their way of bringing the past back.

Note: If this writing blew your mind, please like, share, and leave me a comment. Oh, and please post my stuff where people might want to see it!

The Girly Girl Appearance

While progressive fashion has also started to blur the lines when it comes to gendered clothing, MAGA doubles down in hyperfeminine attire. This is why you see so many of these women choosing high heels, skirts, skin-tight leggings, and long hair.

It’s not surprising that you can’t find a “butch” type of MAGA woman these days, even with the suits abound. MAGA is a movement with very clearly defined gender roles. If you’re “butch,” you can’t be a MAGA woman by default.

Hot But Not

For many people, it’s hard to explain why conservative women often wear heavily “cover-up” clothes like suits and boxy jackets one minute, only to go into skin-tight yet not revealing dresses the next.

It’s simple, really.

Conservatism is all about body-shaming and the “modest is hottest” aesthetic. Yet, these women still live in (and promote) a patriarchy, which means they’re still on the meat market. Those ladies still have to compete to find a wealthy man.

The end result is that you have women who tell others to cover up, but often don’t do the same thing. They know the male gaze. They know conservatism is fetishized among men because it means those women are easier to control at face value.

So you end up with people like Tomi Lahren and Laura Loomer who tend to show off their bodies while preaching about being virgins or whatever. They need men. Their livelihoods require men to praise them so they get ahead.

If they were truly practicing what they preached, you’d never know their names because they’d just be some housewife in Wisconsin who never goes outside unless it’s to church.

The other part of this is the way that conservative groups treat women who are wronged by their partners. If a man cheats, MAGAts tend to blame the woman and ask why “she let him get tempted by others.”

Needless to say, this is a big part of the reason why Utah is now one of the top states for plastic surgery. Conservatism and body dysmorphia go hand-in-hand, so it’s not surprising that right-wing women go under the knife to keep their perceived value up.

Plastic Like Barbie

You might have figured something out. Plastic surgery is often used to accentuate what makes a person unique. In MAGAland, it does the opposite.

GOP women have to walk a fine line between being sexually attractive and totally unremarkable in appearance. They need to look hot, but they can’t stand out. Republican women often use plastic surgery as a way to subtly remove what makes them unique.

While modern fashion has started to embrace body positivity thanks to models who don’t quite fit “traditional” standards, MAGA kicked it backward. It’s a movement that values conformity over standing out.

This is why MAGA women tend to have the same look

They’re forcing themselves into an unnatural standard as a way to prove that they’re able to meet that standard. It’s a performative, nuanced submission proving that they can be the best bird in the gilded cage.

This is also why leftist fashion tends to run a massively wide gamut from the skimpy to the frumpy, from the sleek to the futuristic. Leftists prize individuality.

Conservatives don’t. ‘Nuff said.

End of story.