Donald Trump Japan trip: Reporter wears wedding dress to meet strict dress code

Annie Karni was left scrambling after a last-minute dress code discovery. So she reached for the only suitable outfit in her wardrobe.

Who says you only wear your wedding dress once?

A strict dress code on US President Donald Trump’s recent tour of Japan left one political reporter panicked and scrambling through her wardrobe before Air Force One crossed the Pacific.

The New York Times’ White House Correspondent Annie Karni wrote about her dilemma on Twitter, saying she was told only at the 11th hour the President’s state dinner with Japan’s Emperor Naruhito would require a “full-length gown”.

Presenting, your White House press pool ⁦@anniekarni⁩ ⁦@jeffmason1⁩ ⁦@colvinj⁩ ⁦@Noahbierman⁩ ⁦@betsy_klein⁩ pic.twitter.com/eTwOSXtHYP

— Shannon Pettypiece (@spettypi) May 27, 2019

So she dusted off her white gown from “the back depths of the closet” and chucked it in her carry-on luggage.

“The guidance that we needed a floor-length gown for tonight’s imperial banquet came hours before my flight departed,” she wrote on the social media platform.

“I only own one floor-length gown.

“So, here I am, pooling a presidential event in my wedding dress.”

The guidance that we needed a floor-length gown for tonight's imperial banquet came hours before my flight departed.

I only own one floor-length gown.

So, here I am, pooling a presidential event in my wedding dress.

— Annie Karni (@anniekarni) May 27, 2019

In an interview with People magazine, Mrs Karni shared details of the frantic lead-in to the dinner — the chaos of meeting deadline and getting dressed for a state dinner as only a beat reporter can.

She said the President’s schedule in Japan only allowed less than two hours between the end of a press conference and the departure of the motorcade heading to the glitzy dinner.

And for most of that time, Mrs Karni was glued to her computer filing the story of the day.

“So I sat in a ‘hold’ room in the basement of the hotel for 90 minutes, next to a colleague who was also scrambling on deadline, with all of my luggage, trying to finish our story,” she told the magazine.

“I changed in the bathroom about 10 minutes before the press vans were coming to pick us up.”

Adding to the drama, the state dinner also required attendees to wear closed-toe shoes.

“I wore the same flat shoes I’d been wearing all week, so the dress was too long without heels,” People magazine reported.

She says this made it difficult to jump in and out of a motorcade with luggage, but “other than that, it was quite comfortable”.

“Next time I’m invited to a black-tie affair that isn’t someone else’s wedding, seems like it works!”

The very definition of.., pic.twitter.com/XGCIOdouqM

— PJ Deloatch (@pjdeloatch) May 27, 2019

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