Donald Trump says the inauguration is causing a dress shortage in D.C. Boutique owners say otherwise.


Women of Washington, D.C., likely terrified by Donald Trump's gleeful announcement that because of the inauguration there are no dresses left in any of the stores, have nothing to worry about — several boutiques say they have enough outfits to keep everyone clothed.
On Monday, Trump said that "all the dress shops are sold out in Washington," but People called a handful of stores that sell gowns and other fancy frocks, and they revealed that interest in dresses for the inauguration is tepid at best. "No, we're not sold out," Mae Ship, owner of D.C. Mae's Dress Boutique, said. "We have 200 dresses, if not more, in stock." Anastasia Thomas, an employee at the shop Betsy Fisher, told People they have "not gotten a huge influx of traffic specifically related to shopping for inaugural dresses."
Peter Marx, owner of Saks Jandel, explained the situation in starker terms. "There's never been less demand for inaugural ballgowns in my 38 years," he said. "Never ever has it been less for the inaugural." Sad!
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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
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