Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Menswear expert gives blunt critique of Trump’s shoulder pads in photo of interview with Musk

Trump’s interview with Musk was also marred by technical issues on X

Katie Hawkinson
Tuesday 13 August 2024 12:01 EDT
Comments
Donald Trump recounts assassination attempt in interview with Elon Musk

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Derek Guy, also known as “the menswear guy” on X, tore into Donald Trump’s choice of shoulder pads during his interview with Elon Musk.

Guy, a popular menswear writer, has established a large platform for himself through fashion critiques and in-depth analyses. On Monday night he reacted after a photo came out of Trump hunched over his phone with bunched-up shoulder pads as he spoke with the Tesla and SpaceX CEO.

Guy was quick to point out that, while shoulder pads can make someone look more powerful and authoritative, they can lose their charm with poor posture.

“The downside of a heavily padded, extended shoulder is that artifice is revealed when you sit like this,” Guy wrote on Monday night.

Donald Trump pictured with bunched-up shoulder pads as he speaks to Elon Musk on Monday night. Menswear fashion writer Derek Guy wrote a scathing critique of the former president’s shoulder pads on X
Donald Trump pictured with bunched-up shoulder pads as he speaks to Elon Musk on Monday night. Menswear fashion writer Derek Guy wrote a scathing critique of the former president’s shoulder pads on X (Margo Martin/X/Reuters)

“Not much you can do about this. Padded coats look great when you’re standing still, but they can look artificial when you move or sit when your shoulders pitched forward,” he continued.

The fashion writer offered his own advice to the former president to avoid future shoulder pad faux pas.

“To me, Trump would benefit from a softer shoulder, partly because his natural shoulders are narrow but square,” he wrote. “The more padding you add to this, the squarer the shoulder line. [In my opinion], heavy padding is best for people with very sloped shoulders, not square ones.”

Guy also offered his followers a history lesson, writing that Trump uses shoulder pads to achieve the “platonic male silhouette” he “doesn’t naturally have.”

The shoulder pads weren’t the only thing that went awry during last night’s interview.

The interview was delayed 40 minutes due to technical issues with X, which Musk blamed on a denial-of-service attack against the platform.

The billionaires spent the first thirty minutes of the interview discussing the assassination attempt at Trump’s Butler, Pennsylvania rally last month. The duo also discussed immigration, with Trump continuing to spread false claims that other countries are sending people from prisons and mental health institutions to the US.

Trump also attacked Vice President Kamala Harris: “She’s a believer in being radical left.”

“She hasn’t done an interview since this whole scam started, and say what you want, this was a coup,” Trump continued, once again spreading a baseless claim that Harris “couped” President Joe Biden and forced him to leave the race.

The former president also at one point compared Harris to his wife, Melania Trump. Trump said Harris looked “beautiful” on the new cover of Time magazine, which was released yesterday.

“She looks like the most beautiful actress ever to live,” Trump told Musk. “It was a drawing, and actually, she looked very much like a great first lady, Melania.”

“She didn’t look like Kamala but, of course, she’s a beautiful woman, so we’ll leave it at that,” he continued.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in