Sharjah: A Keralite woman in Sharjah has caused stir on social media after she posted a picture of herself in a dress that looks similar to the floral outwit which Ivanka Trump wore during her visit to the Taj Mahal in Agra on Monday.
Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner, 38, are part of the US delegation accompanying US President Donald Trump to India.
The US first family went to Agra on February 24 to visit the iconic monument of love after attending the grand ‘Namaste Trump’ event at Motera Stadium in Ahmedabad.
Ivanka shared several images from the trip on her Instagram account. The photographs show her posing in front of the Taj Mahal, looking chic in a floral splatter print dress from Proenza Schouler, a women’s wear and accessories brand founded in New York in 2002 by designers Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez.
Uncanny resemblance
As it turns out, her dress bears an uncanny resemblance to a sleeveless maxi gown which Indian expat Nisha Ponthathil got made for herself in her home country nearly five years ago.
“My dress is made of crepe. I got the fabric from a small shop in Kozhikode, Kerala in 2015 for Rs 1,000 (Dh51) and spent another 800 (Dh41) to have it stitched by a tailor in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu,” Ponthathil recalls.
In contrast, Ivanka’s dress is made of baby blue viscose georgette with a hanging tie detail. Initially priced at $1,690 (Dh6,207) it is now available online at a discounted price (40 per cent off) for Dh3,724.
A mother of one, Ponthathil said she last wore the floral gown when she visited Bali, Indonesia, for a vacation earlier this month.
“I was quite bemused when I saw everybody talking about Ivanka’s dress so I posted my holiday picture on Facebook and juxtaposed it with an image of Ivanka dressed in a similar gown as she greeted dad Donald Trump. For the sake of fun I also added a caption which read: ‘My frock went missing. But I never suspected the involvement of CIA behind it, until I see Ivanka Trump’s pic this morning!!,” Nisha wrote on her Facebook page in both English and her native Malayalam.
The posts elicited hilarious responses. “Plagiarism of the costume!??” commented L. Manoj. Another person wondered if Ponthathil’s outfit was stolen from the cloth hanger in her backyard.
Closer examination, however reveals that the two dresses are different. While Ponthathil’s gown features flowers and leave patterns, Ivanka’s outfit has rounded sleeves and floral graphics in an abstract pattern.
