"After attacking China, she wore clothes from Temu?" White House dinner thrown into chaos by a $60 pink dress

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[Financial News] Jennifer Rauchet, the wife of Pete Hegseth, one of the key figures in the Trump administration, has sparked controversy after appearing at an official event in a dress believed to be from the Chinese brand SHEIN.
According to foreign media outlets including The Guardian and the New York Post on the 30th local time, Rauchet attended the annual White House Correspondents' Dinner with her husband on the 25th at Hilton Hotels & Resorts in Washington, D.C., wearing a flashy pink evening gown.
The dress was found to be highly similar to a product sold by SHEIN, a leading Chinese fast-fashion brand.
The Guardian reported that the item is currently being sold on SHEIN's official online store for $42, or about 62,000 won, and on another Chinese e-commerce platform, Temu, for half that price.
The outfit quickly drew ridicule on social networking service (SNS) platforms and in the fashion world. Hegseth has long described China as America's biggest threat and has openly taken a hard-line stance, so critics said it was politically contradictory for his spouse to attend a government event in an ultra-low-cost Chinese-made brand.
Fashion influencer Ella Devi posted on SNS, "Hegseth's wife attended the White House Correspondents' Dinner wearing a dress she bought from Temu," and the post quickly surpassed 6 million views.
The popular online fashion magazine Diet Prada also joined the criticism, saying, "Hegseth's wife wore a foreign fast-fashion item that stands in direct opposition to the nationalist ideology of their political camp."
On the other hand, voices defending Rauchet have also grown louder, especially among conservatives. Their counterargument is that she should not be criticized for choosing a practical, mid-priced mass-market brand instead of luxury labels worth millions of won.
Laura Loomer, a prominent far-right influencer in the United States, defended her on SNS, saying, "She looks absolutely great," and added, "The left, which usually attacks the rich, is now mocking someone for not spending $10,000 on a single outfit."
\r\nHowever, the dress appears to be a SHEIN copy of a design by partywear brand Bella Barnett.
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Meanwhile, Jennifer Rauchet, who is at the center of the controversy, is a former executive producer at Fox News, a conservative media outlet. She later married Hegseth in 2019 after both finalized divorces from their respective spouses, following an extramarital relationship that produced a daughter. Rauchet became Hegseth's third wife.
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moon@fnnews.com Moon Young-jin Reporter