For a First Lady known for wearing primarily high-end designer clothing, [Melania Trump]’s(/about/melania-trump) stepping out wearing fast fashion caught people’s attention at first; what was startling about the now infamous $39 Zara jacket was the message written across the back: “I Really Don’t Care, Do U?” it read, clearly, as she boarded and disembarked a Texas-bound plane last week on a visit to children separated from their families at the U.S. border, a direct result of the policies of her husband’s administration. It made for a shocking image.

The reaction to it was swift and strong, ranging from angry to supportive to just downright confused. Stephanie Grisham, the First Lady’s communications director, issued an official response insisting that it was “just a jacket”; President Trump, meanwhile, tweeted that “I Really Don’t Care, Do U?” was a message for the “Fake News Media.” So, which one was it?

When you’re the First Lady—of any country, but particularly of the U.S.—your clothing becomes more than just something you wear. It takes on a deeper meaning, becoming a reflection not only of your personality but also of the administration’s platforms, causes, and policies. Because of that, many in that position have spent a huge amount of time planning each and every appearance: Laura Bush famously joked in her 2010 memoir that she was entirely unprepared for the amount of designer clothing she was expected to wear as First Lady; Michelle Obama collaborated with two stylists while residing at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue; Trump has been known to work with designer Hervé Pierre to select—and in some cases create—outfits.

The notion that any modern first lady would just go into her closet and pull out a jacket, any jacket, at the last minute to catch a flight—as Grisham insisted of Trump’s military-inspired Zara style—feels unlikely.

“I can only imagine that people advised her against it, but there was no way that this went unnoticed,” Corey Roche, a personal stylist and fashion expert whose clients include politicians in Washington, D.C., says to Glamour.

Many have pointed to a handful of hints that would contradict the statement , including Trump’s demonstrated penchant for luxury European designers (which makes one wonder how a seasons-old fast-fashion item would end up in the mix) and the criticism she received in September of last year for the “storm heels” she wore to board a plane headed to areas affected by Hurricane Harvey in Texas.

It’s not the first time a First Lady’s fashion choices have ignited a debate among constituents. Mary Todd Lincoln was criticized for wearing expensive gowns in the midst of the Civil War; Nancy Reagan was disparaged for borrowing garments for borrowing garments, receiving warnings from White House lawyers that this had to be disclosed under the Ethics in Government Act; both Michelle Obama and Hillary Clinton were called out at various points for wearing designer clothing while speaking about income inequality and poverty.

There’s a reason why a first lady’s wardrobe is considered news-worthy. “Just as we pay attention to what politicians say on Twitter, or in a video, we pay attention to what they wear because it says something about them,” says Amy Carleton, Ph.D., a lecturer of comparative media studies at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, says.

Still, according to some, this incident stands out from a legacy of first lady fashion moments. “This wasn’t a gaffe—it was a strong political statement,” Beth Dincuff Charleston, a professor of fashion history at Parsons School of Design, tells us. “I can’t even think of something historically that is similar. This is just unheard of.”

“Of course, a jacket is not just a jacket when you’re first lady,” Charleston explains. “Everything Melania wears is very calculated, it’s a form of communication, and it’s meant to say something.”

Jessica Morgan, one of the fashion critics behind Go Fug Yourself, notes how “public figures choose what they wear very carefully because they know they’re going to be scrutinized. When you choose to wear an item of clothing with a message on it, you need to accept that people will assume that’s a message you’re attempting to convey. It’s literally written on your body.”

The response to Melania’s jacket has been layered: Some focused on the message written on it and what it could say about her opinion on her husband’s administration or a variety of issues the American public is facing; others dwelled on the optics of her wearing it on the day she was to meet with children who were torn from their families at the border. And, as with many controversial moments that play out in public, a counter-criticism of Trump’s jacket emerged—that the public discussion about it is a distraction from the more pressing issue of immigration and the separation of families at the border, and that focusing on it won’t solve anything.

“I Really Don’t Care, Do U?” was written across the First Lady’s back—clearly, legibly, and easily photographed. And the public still, for the most part, is trying to understand why Trump would wear that particular jacket, on that particular day, for that particular visit. She herself didn’t comment on it during her unannounced visit to the U.S. border. But the thing with graphic clothing is that it speaks for itself. And in this particular case, it only raises more questions.

The experts have varying opinions on what Trump could have meant by it.

“I think it was a straw poll from the administration, asking Trump supporters if they care [about what is happening at the border],” Charleston believes. “It was almost too inflammatory of a message for Trump to tweet, so they came up with this.”

Roche has a different take: “The public has seen [Trump] not staying in the White House [in the early months of the administration], slapping her husband’s hand away, but they haven’t really heard much from her. I think this is just another way of her saying she wants to do her own thing. That she has no interest in playing the typical role.”

Carleton offers a more blunt interpretation: “I’m someone who teaches rhetoric and communication and the importance of precision—there’s no other way to say it, but I really see it as a big ‘F U’ to everybody. I just don’t buy any other explanation.”

“Clothing has meaning. What you choose to wear is an expression of yourself,” says Morgan. “Just as you wouldn’t wear cutoff jean shorts to an important job interview, because you wish presumably to be taken seriously, nor should you, in my opinion, wear a jacket that literally says, ‘I don’t really care,’ to meet with children you purport to care about. It’s not shallow or strange for people to be attempting to parse what this means, or why she would decide to wear this.”

“This is an argument that she is making,” Carleton adds. “Just as we should pay attention to other messages from this administration, we should pay attention to this.”

Trump’s Zara jacket was so decidedly not “just a jacket” that many believe it will end up in the history books.

“This is going to be a watershed moment, as far as Melania goes,” Charleston argues. “It’s really a statement similar to Donald Trump’s ‘Make America Great Again’ hats, and I think these two political fashion statements will end up being compared historically. This is going to be remembered.”