The style of Jackie Kennedy Onassis is a representation of her reputation. The former first lady was credited with starting changes yet after she left the White House, with medicine clothes, oversized images, and strapless shifts becoming popular worldwide.
In recognition of what would have been her 95th birthday, WWD looks up at some of her best fashion events.
1953
Itwas n’t initially credited with creating Jackie Kennedy’s gown; when the Ladies’ Home Journal inquired about her gown in 1961, Lowe was merely described as “a colored woman dressmaker.”
Lowe, who crafted bespoke looks for high-profile people like the and the Roosevelts, learned the art of dressmaking from her mother. It’s rumored that Lowe took ideas from one of her family’s patterns to create Kennedy’s fabric taffeta gown.
Featuring crab pin tucks, flower embellishments and polish orange blossoms, Kennedy’s dress cost her simply $500. For the couple’s “things blue”, a blue thread was sewn into the hinge.
The clothing is too fragile to be displayed now, but it still belongs in the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston.
1961
Oleg Cassini created lots of clothes for Jackie Kennedy, including this grey wool jacket with black cut that she wore to her father’s swearing-in as president of the United States.
Pillbox caps would also become a wardrobe mainstay for the first woman: Halston, who got his start as a dressmaker, rose to prominence after creating Kennedy’s opening day monsieur.
1962
Jackie Kennedy favored beige outfits throughout her husband’s president. This dressy silk shantung Christian number, which was one of her most significant White House looks, was created in a powder pink hue.
Kennedy wore this dress on two instances: initially at a meal hosted by Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the Shah of Iran, and his family, the Empress Farah Pahlavi. She recycled it a month later, attending a meal in honor of André Malraux, France’s secretary of society.
1963
This lilac silk chiffon gown with ceramic beading and rhinestones was one of Cassini’s preferred designs for Kennedy. The first woman wore the sleeveless change, which includes a gathered and pleated bustline and a little station, to an exhibit starting at the National Gallery, as well as at a state dinner honoring India’s president, Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan.
Kennedy’s pink skirt suit is perhaps her most recognizable look, as it was the outfit she wore the day her husband was assassinated. Although it’s commonly known as a design, it was technically a recreation: as first lady, Kennedy was encouraged to wear mainly American couturiers. Chez Ninon, a Park Avenue boutique that created many of her clothes, crafted the replica.
However, the materials used to make the suit did in fact come from the French label’s atelier. “The garments were not fake or pirated, but made to order using materials supplied by”, Justine Picardie wrote in the 2010 biography “Coco Chanel: The Legend and the Life”.
Featuring navy trim, a double-breasted silhouette and gold buttons, Kennedy had previously worn the bouclé set during an official visit to London in 1962. Naturally, it also came with a matching pillbox hat.
Following her husband’s assassination, the first lady insisted upon wearing the blood-stained suit as Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn in. “Let them see what they’ve done”, she told her aides at the time.
Jackie’s pink suit can’t be displayed until 2103 in order to avoid “in any way degrading the memory of the late President” or causing members of his family unnecessary pain or suffering, as her daughter requested. Today, it’s stored in the National Archives building in College Park, Maryland.
1970
Upon leaving the White House, Kennedy Onassis’ style saw a major shift. She abandoned her hyperfeminine (and mostly American-made) wardrobe, favoring tailored trousers, wrap coats, Hermès headscarves and oversized François Pinton frames.