Jackie Kennedy Onassis’ style is symbolic of her legacy. The former first lady was credited with originating trends even after she left the White House, with pillbox hats, oversized frames and sleeveless shifts becoming the envy of women worldwide.
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In honor of what would have been her 95th birthday, WWD looks back at some of her best fashion moments.
1953
Ann Lowe wasn’t initially credited with designing Jackie Kennedy’s wedding dress — when the Ladies’ Home Journal interviewed the first lady about her gown in 1961, Lowe was simply referred to as “a colored woman dressmaker.”
Lowe, who crafted bespoke looks for high-profile families like the Rockefellers and the Roosevelts, learned the art of dressmaking from her mother. It’s rumored that Lowe took inspiration from one of her mother’s designs to create Kennedy’s silk taffeta gown.
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Featuring scallop pin tucks, rosette embellishments and wax orange blossoms, Kennedy’s gown cost her just $500. For the bride’s “something blue,” a blue ribbon was sewn into the underskirt.
Today, the dress is too delicate to be displayed, but it still sits in the archives of the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston.
1961
Oleg Cassini designed hundreds of outfits for Jackie Kennedy, including this beige wool coat with sable trim, which she wore for husband’s swearing in as President of the United States.
Pillbox hats would also become a wardrobe staple for the first lady: Halston, who got his start as a milliner, rose to prominence after creating Kennedy’s inauguration day chapeau.
1962
Jackie Kennedy favored pastel fashions throughout her husband’s presidency. One of her most notable White House looks was this strapless silk shantung Dior number, crafted in a powder pink shade.
Kennedy wore this gown on two occasions: first at a dinner hosted by Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the Shah of Iran, and his wife, the Empress Farah Pahlavi. She recycled it a month later, attending a dinner in honor of André Malraux, France’s minister of culture.
1963
One of Cassini’s favorite designs for Kennedy was this mauve silk chiffon gown embroidered with porcelain beading and rhinestones. The first lady wore the strapless shift, which includes a gathered and pleated bustline and a small train, to an exhibit opening 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 Chanel 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 Chanel,” 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.
Per the request of her daughter, Caroline Kennedy, Jackie’s pink suit cannot be displayed until 2103 so as not to “in any way to dishonor the memory of the late President or cause unnecessary grief or suffering to members of his family.” 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.