The big buttoned suits and pillbox hats were her synonyms. Her bouffant hair and very feminine styles had infiltrated into every nook and corner of the fashion industry of the 1960s.
Being the youngest First Lady of the United States of America at 31, Jacqueline Kennedy, affectionately known as “Jackie”, was the Queen of Camelot during the relatively short tenure of President John F. Kennedy. Jackie’s timeless style arguably and invariably elevated her into the status of one of the well-received and most sought after fashion icons of the last century.
Jackie’s sense of fashion had an intrinsic knack in capitalising on her charisma, elegance, grace and spirit of youth to make her husband’s presidency ever popular. Her nuptials to the then US senator John F. Kennedy is immortal in history as a homegrown incredibly touching and stunning fairytale wedding; you may still have a fabulous recollection on the highly publicized ceremony and would even call it a de facto royal wedding.
Around 600 diplomats, senators as well as social figures were among the attendees of the glamorous celebration that took place in Newport, Rhodes Island more than seven decades ago. A certain anxious and ardent guest rushed to call it a coronation.
Fashion moment
It is said that the wedded couple was greeted by a well over 2,000 society fans while both had to shake hand with around 900 guests who were at the reception.With The New York Times decorating its front page with an incredibly engaging and desirable picture of the enthralling couple, media around the world widely circulated the iconic captures taken at the nuptials. Many decades after the wedding, still today, the images of Jackie’s wedding dress are plausible and feasible, an enormous fashion moment for women across the world.
Ann Lowe, a trailblazing designer of colour, designed Jackie’s famed and epochal ivory gown. Lowe was the first African American to become a noted fashion designer. Lowe’s nightmare was a water leak that erupted in a ruptured pipe in her building; it destroyed the wedding gown along with the dresses of 10 of the 15 bridesmaids.
04However, Lowe managed to recreate the collection in just 10 days, she sustained a huge loss in income about which she never informed the Kennedy family. Lowe’s design was certainly the exact definition of modern poise and composure. Lowe had a unique ability of adding riveting texture and compelling elements to her designs in a way where the shape and the identity of the relevant design were well preserved.
Without a shadow of a doubt, Lowe was an unsung inspiration for upcoming fashion designers; hers was a flash and fancy creation. “Despite not getting her flowers when they were due, she continued to create trends and ultimately changed American bridal fashion”, an admirer of Lowe wrote.
The dress that Lowe recreated following the pipe burst was a classic gown with a portrait-neckline; this incredibly elegant gown inspired generations of other young brides-to-be. Amidst every bit of allure and charm being added with the ivory tissue silk dress, it is said that Jackie was not in rapture and elated by the gown for she wanted it to be a simple design.
“Even though it’s a beautiful dress, it was not what she wanted, and she actually compared it to a lampshade”, Fashion historian Kimberly Chrisman Campbell shared. According to Chrisman-Campbell, it was Joseph Kennedy, father of John F, Kennedy who had reiterated that the bride had an elaborate and decorative ensemble for his son’s most remarkable day.Christmas-Campbell had further declared with a certain party that “It was chosen by her father-in-law-to-be who wanted to create an American royalty moment and really set up his son the heir to the family dynasty”.
