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Jacqueline Kennedy: The White House Years -
Selections from the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, May 1-July 29, 2001
By Beth Kracklauer
Soon after Jacqueline Kennedy's husband was
elected President of the United States in 1960,
she confessed, "I feel as though I had just turned
into a piece of public property." And yet,
however daunting the prospect of becoming a
national icon, Mrs. Kennedy embraced her role
with winning enthusiasm and supreme political
savvy.
On the 40th anniversary of her unforgettable
debut as First Lady, The Metropolitan Museum of Art presents Jacqueline
Kennedy: The White House
Years—Selections from the John F.
Kennedy Library and Museum, on view May
1- July 29. Organized in conjunction with
Boston's John F. Kennedy Library and Museum,
the exhibition features over 80 of Mrs.
Kennedy's original costumes and accessories,
along with documents, decorative pieces, and
other artifacts of her extraordinary impact—not
only on our collective sense of style, but on our
understanding of our nation's place in history.
Born to It
Born in 1929, Jacqueline Lee Bouvier spent
most of her childhood amid the haut monde of
East Coast society. From a very early age, the
future First Lady developed a keen social radar
and intense image-consciousness. Making her
formal debut in the 1947-48 season, she was
named "Debutante of the Year"—a coveted
distinction among the social elite.
Receiving a B.A. in French literature from
George Washington University in 1951,
Jacqueline's passion for things French
extended to Parisian designers Coco Chanel
and Hubert de Givenchy, who greatly influenced
her personal style. After winning Vogue's Prix
de Paris writing contest in her senior year, she
went on to become the Washington Times
Herald's "Inquiring Camera Girl"—a job that led
her to interview a promising young
Congressman named John F. Kennedy. They
were married in 1953.
A Scholarly Approach
Throughout her husband's political career, Jackie proved his perfect match in wit and
finesse. Early on in his 1960 presidential campaign, her uncommonly chic wardrobe
caught the attention of the press, all but eclipsing her less stylish rival, Pat Nixon. In
response to a particularly sensational article claiming that she spent $30,000 a year to
support her addiction to Parisian couture, Mrs. Kennedy quipped, "I couldn't spend that
much unless I wore sable underwear."
As First Lady, Mrs. Kennedy made it clear that style was no laughing matter. Appalled to
move into a White House with no consistent design approach, nor any apparent sense of
its own history, she understood the task before her: "It just seemed to me such a shame
when we came here to find hardly anything of the past in the house, hardly anything
before 1902."
Renowned designers Sister Parish and Stéphane Boudin were brought in to devise
Federalist- and French Empire-style interiors more in keeping with the building's
architecture and history. Mrs. Kennedy championed an act of Congress granting the
White House official museum status—which would protect the many donations of
antiques and fine art she so successfully solicited—and appointed the first White House
curator. In a particularly shrewd move, she named Henry Francis du Pont, an authority on
American decorative art and a staunch Republican, as the chairman of her new Fine Arts
Committee—surefire insurance against the slings and arrows of partisan politics.
Diplomacy by Design
In 1962, the First Lady invited the entire nation
into the White House for a personally guided
tour, broadcast on CBS. Excerpts from that
historic broadcast—on view in the
exhibition—reveal Mrs. Kennedy's assiduous
attention to detail, right down to her own
ensemble (also on view). The red wool bouclé
two-piece dress—an adaptation of a recent Dior
ensemble—came from Chez Ninon, a Park
Avenue boutique. In this way, the First Lady
fulfilled her duty to "buy American" while
satisfying her decidedly Francophilic tastes.
The principal collaborator in Jacqueline
Kennedy's uniquely understated, elegantly
modern look was European-born American
designer Oleg Cassini. His magnificent ivory silk
satin twill Inaugural Gala gown—with its
18th-century-style cockade decoration—
appealed to Mrs. Kennedy's love of history.
Often, she would come to Cassini with a sketch
of her own or a swatch of fabric. The breath-
taking celadon silk dress she wore at a 1962
White House dinner honoring Nobel laureates
resulted from the First Lady's suggestion that
draped jersey "would be fun for a change."
Cassini has said, "The planning was constant,
the logistical invasion of every country she
visited, every party she attended." Mrs. Kennedy
always did extensive research to familiarize
herself with the customs of other cultures—and
to understand what her hosts might like to see
her in. Her efforts did not go unappreciated.
Upon their ecstatic reception by the French in
1962, President Kennedy referred to himself as
"the man who accompanied Jacqueline
Kennedy to Paris." His comment rings even truer
today, as we come to understand the key role
the First Lady played in the Kennedy
administration—and the acute political skill
underpinning her unerring sense of style.
MUSEUMS NEW YORK • SPRING 2001
Key Terms:
Jacqueline Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
Presidents
United States
politics
First Ladies
Metropolitan Museum of Art
White House
costumes
American history
French
Parisian
Vogue
journalists
marriage
scholars
underwear
laughing
houses
19th Century United States
French Empire style
architecture
museums
antiques
decorative art
Republican
arrows
diplomacy
wool
Park Avenue
boutiques
American
gowns
18th-century
love
celadon
dresses
dining
parties
customs
hosts
receptions
See Also:
fashion
photography
women
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