Jacquline Kennedy
There is no question that the person who set the fashions for the early years of the 1960s was the wife of the newly elected president of the United States, John F Kennedy.
Born Jacqueline Lee Bouvier in New York in July 1929, she married John F Kennedy in 1953 but it was the period when he was president from 1961 until his assassination in 1963 that really marked her as a fashion icon.
She set about creating a wardrobe of iconic, stylish clothes that, when you look at pictures of her now, really make her look both distinctive and distinguished. A favourite of mine is the little pill-box hat that she wore on many occasions and which has become very much associated with her and also the long gloves which I always thought stylish.
The early 1960s was a time of glamour and style, a time of experimentation and innovation and nowhere was this more prevalent than in fashion where women sought to free themselves from the legacy of war-time austerity and strike out with new and dynamic ideas. Her dress sense and use of both fabrics and style details created a look that soon began to dress the world creating a legacy that exists still to this day.
On a personal note, I was a young man when Kennedy was elected the 35th President of the United States and like so many people I was captivated, not only by him and his charisma, but by the style and grace of his wife.
The best way to see the clothes is to look at the excellent Bing long search page and a search to get you started is here.
In the years after her husband’s assassination, Jackie Kennedy went on to other things which you can read about here. However she always maintained an interest in fashion and style although, in my opinion, never again reaching such dizzy sartorial heights.
