The Crown What Did Jackie Kennedy Wearing the Dress Mean
Just hours after President John F. Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963, his wife Jackie Kennedy saw a new president sworn in while still wearing the suit covered in her husband's blood.
RELATED: Why JFK always 'came back' to Jackie during their tumultuous marriage
Candy pink and a replica of a Chanel design, Jackie's outfit was trimmed with black and smeared with the evidence of her husband's murder.
It was a bold and unexpected move for the former First Lady, but her decision to keep the outfit on was a calculated one.
She had cleaned her husband's blood off her face, and there was a change of clothes available to her. Yet Jackie kept the pink suit on — and in doing so, made history.
For a daily dose of 9Honey, sign up here to receive our top stories straight to your inbox .
The pink suit
Jackie arrived in Dallas, Texas, with President Kennedy on 22 November, wearing a vibrant pink suit and pillbox hat that exemplified her classic style at the time.
An authorised replica of a Chanel design, the suit had been made in New York to ensure it was (technically) American-made. It wouldn't do for the First Lady of the United States to be seen wearing foreign styles.
She and the President were set to ride through Dallas' Dealey Plaza in a presidential motorcade that day, so an eye-catching pink ensemble was perfect for the occasion. It would make her easy to spot in the crowds and brighten the winter day.
No one could have known how iconic her suit would soon become - and for the most heartbreaking of reasons.
JFK's assassination
The Kennedys rode in the back of a convertible along the long motorcade route through Dallas, designed to give the President as much access to the massive crowds as possible. JFK and Jackie were supposed to then arrive at the Dallas Trade Mart for a luncheon; they never did.
RELATED: The tragic tale of Jackie Kennedy's firstborn daughter
:contrast(-4):saturation(0.76)/https%3A%2F%2Fprod.static9.net.au%2Ffs%2F3ff282f8-5cac-4a4e-8169-2cb905754dc8)
As the car turned onto Elm Street, the First Lady of Texas told JFK he "couldn't say Texas didn't love him", pointing to the massive turnout of locals.
"No, you certainly can't," the President responded from Jackie's side in the back of the car.
Moments later shots were fired, two hitting President Kennedy in the neck and head.
He collapsed in the back of the car, Jackie clutching her husband as secret service agents leapt into action to protect the President and First Lady. The car sped out of the Plaza and raced to a local hospital.
Then-Vice President Lyndon B Johnson and his wife Claudia, nicknamed 'Lady Bird', witnessed the attack. Claudia later recalled the sight of Jackie cradling her husband.
RELATED: How Jackie Kennedy knew her marriage to JFK would involve 'heartbreak'
"I saw, in the president's car, a bundle of pink, just like a drift of blossoms, lying on the back seat. I think it was Mrs. Kennedy, lying over the President's body."
Jackie herself recounter the horrific moment years later, according to Barbara Leaming's biography Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis: The Untold Story.
"All the ride to the hospital I kept bending over him saying, 'Jack, Jack, can you hear me? I love you, Jack'," she said.
The impact of the gunshots had left Jackie's face covered in blood, and as they sped to a local hospital more seeped into her pristine pink suit. Once there, Jackie remained at her husband's side and reportedly knelt on the blood-covered hospital floors to pray for JFK when he was taken for surgery.
But his injuries were too terrible to recovery from. At 1pm, less than an hour after the motorcade began, President John F. Kennedy was declared dead.
'Let them see what they've done'
Reeling from the horror of the public assassination, Jackie travelled with her husband's casket to Air Force One, the president's private plane. There Johnson, now president, was set to be sworn in and Jackie agreed to attend as he took the official oath of office onboard.
When she arrived on the plane there was a change of clothes waiting for her, and she began to clean herself up. It was only after she had wiped her husband's blood from her face that she realised what she was doing.
"One second later, I thought, 'Why did I wash the blood off?' I should have left it there; let them see what they've done," she recalled to Life magazine.
Moments later she stood at Johnson's side wearing a suit covered in her husband's blood as the new president took the oath of office. She was sending a clear message, one she repeated when Air Force One landed in Washington D.C. and she was asked if she wanted to leave without being photographed.
"I want them to see what they have done."
"We'll go out the regular way. I want them to see what they have done," she said again.
She kept her outfit on for hours after her husband's death, only changing after JFK's body had been prepared at almost four in the morning.
Where is the suit now?
After the assassination, Jackie's suit was delivered to the National Archives in the US, where it was to be kept safe. In 2003, her daughter Caroline Kennedy agreed that her mother's clothes could be displayed, but not until a full century had passed.
Now the suit, still stained with JFK's blood, is preserved in a controlled environment until it can be displayed in 2103.
It has been suggested the time limit was put in place to avoid "dishonouring the memory" of Jackie and what had to have been one of the most horrific days of her life.
RELATED: The true story behind Jackie Kennedy's nude photo scandal
Source: https://honey.nine.com.au/latest/jackie-kennedy-jfk-assassination-pink-suit/ff4d5c9d-eba7-4367-a377-d88ef9282720
0 Response to "The Crown What Did Jackie Kennedy Wearing the Dress Mean"
Post a Comment