Pink Chanel suit of Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy

Kennedy descending from Air Force One at Dallas Love Field, hours before her husband's assassination

Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy was wearing a pink Chanel suit when her husband, U.S. President John F. Kennedy, was assassinated in Dallas, Texas on November 22, 1963.[1][2] She insisted on wearing the suit, stained with his blood, during the swearing-in of Lyndon B. Johnson that afternoon and for the flight back to Washington, D.C. Jacqueline Kennedy was a fashion icon, and the suit is the most referenced and revisited among her clothing items.[3][4]

Made of wool bouclé, the double-breasted raspberry pink and navy trim collared suit was matched with a trademark pink pillbox hat and white gloves.[5] A long-time question among fashion historians and experts, about whether the suit was made by Chanel in France or a quality copy purchased from New York's semiannual Chez Ninon collections, was resolved by Coco Chanel's biographer, Justine Picardie. She showed that the suit was a garment made by Chez Ninon using Chanel's approved "line for line" system with authorized Chanel patterns and materials.[6]

  1. ^ Bradford, Sarah (October 26, 2000). America's queen: the life of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. Viking. ISBN 978-0-670-89191-7. Retrieved May 1, 2011.
  2. ^ Sparks, Fred (1970). The $20,000,000 Honeymoon Jackie And Ari's First Year. [New York] B. Geis Associates; distributed by World Pub. Co. Retrieved May 1, 2011.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference FT was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Spencer, Lauren (January 2002). The Assassination of John F. Kennedy. The Rosen Publishing Group. p. 8. ISBN 978-0-8239-3541-3. Retrieved May 1, 2011.
  5. ^ Lawliss, Charles (December 1995). Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis 1929–1994. World Pubns. ISBN 978-1-57215-040-9. Retrieved May 1, 2011.
  6. ^ Picardie, Justine (2010). Coco Chanel: The Legend and the Life. London: HarperCollins. pp. 304–7. OCLC 859388164.