This beautifully illustrated book celebrates the fortieth anniversary of Jacqueline Kennedy’s emergence as America’s first lady and explores her enduring global influence on style and fashion. An in-depth look at the clothes and the era demonstrates how Jacqueline Kennedy became the beacon of style, whose legacy is still with us today. This book presents a selection of gowns, suits, dresses, and accessories from the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum against a backdrop of personal notes, artifacts, and anecdotes provided by such White House insiders as historian Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. and horticulturist and friend of the first lady, Rachel Lambert Mellon.

This beautifully illustrated book celebrates the fortieth anniversary of Jacqueline Kennedy’s emergence as America’s first lady and explores her enduring global influence on style and fashion. An in-depth look at the clothes and the era demonstrates how Jacqueline Kennedy became the beacon of style, whose legacy is still with us today. This book presents a selection of gowns, suits, dresses, and accessories from the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum against a backdrop of personal notes, artifacts, and anecdotes provided by such White House insiders as historian Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. and horticulturist and friend of the first lady, Rachel Lambert Mellon.

Combining original and new photography, the volume presents images of the first lady that have rarely been seen, as well as photographs that have become a part of the national consciousness. This unique perspective on the Kennedy White House years reveals the impact Jacqueline Kennedy had on the world, on America’s vision of itself, and on the role played by the first lady in the life of the nation.

This book accompanies a major exhibition at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, from May through July 2001. The show will travel to the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum in Boston as well as to the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D. C.

Director’s Foreword

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

President’s Foreword

John F. Kennedy Library Foundation

Sponsor’s Statement 

Jacqueline Kennedy in the White House

Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr.

Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy: A Reminiscence 

Rachel Lambert Mellon

Defining Style: Jacqueline Kennedy’s White House Years 

Hamish Bowles

Campaign

Inauguration 

White House Style

Travel

Hats 

Riding

Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy: A Time Line, 1929-1994 

Notes on Sources 

Bibliography

Acknowledgments

Photograph Credits