50 years later, Jackie Kennedy’s pink suit locked away from view
Randi Kaye, CNN
Updated
11:46 PM EST, Thu November 21, 2013
Story highlights
The suit was a knockoff of a Coco Chanel design
Jacqueline Kennedy had worn it on several occasions before Dallas
It will be stored safely until 2103 under Kennedy family orders
The whereabouts of the pink pillbox hat remain a mystery
(CNN) —
Jacqueline Kennedy was still wearing the blood-stained watermelon pink suit when she got to the White House in the early-morning hours after her husband was shot dead.
She had refused to take it off at Parkland Hospital in Dallas or on the flight back to Washington with the body of her husband.
Once at the White House, her personal maid put the suit in a bag so Mrs. Kennedy wouldn’t have to look at it.
In the words of President John F. Kennedy, she looked “smashing” in the suit, which may be why the President asked Jackie to wear the now-famous outfit to Dallas on November 22, 1963.
Photos: John and Jackie: A love story
John Fitzgerald Kennedy and his fiancée, Jacqueline Lee Bouvier, playing tennis in 1953. They were one of history's power couples, a dashing Democrat and an elegant wife. They were both from influential families and became superstars before he entered the White House. Take a look back at the couple that embodied the image of a perfect family.
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Corbis Images
Photos: John and Jackie: A love story
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John Kennedy and Jacqueline Bouvier met in 1951 and after a brief engagement, they married in Rhode Island in the century-old church of St. Mary's on September 12, 1953.
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Corbis Images
Photos: John and Jackie: A love story
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John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy at the U.S. Capitol on May 6, 1954.
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Orlando Suero/Lowenherz Collection, Peabody Institute, Johns Hopkins University
Photos: John and Jackie: A love story
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The couple strolling in the Georgetown area of Washington on May 8, 1954.
PHOTO:
Orlando Suero/Lowenherz Collection, Peabody Institute, Johns Hopkins University
Photos: John and Jackie: A love story
Jackie looking over John's shoulder as he reads the May 7 issue of the Christian Science Monitor on May 9, 1954, Mother's Day.
PHOTO:
Orlando Suero/Lowenherz Collection, Peabody Institute, Johns Hopkins University
Photos: John and Jackie: A love story
The Kennedy's cuddle daughter Caroline while relaxing on a bed at home on March 25, 1958.
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Ed Clark/Time Life Pictures/Getty Images
Photos: John and Jackie: A love story
John and Jackie at Eleanor Roosevelt's 75th birthday celebration in 1959.
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Joseph Scherschel/Time Life Pictures/Getty Images
Photos: John and Jackie: A love story
The then-senator engages in his favorite pastime of sailing at Hyannisport, Massachusetts, with Jackie in July 1960.
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Corbis Images
Photos: John and Jackie: A love story
Shortly after his acceptance of the Democratic Party nomination for president, Kennedy and his wife smile and wave from the back of an open-top car in Massachusetts in July 1960.
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Paul Schutzer/Time Life Pictures/Getty Images
Photos: John and Jackie: A love story
Jacqueline greets her husband in 1960.
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Corbis Images
Photos: John and Jackie: A love story
Jackie watches her husband during a presidential debate in September 1960.
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Paul Schutzer/Time Life Pictures/Getty Images
Photos: John and Jackie: A love story
Kennedy lends an ear to his wife as they sit together at a table during cocktail hour before dining at a society gala at the Walford Astoria Hotel in 1960.
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Alfred Eisenstaedt//Time Life Pictures/Getty Images
Photos: John and Jackie: A love story
Kennedy, campaigning for president, listens to the whispers of his wife in 1960.
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Paul Schutzer/Time Life Pictures/Getty Images
Photos: John and Jackie: A love story
Jackie shares a moment with her husband before he became president, in January 20, 1961, in the rotunda of the Capitol. She became the youngest first lady in nearly 80 years.
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Henry Burroughs/ap
Photos: John and Jackie: A love story
President Kennedy and Jackie greet guests at a party for Nobel Prize winners at the White House on April 29, 1961.
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Art Rickerby/Time Life Pictures/Getty Images
Photos: John and Jackie: A love story
The Kennedys stand at attention during the playing of the national anthem at the start of a reception during their state visit to Mexico City on June 30, 1962.
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Henry Burroughs/ap
Photos: John and Jackie: A love story
John and Jackie at Union Station after the departure of King Hassan of Morocco on March 27, 1963.
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Corbis Images
Photos: John and Jackie: A love story
President Kennedy, John F. Kennedy Jr., Jackie and Caroline with puppies Blackie and White Tips, and family dogs Shannon, Clipper, Wolfie and Charlie on August 14, 1963.
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John F. Kennedy Presidential Libray
Photos: John and Jackie: A love story
Jackie stands with her two children and her brothers-in law Ted Kennedy and Robert Kennedy at the funeral of her husband on November 26, 1963.
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PIGISTE/AFP/Getty Images
The suit looked like a Coco Chanel, it was actually a knockoff, made in the United States. The first lady wore it at least six times before that fateful day.
She was known for her fashion sense. Museums have hosted collections of her gowns, hats and jewelry.
In Fort Worth on the morning of November 22, the President even joked about his wife’s style.
“Two years ago, I introduced myself in Paris by saying that I was the man who had accompanied Mrs. Kennedy to Paris. I am getting somewhat that same sensation as I travel around Texas. Nobody wonders what Lyndon (Johnson) and I wear,” Kennedy quipped.
Hours later, Jackie Kennedy was trying to crawl out of the presidential limo, her suit spattered with her husband’s blood.
When aides suggested she change her clothes, she refused.
“Her remark, I think she made it more than once is, ‘No, I’m going to leave these clothes on. I want them to see what they have done,’ ” author Philip Shenon said.
Hours later, Kennedy continued to wear the suit during the emergency swearing in of Johnson as President.
“That whole scene is obviously just surreal,” Shenon said. “She arrives in the cabin in Air Force One in these clothes, covered with the President’s blood, and she’s expected to stand there and witness the swearing in of her husband’s successor.”
The suit today is in the National Archives building in Maryland.
It came in a box, along with a handwritten note from Jackie Kennedy’s mother on her personal stationery. It read simply: “Jackie’s suit and bag - worn November 22nd, 1963.”
The suit was never cleaned.
The public hasn’t seen the suit since the assassination and won’t for another 90 years.
In 2003, nine years after her mother’s death, Caroline Kennedy gave the suit as a gift to the people of the United States with the understanding that it would not be put on display until 2103.
And even then, the Kennedy family will have to be consulted before any attempt is made to display it. They want to avoid sensationalizing the horrible act.
Also hidden from view in the new archives building in Maryland: the blue blouse Jackie Kennedy wore beneath the pink suit, her stockings, blue shoes and blue purse.
What they don’t have is the first lady’s iconic pink pillbox hat.
“The hat is a mystery,” said Shenon, who wrote “A Cruel and Shocking Act.”
“The hat apparently goes to the Secret Service initially and the Secret Service turns it over to Mrs. Kennedy’s private secretary, and then it disappears. It has not been seen since.”
The archive has the suit stored in a windowless vault, in an acid free container, where the air is changed three times an hour to properly maintain the wool and cloth.
It is kept at a temperature of 65 to 68 degrees, which is best for the fabric.
