
Above
left: Eunice Kennedy Shriver. Above: Television newswoman and
Jacqueline's niece Maria Shriver. Left: Senator Edward Kennedy and
his wife, Victoria, followed by hotelier Vikram Chatwal and date Karen Elson.
 
Above
left: Stephanie Seymour Brant and her husband, Peter. Above:
Helena Christensen. Left: Christy Turlington in Yves Saint Laurent.
Below left: Elle Macpherson in Valentino. Below: Broadway
and Tony Award-winning actor Alan Cumming.
 
Right:
Maggie Rizer and friend. Far right: Iman and Naomi Campbell accompanied
by Stephano Dolce and Domenico Gabbana. Below: Angela Lindvall and
Carmen Kass.
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Timeline
1960
November 25 Birth of John F. Kennedy Jr.
1961
January 20 JFK inaugurated, Jacqueline Kennedy becomes third-youngest
First Lady.
February 23 The First Lady announces formation of 12-member
Fine Arts Committee for the White House to develop restoration plans.
March 29 Lorraine Pearce appointed White House's first curator.
April 12 Yuri Gagarin is first man to orbit Earth.
April 17 Fidel Castro's forces repel Bay of Pigs invasion.
May 3 First state dinner of Kennedy administration, honouring
President Habib Bourguiba of Tunisia.
May 16 President and Mrs Kennedy arrive in Canada for state
visit.
May 24 Prince Rainier and Princess Grace visit the White
House.
May 31 President and Mrs Kennedy arrive in France for three-day
visit.
June 2 President Kennedy introduces himself to a press conference
as the man who accompanied Jacqueline Kennedy to Paris.
June 4 President and Mrs Kennedy arrive in London for the
christening of their niece, Anna Christina Radziwill. Later, they
dine with the Queen and Prince Philip at Buckingham Palace.
July 11 The Kennedys host the first state dinner outside
the White House, at Mt Vernon, in honour of President Mohammad Ayub
Khan of Pakistan.
August 12 Berlin Wall construction begins.
August 22 Mrs Kennedy sponsors the First Concert for Young
People, held on the White House's south lawn.
September 21 Public law 87-286, championed by Mrs Kennedy,
makes White House a national monument.
September 22 Attorney-General Robert Kennedy's petition to
ban segregation in bus travel approved.
November 3 The White House Historical Association is incorporated.
At the National Gallery of Art, Mrs Kennedy opens the Tutankhamun's
Treasures exhibition, then receives an ancient statue as a gift
from President Gamal Abder Nasser of Egypt.
November 13 Cellist Pablo Casals performs at the White House
at a state dinner for Governor Luis Muñoz Marín of
Puerto Rico.
November 25 The White House Paintings Committee formed.
December 14 President Kennedy establishes the President's
Commission on the Status of Women.
December 15 President and Mrs Kennedy embark on state visits
of Puerto Rico, Colombia and Venezuela.
1962
February 14 Mrs Kennedy hosts a televised tour of the White
House. She later receives a special Emmy Award for public service.
Source: Metropolitan Museum programme
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OLLYWOOD’S
most famous costume designer called her ‘the greatest single influence
on fashion in history.’ Women’s Wear Daily coined the phrase ‘Her
Elegance’ to denote her sovereign sway over the [fashion] industry. To
most other people in America and around the world, she was simply one
of the most captivating women who ever lived.
To mark the 40th anniversary of Jacqueline Kennedy’s
emergence as one of our most unforgettable first ladies, the Metropolitan
Museum of Art will celebrate this spring with an unprecedented special
exhibition of her iconic fashions and fashion sense. The exhibition, Jacqueline
Kennedy: the White House Years—Selections from the John F. Kennedy Library
Library and Museum, is a collaborative effort between the Met and
the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum, which runs from May 1 to July
29, 2001. (After leaving the Met, the exhibition will be re-staged at
the Kennedy Library in Massachusetts September 12, 2001 through February
28, 2002.)
It features some 80 original costumes and accessories
donated by the former First Lady after she left the White House, as well
as documents and objects associated with Mrs Kennedy’s work on the White
House restoration and its historical preservation. The collection encompasses
key elements from her formal White House wardrobe, pieces worn during
President Kennedy’s 1960 presidential campaign, as well as major pieces
from her trips abroad on presidential trips.
‘It is [entirely] appropriate indeed that the Museum,
an institution with which Jacqueline Kennedy enjoyed profoundly close
ties, should celebrate the timeless impact of her extraordinary, unforgettable
grace and style,’ notes Philippe de Montebello, Director of the Metropolitan
Museum. ‘It was Mrs Kennedy who personally chose the Temple of Dendur
as Egypt’s gift to the United States. She was an important part of our
institutional life, and it is a great honour to pay tribute to her with
this exploration of her impact on the culture of fashion.’
American Vogue’s European editor-in-chief, Hamish
Bowles, was tapped to serve as a creative consultant to the exhibition,
as well as editor and contributing writer to the accompanying exhibition
catalogue which was published to coincide with the opening of the show.
‘Jacqueline Kennedy is one of history’s great style
icons,’ said Mr Bowles. ‘She set the standards that American women strove
to follow, and, on the world stage, provided a visual metaphor for the
youth and promise of the Kennedy administration. Her influence as First
Lady was primal and pervasive, both in the national consciousness and
on the international stage, and has proven enduringly potent.
‘This is a singular opportunity to bring together and
explore so many different elements of that iconic style and substance,
through a synergy of clothing, related objects, photography and video.’
Highlighted pieces includes the fawn coat and the much
celebrated pillbox hat worn for the presidential inaugural ceremonies
on the steps of the Capitol on January 20, 1961; the regal ivory satin
gown worn to the pre-Inaugural gala; and the red dress worn for the televised
tour of the White House on February 14, 1962.

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