This Wednesday, November 22, marks sixty years since the assassination of John F. Kennedy in Dallas. The then president of the United States was touring the city by car with his wife, Jackie Kennedy, when he was shot twice in the head, ending his life. Some shocking images that went down in history and that turned the suit worn by the first lady into a symbol.
According to journalists at the time, Jackie did not take off her pink outfit until the day after the event, when she arrived at the White House. Her suit, which looked like it was from Chanel but was actually a version made by the New York brand Chez Ninon, was covered in blood.
Kennedy was devoted to this tweed suit that he had worn on several occasions before the assassination, but that day he decided that he would not wear it again, neither the tweed ensemble nor the shirt, bag, pillbox hat and stockings that he wore during his fateful visit to Dallas on that cold November day.
A historical costume that is kept at the request of Caroline Kennedy, the couple’s daughter. Although the family kept this first lady’s outfit for a few years, in 2003 Caroline decided to give it to the United States National Archives. She set only one condition: that she not show it to the public.
According to several media outlets, the pink outfit with black details on the collar, sleeves and pockets is preserved in its original state, with the blood intact. In the place where it is stored, the air is changed up to six times an hour and the temperature is precisely controlled so that the jacket and skirt remain in the same conditions.
In the document that Caroline Kennedy signed, she asked that her mother’s outfit not be shown so as not to “dishonor the memory” of her parents. She also said that she wanted to avoid “causing grief or suffering to members of her family”, so it was agreed that he would not be exposed again until 2103, a very distant date.
