Jacqueline Kennedy: In Her Own Words

Jacqueline Kennedy: In Her Own Words airs tonight on ABC

I do love a fashion icon, especially one from the 1950s or 1960s.  I find the ladylike fashions {and manners} of this era gorgeous and inspiring.  One of the biggest American fashion icons ever, if not the biggest, was Miss Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis.  As First Lady in the early ‘60s, Jackie never took a fashion misstep.  From pillbox hats to pearls, and shift dresses to suits, she was always put together ~ the perfect politician’s wife.  Together with her husband, they became the closest thing America has ever had to our own royal family.  After the White House years, the widowed and remarried Jackie O continued to be a fashion inspiration, now in slim-fit t-shirts, tailored pants {skinny leg and flared}, glamorous head scarves, and of course, those sunglasses.

But Jackie Kennedy Onassis was more than just a fashion plate ~ most of us just never got to see the woman behind the couture.  Tonight, however, we are invited in Jackie’s private world, as ABC airs it’s two-hour special Jacqueline Kennedy:  in her own words.  We will hear for the first time about Jackie’s experiences in the White House, in Jackie’s voice.   Jackie recorded over eight hours worth of interview tapes several months after her husband’s death, and instructed that the tapes not be released until “the appropriate time”.   Her children, John Jr and Caroline, read transcripts of the death shortly after their mother’s death, and Caroline finally listened to the audio tapes recently.

In the tapes, Jackie talks with her interviewer about a range of topics, from what it was like to transition to the White House {she did not want to embarrass or disappoint her husband, and was thrilled for his sake when people took a liking to her}, to her husband's feelings about vice-president Lyndon Johnson {he wasn't a fan}, to their private conversations during the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis {she was determined to stand by her husband, literally and physically, in the event of a nuclear war; "...I just want to be with you, and I want to die with you, and the children do too ~ than live without you"}.

So I invite fans of fashion, politics, and history to watch with me tonight as the incomparable Diane Sawyer and ABC bring us “Jacqueline Kennedy: in her own words”.  Democrat or Republican, Kennedy fan or not, young or old ~ I think we are all about to become privy to some pretty fascinating information from the mouth and mind of one of our country’s most inspirational women.

xoxo
Bean

{photo credits: dailymischief.com; artinthedeal.blogspot.com; lvloves.blogspot.com; habituallychic.blogspot.com; just-chic.blogspot.com; thefashioncaucus.wordpress.com}