About this Book

More than anything else, the name Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis is associated with style. Jackie's style was elegant yet sporty, sophisticated yet casual. Like Audrey Hepburn and Grace Kelly, Jackie came of age during the postwar years, a time of relative affluence when American women had the wherewithal to take style seriously. She was thirty-one when her husband was elected President, becoming the youngest First Lady ever, and she brought a breath of fresh air to the White House. Her style was easy to imitate and accessible to anyone; among the classic items she made popular are the sleeveless A-line shift dress and those famous big dark sunglasses. Key to the enduring popularity of Jackie Style is that it was never static; it evolved over time. In the early 1960s, she favoured prim French suits, white clafskin gloves and pillbox hats; a decade later, her trademarks included black turtlenecks and white jeans, bellbottom trousersuits and maxi coats. When she returned to Manhattan after the death of Onassis, her working woman's uniform as an editor at Doubleday consisted of softly draped trousers and silk blouses by Valentino, in the most exquisite colour combinations. The cle