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Jack Smith, costume designer and historian, highlighted two of the White House\u2019s most notable fashion icons \u2014 Jacqueline Kennedy and Lady Bird Johnson \u2014 for a packed house at the LBJ Museum\u2019s Summer Chautauqua. Daily Record photo by Shannon West<\/p>\n
This year\u2019s LBJ Museum Summer Chautauqua was all about fashion and its two first lady icons \u2014 Jacqueline Kennedy and, of course, Lady Bird Johnson.<\/p>\n
Jack Smith is a costume designer, educator and historian who walked attendees through \u201cFashion\u2019s Impact on the White House.\u201d He teaches at the School of Theater and Dance at Texas State and researches costume history, fashion and politics.<\/p>\n
Smith laid out a picture of two stylish women who employed fashion in very different ways. Kennedy\u2019s polished, sophisticated wardrobe was designed to make a visual and diplomatic statement, while Johnson\u2019s practical style emphasized accessibility and American-made fashion with a Texas flair.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Jackie look\u201d was defined by clean lines, tailored suits, pastel colors, pillbox hats, oversized sunglasses and a minimal amount of jewelry that included pearls.<\/p>\n
Kennedy cemented her image as a style icon during her husband\u2019s inauguration in 1961 when Oleg Cassini, who was a little-known name at the time but a good friend of Jackie\u2019s, designed a beige wool coat with clean lines and a small staple collar.<\/p>\n
\u201cKnowing the ceremony would be captured primarily in black and white photographs, she correctly anticipated that her coat would stand out in the crowd of heavy dark furs and dark coats,\u201d Smith said. \u201cThis established her enduring legacy of timeless, sophisticated elegance. And you see there a group of first ladies and other dignitaries, and Jackie just shines as an individual little jewel.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her relationship with Cassini was central to the development of her public image as he became her signature designer. The look that the two carefully curated together, with a nod to Kennedy\u2019s French roots, would start to define American style. Kennedy did not invent the pillbox hat, but Smith said she helped make it one of the most popular hat styles of the 1960s.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow, other first ladies have impacted fashion. That is to be certain. Jackie did it like a surgeon,\u201d Smith said. \u201cShe understood every choice she made would be replicated. She understood how it would be seen. She understood the meaning of the clothing. Jacqueline Kennedy was a brilliant cultural diplomat.\u201d<\/p>\n
After JFK\u2019s untimely death thrust LBJ into the presidency, Lady Bird Johnson continued work associated with the White House gardens. In a handwritten note, Jackie Kennedy thanked Lady Bird.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe said she was grateful because it meant that there would always be something of John there to remind them of what a great man is,\u201d Smith said. \u201cIt is heartbreaking to me that this has been paved over.\u201d<\/p>\n
While the two women shared a love of clean-line tailored suits, Johnson differed from her predecessor in rejecting high fashion.<\/p>\n
\u201cInstead, she relied on an enduring functional wardrobe featuring structured pleats and architectural lines designed to connect with everyday middle-class American women,\u201d Smith said. \u201cHer style also reflected her proud Southern roots at the LBJ Ranch, frequently called the Texas White House. She often wore casual jeans, Western boots for public events.\u201d<\/p>\n
Smith believes both women fundamentally changed expectations for the role of first lady, with Kennedy being a champion for cultural diplomacy, fashion and historic preservation and Johnson through environmental advocacy and social programs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jack Smith, costume designer and historian, highlighted two of the White House\u2019s most notable fashion icons \u2014 Jacqueline…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":436618,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[132,134,133,8194],"class_list":["post-436617","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-austin","tag-austin","tag-austin-headlines","tag-austin-news","tag-features"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/436617","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=436617"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/436617\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/436618"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=436617"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=436617"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=436617"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}