Jackie Kennedy Womens Lib Predecessor - 1254 Words

Introduction Jacqueline Kennedys fashion influence the news story as often as public addresses of the President. â€Å"All the talk over what I wear and how I fix my hair has amused me and puzzled me. What does my hairdo have to do with my husbands ability to be President? (Perry 60). Jacqueline Kennedy’s question was one that needed addressing because for a little over a century American First Ladies’ fashions were constantly being critiqued on a celebrity-like status. First Lady Mary Lincoln also worried about her appearance was recorded telling her seamstress that she felt the public was her greatest critic (Weinham 1). Jacqueline Kennedy’s question proved that the conundrum persisted through to the twentieth century. With Mrs.†¦show more content†¦Jacqueline’s pants were radically borderlining the public’s acceptance during a time when ladies commonly wore dresses out in public (Pendergrast and Pendergrast 2). With those matters in mi nd, Jackie privately instilled feminist values in her daughter Caroline (Mooney 1). The beginnings of the second wave of feminism also happen within the time frame that Jacqueline Kennedy was becoming popular. Structured Suits The suit, most often worn by men in the early 60s, generated power to the wearer. Women were known to still wear dresses and skirts as public attire as aforementioned (cite). Jacqueline Kennedy’s â€Å"power suit† meant far more to searchers of female independence. It had been the very symbol of female subordination, but with the switched gender of the wearer, the suit was a symbol of fear for the ruling bodies of the United States. Jacqueline Kennedy did not just wear suits occasionally to fit her folly. She became known for her iconic favoritism toward the â€Å"simple lines† of a suit. Jacqueline specifically wore her renowned suits for business-like events that she would be involved. The suits of Jacqueline, although primarily skirt based, were the cornerstones to her plans for the Kennedy Administration. The suit symbolized the blueprint to campaigning for equality of the sexes that was looked to be achieved during Women’s Liberatio n in the 1970s and also her own plans of change in the White House. For the projects