Inaugural gowns reflect the tastes and times of First Ladies
Will Arnold Scaasi, Barbara Bush’s designer of choice, fall from grace? Will anyone take his place? Only Hillary Clinton knows for sure.
First Ladies have been dictating trends for decades. In their honor, the Richard Nixon Library & Birthplace in Yorba Linda is hosting “White House Style: Formal Gowns of the First Ladies,” a traveling exhibit of 22 dresses displayed on headless mannequins, today through April 18.
The special-occasion gowns, replicas of those housed in the Smithsonian Institution, come from an anonymous private collector and stand against background photos of the originals. They reflect the personal and historical events surrounding our First Ladies, from Martha Washington to Rosalynn Carter.
Lou Henry Hoover’s simple dress of pale-green satin, with a draped cowl neckline and cap sleeves, for example, jibed with the austerity of the Great Depression. Jane Pierce’s black gown was worn after the death of her son in the early 1850s. And Ellen Wilson’s dress included a trendy hobble skirt, an unwieldy, ankle-hugging design created by Paris designer Paul Poiret around 1912.
“Each gown reflects not only the fashion trends at the time but distinctly American style during each presidency,” museum curator Amanda Fish says.
Some of the dresses, it seems, merely mirror the sometimes quirky tastes of their owners. The Martha Washington formal features hand-painted native American wildflowers and insects, while the one worn by Caroline Harrison uses a fabric incorporating designs of oak leaves and cockleburs from her home state of Indiana.
From Jacqueline Kennedy, revered as one of the most stylish White House residents, comes a cream-colored silk Inaugural gown with a matching floor-length cape. And it is the Nixon library, so a copy of Pat’s beaded gold silk and satin Inaugural dress is also on display.
The dresses may be fakes, but the accompanying accessories are for real.
A lace fan used by Sarah Polk, a silver, gold and tortoise-shell hair comb worn by Lucy Webb Hayes and white kid opera-length gloves worn by Lady Bird Johnson are all in pristine condition.
A choker of costume pearls and alternating rondels worn by Mamie Eisenhower shows that Barbara Bush wasn’t the first to don faux pearls for formal occasions. The impressive set was made by Trifari, one of America’s oldest costume-jewelry makers, and remains in its elaborate original case.
