Jacqueline Kennedy’s iconic purple maternity coat heads to auction
Few garments embody elegance and history as perfectly as the purple wool maternity coat worn by Jacqueline Kennedy on the night of her husband John F. Kennedy’s election to the presidency on November 8, 1960.
Immortalized on the cover of the special issue of Life magazine introducing the newly elected president and the First Lady, the coat became a symbol both of the dawn of a new political era and of the rise of one of the most enduring style icons of the 20th century, CE Report quotes ANSA.
The garment is now going up for auction, until December 15, at Sotheby’s in New York, in a sale titled Handbags & Fashion, with an estimated price between 6,000 and 8,000 dollars.
At the time — explains the auction house — Jacqueline Kennedy was eight months pregnant with her second child, John F. Kennedy Jr.
Her public appearances were necessarily limited during the campaign, but when she joined Senator Kennedy in Hyannis Port on election night, she did so in an outfit of striking simplicity and modernity. The vivid purple shade — a bold choice among the neutral tones typical of political wardrobes — conveyed a sense of optimism and individuality. The slightly flared silhouette, the rounded collar, and the oversized buttons showcased her preference for clean, architectural lines and impeccable tailoring, qualities that would soon define her approach to White House fashion.
The coat is being offered by a family with long-standing and close ties to the Kennedys, a testament to a friendship that has spanned generations. The garment was shared among a small circle of Mrs. Kennedy’s friends, also expectant mothers, and passed from hand to hand as a treasured maternity piece. The donor’s mother was the last in this group to wear the coat, preserving it with great care afterward.
