I’ve been waiting for an excuse to post the beige pillbox Jackie wore at JFK’s Inaugural fifty years ago today.
It may not be as famous as the pink pillbox she wore in Dallas, but this one has such an appealing sculptural simplicity. The nobility and purity it conveys exemplifies how expertly Jackie created not just a style, but an iconography with her clothing. According to Oleg Cassini, who famously dressed her while she was first lady, Jackie's signature pillbox, sitting back atop her bouffant hair, was inspired by images of Nefertiti. This one, I think, is more “white chess queen.” The top hat Jack wore that day completed the coronation/wedding couple "look." What a perfect symbol for our love affair with America’s royal family.
As we mark the sesquicentennial of each southern state’s secession, it might seem like the year ahead is shaping up to be wall-to-wall Civil War. But there’s so much more in the way of ‘Anniversary Journalism’ for us to rehash over the next twelve months. Here’s a look ahead at what we’ll be looking back on, in 2011.
Events are arranged by month, regardless of year, to reflect the order of expected media onslaught.
Above is a Civil War recruiting poster from 1862. I couldn’t hold it for next year—by then we’ll be on to the bicentennial of the War of 1812.
January 17, 1961
I know. You’ve heard the phrase “military industrial complex”
enough this year, to last you a lifetime. But if you haven’t watched
the actual clip, you MUST.
January 20, 1961 John F. Kennedy inauguration.
January 28, 1986 It's hard to believe that it's been 25 years since the Challenger exploded.
February 4, 1911 Centennial of Ronald Reagan’s birth.
March 1, 1961 The Peace Corps is established. Poster, above
May 23, 1911 The first Indy 500 was held at the Speedway on Memorial Day.
May 24, 1941 Bob Dylan, here on a “poster dress” from 1967, turns 70.
July 2, 1961 Hemingway’s death, by self-inflicted gunshot wound, rated a front-page New York Times obit.
July 3, 1971 Jim Morrison dies in Paris at the age of 27. At the time of his death there were reportedly as many as 20 paternity actions pending against him. (Wikipedia)
L. Eckstein is a NYC-based graphic designer and artist. When she had a job that came with an office, all matter of visual interest could be tacked up on her wall, or walked down the hall to be shared with a co-worker. Her job no longer comes with an office. This is now her wall—and her hall.
*All my eye and Betty Martin means that something is total and complete nonsense. It is found in British English from the eighteenth century on, but is hardly known today.--World Wide Words
I’ve been waiting for an excuse to post the beige pillbox Jackie wore at JFK’s Inaugural fifty years ago today.
