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Jackie Kennedy's fairy-tale wedding was a nightmare for her African American dress designer
Source: Washington Post
Jackie Kennedy’s fairy-tale wedding was a nightmare for her African American dress designer
Ann Lowe was snubbed by the future first lady, who described her as ‘a colored dressmaker’ without naming her.
By Gillian Brockell August 28 at 4:57 PM
The 1953 wedding of Jacqueline Bouvier and then-Sen. John F. Kennedy was so perfect it is still being talked about more than 65 years later. As recently as 2017, gossip website The List was still calling it “the most beautiful wedding ever.” It was a fairy tale worthy of the legendary couple who would preside over Camelot.
But for Ann Lowe, who designed the bridal gown, it was a nightmare. First, the wedding dress was destroyed 10 days before the ceremony. Then the 24-year-old bride, who did not really like the gown in the first place, snubbed her.
Asked who made the dress, a viral tweet remembered this week, Jackie simply responded ”a colored dressmaker.”
Ann Lowe was born and raised in Clayton, Ala. Her great-grandmother, an enslaved woman, had given birth to a child fathered by her white plantation owner. Her mother and grandmother were both seamstresses to wealthy Alabama elites and as a child, she amused herself by shaping cloth flowers out of the scraps leftover in their work, she told Ebony in 1966.
Her mother died when Lowe was only 16, leaving four ball gowns for the first lady of Alabama unfinished. Lowe completed the order.
-snip-
Ann Lowe was snubbed by the future first lady, who described her as ‘a colored dressmaker’ without naming her.
By Gillian Brockell August 28 at 4:57 PM
The 1953 wedding of Jacqueline Bouvier and then-Sen. John F. Kennedy was so perfect it is still being talked about more than 65 years later. As recently as 2017, gossip website The List was still calling it “the most beautiful wedding ever.” It was a fairy tale worthy of the legendary couple who would preside over Camelot.
But for Ann Lowe, who designed the bridal gown, it was a nightmare. First, the wedding dress was destroyed 10 days before the ceremony. Then the 24-year-old bride, who did not really like the gown in the first place, snubbed her.
Asked who made the dress, a viral tweet remembered this week, Jackie simply responded ”a colored dressmaker.”
Link to tweet
Ann Lowe was born and raised in Clayton, Ala. Her great-grandmother, an enslaved woman, had given birth to a child fathered by her white plantation owner. Her mother and grandmother were both seamstresses to wealthy Alabama elites and as a child, she amused herself by shaping cloth flowers out of the scraps leftover in their work, she told Ebony in 1966.
Her mother died when Lowe was only 16, leaving four ball gowns for the first lady of Alabama unfinished. Lowe completed the order.
-snip-
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2019/08/28/jackie-kennedys-fairy-tale-wedding-was-nightmare-her-african-american-dress-designer/
9 replies
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= new reply since forum marked as read
The greatest first lady (And co-president) to me is ....
And for HER time, and for ANY time, she really put it out there.
Unafraid and unfazed one bit.
#7 SHE WAS A LEADING ACTIVIST FOR THE RIGHTS OF WOMEN AND AFRICAN AMERICANS
Eleanor Roosevelt was vocal in her support of the African-American civil rights movement. She broke with precedent by inviting hundreds of African-American guests to the White House. She was one of the only voices in the White House that insisted that benefits be equally extended to Americans of all races. Eleanor also worked tirelessly for the rights of women. Among other things, she encouraged her husband to appoint more women to federal positions, helped working women receive better wages and held numerous press conferences for female reporters only, at a time when women were barred from White House press conferences.
Eleanor Roosevelt with an African-American child in Detroit in 1935.
I love her with a passion .....
And for HER time, and for ANY time, she really put it out there.
Unafraid and unfazed one bit.
#7 SHE WAS A LEADING ACTIVIST FOR THE RIGHTS OF WOMEN AND AFRICAN AMERICANS
Eleanor Roosevelt was vocal in her support of the African-American civil rights movement. She broke with precedent by inviting hundreds of African-American guests to the White House. She was one of the only voices in the White House that insisted that benefits be equally extended to Americans of all races. Eleanor also worked tirelessly for the rights of women. Among other things, she encouraged her husband to appoint more women to federal positions, helped working women receive better wages and held numerous press conferences for female reporters only, at a time when women were barred from White House press conferences.
Eleanor Roosevelt with an African-American child in Detroit in 1935.
I love her with a passion .....
