Politics & Government

Jackie Kennedy's Famous Pink Suit is in Maryland But You Can't See It

The National Archives in Maryland houses the iconic pink suit First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy wore on her fateful trip to Dallas in 1963.

Jacqueline Kennedy's blood-stained pink suit -- forever marred by the aftermath of her husband's assassination on Nov. 22, 1963 -- has never been seen in public since that fateful day, says CNN.

The First Lady was covered in blood when her husband was shot while traveling in a motorcade through Dallas 50 years ago. When aides suggested she change her clothes for the trip back to Washington, she refused, according to historical accounts.

"Her remark, I think she made it more than once is, 'No, I'm going to leave these clothes on. I want them to see what they have done,' " author Philip Shenon told CNN.

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The suit -- often referred today as a Chanel but actually an authorized line-by-line replica made in 1961 by Chez Ninon of New York -- is in the National Archives building in College Park, says USA Today. Years ago, it reportedly arrived in a box, along with a handwritten note from Jackie Kennedy's mother on her personal stationery that read simply: "Jackie's suit and bag - worn November 22nd, 1963."

What historians don't have is the first lady's matching pink pillbox hat, which hasn't been seen since the assassination, reports CNN.

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The archive reportedly has the suit stored in a windowless vault, in an acid free container, where the air is changed three times an hour to properly maintain the wool and cloth, said the newspaper.

Also stored at the archives are assassin Lee Harvey Oswald's clothing, rifle and pistol, bullets and bullet fragments from the assassination, the windshield of President Kennedy's limousine and Oswald's diary and other writings, says USA Today.

The public hasn't seen the suit since the assassination and won't for another 90 years. CNN says that in 2003, nine years after her mother's death, Caroline Kennedy gave the suit as a gift to the people of the United States with the understanding that it would not be put on display until 2103.


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