Mrs. Kennedy

Check these out - I found them in my parents' basement over the weekend, in boxes of my grandfather's old stuff. The first is from April 1961, a few months after President Kennedy's inauguration, and the second went to print November 22, 1964 - one year after JFK's death. I could not be more pleased that my grandfather had the good sense to set aside stacks of magazines in the 60s - especially when covers featuring Jackie turn up! 

Mrs. Onassis, 1972

I was equal parts thrilled and disappointed when I ran across trove after trove of antique shop last week in California. Thrilled because, well, duh. But disappointed when I was forced to admit that there’s no way Southwest’s letting me on the plane home with, say, that big faux horn. So you can imagine my delight when I saw Jackie peeking up at me from a stack of old Life magazines. God bless her, she fit right flat into the front zip pocket on my suitcase. Next up – frames, for both the cover and that classic Galella shot, my all time favorite.

Lunch at the Renwick

 

The Renwick is my favorite gallery in D.C. and, lucky for me, only a stone's throw from my office. I ducked in today over lunch for the first time in ages and, well, swoon! Something different gets me every time. Today it's those warm yolk-yellow hues (for which my camera does little justice) and the resplendent green velvet on those chairs (for which no words of praise are necessary). And a little Renwick trivia for you - Jackie Kennedy saved it from destruction in the '60s and had it restored to its original grandeur. Something, isn't it?

American women

 

Just look at these photos. Thirty prints of each are on sale now at Net-A-Porter. Hand picked by Anna Wintour from the Vogue archive, no words of praise are really necessary. Have you ever seen Grace Kelly look so ethereal? And my two other favorites - Babe Paley, looking every bit an early Blair Waldorf (or is it that Blair's every bit a modern Babe?), and a one Miss Jacqueline Bouvier, pre-Kennedy years. Classic.

(Photos: Jean Howard, 1954; Horst P. Horst, 1946; Richard Rutledge, 1951)