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Jacqueline Lee Bouvier’s wedding to Massachusetts Sen. John F. Kennedy was scheduled to be the social event of the season in 1953. The good-looking couple was the envy of everyone in Washington, D.C., but their ceremony almost didn’t happen because of a last-minute disaster with Jackie’s wedding dress.
Ann Lowe, a legendary Black haute-couture designer, was commissioned to create Jackie’s dress, 15 bridesmaids’ gowns, and the mother of the bride’s attire — she was the perfect person for the job, having customized gorgeous high-end pieces for the Rockefellers and the Roosevelts. However, 10 days before the Sept. 12 wedding, a major crisis occurred: a pipe in Lowe’s studio burst and ruined Jackie’s’ gown and nine of the 15 bridesmaids’ dresses.
The original gown had already taken them two months to construct because of the “more than 50 yards of silk taffeta,” according to French Vogue. Now, they only had 10 days to work around the clock and make the bride the dress of her dreams. Lowe wound up losing $2,200 ($21,000 in the modern era) on the job because she had to pay out of pocket for the reconstruction, but she pulled off a miracle.
Lowe should have been the star of the show behind the scenes for her gorgeous design, but it was Joseph Kennedy, JFK‘s father, who was in charge of the press that day. Only one reporter, The Washington Post’s Nina Hyde, mentioned Lowe’s name because Joseph failed to promote the designer’s work on what has become an iconic wedding dress. The gown had already been a point of contention because Joseph dictated the design while the 24-year-old Jackie preferred something “simple and French,” according to The Washington Post. Now, Lowe was essentially erased from the equation because of the color of her skin.
Years later, the rift between the women drifted away after Jackie finally learned the story of how Lowe saved her wedding day from a total disaster — the designer had kept the water damage story a secret for decades. Lowe turned out to be the true hero of the day and it’s taken years for her to get the true credit she deserved back in 1953.
Before you go, click here to see photos of JFK and Jackie O.’s grown-up grandkids.
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