The pink suit that former first lady Jacqueline Kennedy wore the day her husband was shot 50 years ago — now blood-stained — will stay hidden from public view until at least 2103.
It’s never been cleaned, and it’s not been seen by anyone except National Archives workers at the building in Maryland, where it’s now stored, since Nov. 22, 1963, CNN reported.
Immediately following the assassination, Mrs. Kennedy refused to change out of the suit, a Coco Chanel knockoff, saying several times: “No, I’m going to leave these clothes on. I want them to see what they have done.”
The article of clothing was sent to the Maryland facility by Caroline Kennedy in 2003, after Mrs. Kenney died, as a gift to the public — and the caveat not to display it until 2103.
Also at the archives, and still hidden: Mrs. Kennedy’s blue blouse, her stockings, her blue shoes and her blue purse, CNN reported. Missing still is the former first lady’s pillbox pink hat, CNN reported.
“The hat is a mystery,” one historian wrote, CNN reported. “The hat apparently goes to the Secret Service initially and the Secret Service turns it over to Mrs. Kennedy’s private secretary and then it disappears. It has not been seen since.”
SEE ALSO: 50 years later, John F. Kennedy’s death still haunts America
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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