When Jackie Kennedy wed her second husband, the Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis, in 1968, the dress she chose was worlds apart from the Ann Lowe couture gown she wore for her first wedding to John F Kennedy. For the ceremony on Onassis’s private Greek island, Skorpios, she opted for a more relaxed option, albeit still couture: a Valentino high-neck lace top and pleated skirt from the designer’s spring 1968 collection.
“Jackie’s wedding dress was groundbreaking for the time, being an unconventional short dress,” Marissa Speer, head of sale for designer handbags and fashion at Bonhams in the US, tells Vogue. “The dress is a stepping stone in her transition from the Queen of Camelot to Jackie O: style icon, where she was making her own choices and showing her independence through her style.”
It’s believed that Jackie purchased the two-piece during a private showing of Valentino’s haute couture collection, along with several other dresses. “Jackie wore a few Valentino outfits during the 1960s, so it was a natural choice for her wedding dress,” Speer explains. “Valentino during this time was growing in popularity and went on to be prolific in the 1970s.”
Following Jackie’s death in 1994, the Valentino ensemble was gifted to a couple who worked on Onassis’s yacht, Christina. It’s now going up for auction later this month, with an estimate of $8,000 to $12,000, alongside John F Kennedy Jr’s Calvin Klein tuxedo and suit and Giorgio Armani coat.
With Kim Kardashian already the proud owner of Jackie Kennedy’s vintage Cartier watch, might she snap up the former First Lady’s Valentino wedding dress, too? Watch this space.
