oh my gosh. How old are all you kids? It may be one of my first concious memories waving to a very red faced Jack Kennedy as he drove up Whalley Avenue in New Haven a day or two before the 1960 election. This stuff is legend in Connecticut. And believe it or not, after that day, all those wealthy Irish Kids got invited to all the WASPY events. Inclusion and exclusion meant something else after that. at least at the New England Prep School fora and all those oh so exclusionary Northeast Colleges.
     JFK dessed better than the people who banned his old man. and so it goes.

Last edited by tom222222 (2007-09-21 21:24:37)

thank you for that post. It is now so long ago. My gosh 47 years! But to my mind it just seems like yesterday. So vivid a memory that we can almost touch it. I just shake my head about the world as it was, and as it is. At this point it is only a dream, but a very stylish one.

I love the 2 button Kennedy jacket.  The guy from Chipp claimed in a post here that he made one for JFK.  The Andover 2 button looks like the Kennedy jacket too.  I like the show of shirt and tie on the 2 button.  The three/two is great too, but there's something about the 2 button that looks a little more sophisticated and youthful.

That last post of JFK walking on the beach is great.  What a coat.  I love that casual elegance.  For a political figure at the time, that must've really been something to show such youthfulness, vigor -- the marketing must've hit people the right way before we became aware of the degree to which we were being marketed....

Gotta love that hes playing golf in a pair of penny loafers

compare Jack Kennedy and Harold Macmillan. Who would you rather dress like?
     I said it before: those days in some ways seem so distant, but in other ways you just think you could reach out and deflect the bullets in Dallas.
      The Kennedy years were may more complicated than the legend. But  a lot of the history of America for the last 40 years involves an attempt to replicate that moment in time. The least we can do is dress with some reference to the classic style.
     Oh and just by reference, if you like the style: Arthur Schlessinger published a great postumous diary earlier in the year and the legendary Ted Sorenson published his memoirs last Friday. It wasn't all about the clothes.

I thought JFK used to be a Savile Row man but his advisors switched him to a more American look as they thought it would seem less patrician and more of the people.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4159/is_20070422/ai_n19036944

Harold Macmillan, 1957-63
"Supermac" was the quintessential old Tory grandee - someone who knew how to dress from birth, and made it look effortless - although his Savile Row suits were cut with a little more dash then usual. And he was a vain man; in one telling photograph he is seen posing with JFK, both wearing suits from Kilgour, the smartest tailor on Savile Row at the time.

http://www.jfklibrary.org/Historical+Resources/Archives/Reference+Desk/John+F+Kennedys+Shirt+and+Suit+Preferences.htm

There is nothing in the library files to indicate John F. Kennedy's exact personal preferences or with whom he order his clothing; however, according to Dave Powers, the President's friend and assistant, President Kennedy wore Brooks Brothers shirts and single-breasted, conservatively cut suits from Saville Row. He seemed to also prefer them blue pin-striped in design.
This is not to say that he did not use other "brands" or tailors, but according to Mr. Powers, these were the most popular choices.