--- title: JFK and Jackie: When the President and First Lady Were Style Icons description: JFK and Jackie were at one time in the early 1960s so popular and so chic that mannequins were created in their image. canonical: https://time.com/3878327/jfk-and-jackie-1961-when-the-president-and-first-lady-were-american-style-icons/ author: Ben Cosgrove article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2013-11-08T15:05:39.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:47:35.042Z og:title: JFK and Jackie: When the President and First Lady Were Style Icons og:description: JFK and Jackie were at one time in the early 1960s so popular and so chic that mannequins were created in their image. og:url: https://time.com/3878327/jfk-and-jackie-1961-when-the-president-and-first-lady-were-american-style-icons/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltef1c3a4ed004f886/698846c806f2c1922f3391da/01_00863864.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Jackie Kennedy Mannequin 1961 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: JFK and Jackie: When the President and First Lady Were Style Icons twitter:description: JFK and Jackie were at one time in the early 1960s so popular and so chic that mannequins were created in their image. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltef1c3a4ed004f886/698846c806f2c1922f3391da/01_00863864.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # JFK and Jackie: When They Were 'Dummies' by [Ben Cosgrove](https://time.com/author/ben-cosgrove/) ## Ben Cosgrove Nov 8, 2013 3:05 PM UTC  Caption from LIFE. "Making its debut, Jackie mannequin, a standard size 10, stands at John Frederics shop in New York where pillbox hats sell for $35 to $70." Caption from LIFE. "Making its debut, Jackie mannequin, a standard size 10, stands at John Frederics shop in New York where pillbox hats sell for $35 to $70."Yale Joel—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images by [Ben Cosgrove](https://time.com/author/ben-cosgrove/) ## Ben Cosgrove Nov 8, 2013 3:05 PM UTC The notion that Jackie Kennedy was, and remains, a fashion icon is today such a commonplace that it’s difficult to fathom, five decades later, just how enormous her influence really was the late 1950s and early 1960s, when she and JFK briefly held — or rather _owned_ — the national spotlight. In fact, one simply can not render a complete picture of American style in the latter half of the 20th century without a bow to Paris-born Oleg Cassini and the designs he created expressly for Jacqueline Lee Bouvier Kennedy. To this day, it’s pretty much impossible to see a pillbox hat and a perfectly simple, chic dress and not think of the First Lady. Girls star and creator Lena Dunham, who hosted the comedy sketch program for the first time Saturday night, trades Brooklyn for the Garden of Eden in this latest spoof of the Golden Globes-winning hit HBO series But perhaps the key to the enormous popularity of Jackie Kennedy’s style among women, from 18-year-olds to octogenarians, was not the sheer elegance of her style, but the sense that, while the president’s wife was unquestionably a great beauty who carried herself with an easy, enviable grace, she was also someone that millions of people _liked_. She seemed approachable, friendly, kind — even when she was rocking an original Cassini creation at a White House reception or a black-tie gala. It’s no wonder, then, that countless businesses and industries, from neighborhood hair salons to major clothing manufacturers, wanted to get in on the action, emulating and celebrating the “Jackie look.” But in 1961, when one manufacturer decided to create mannequins modeled on both Jackie and president-elect Kennedy — well, then it got a little weird. LIFE magazine, meanwhile, took the hoopla (which it helped to create, after all) in stride, writing in its January 20, 1961 issue: --- > “” --- --- > “” --- --- > “” --- --- > “” --- _Credits: top, Paul Schutzer; bottom, Yale Joel_ _Liz Ronk, who edited this gallery, is the Photo Editor for LIFE.com. Follow her on Twitter_ [_@lizabethronk_](https://twitter.com/LizabethRonk)_._  Caption from LIFE. "Making its debut, Jackie mannequin, a standard size 10, stands at John Frederics shop in New York where pillbox hats sell for $35 to $70." Yale Joel—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not published in LIFE. Jackie Kennedy mannequin on the streets of New York, 1961. Yale Joel—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not published in LIFE. Jackie Kennedy mannequin, 1961. Yale Joel—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not published in LIFE. Jackie and John Kennedy mannequins, New York, 1961. Yale Joel—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not published in LIFE. Jackie and John Kennedy mannequins draw stares on their way to store windows, New York, 1961. Yale Joel—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not published in LIFE. Jackie and JFK mannequins, New York, 1961. Yale Joel—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not published in LIFE. LIFE photographer Yale Joel (left) and an unidentified woman pose with Jackie and JFK mannequins, 1961. Yale Joel—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not published in LIFE. Jackie mannequin, 1961. Yale Joel—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not published in LIFE. Jackie Kennedy mannequin, New York, 1961. Yale Joel—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3878327/jfk-and-jackie-1961-when-the-president-and-first-lady-were-american-style-icons/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3878327/jfk-and-jackie-1961-when-the-president-and-first-lady-were-american-style-icons/"},"headline":"JFK and Jackie: When They Were 'Dummies'","datePublished":"2013-11-08T15:05:39.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:47:35.042Z","description":"Jackie Kennedy was, arguably, the premier fashion figure of the early 1960s. Here, LIFE.com recalls a time when she and JFK were so chic, mannequins were created in their image.","url":"https://time.com/3878327/jfk-and-jackie-1961-when-the-president-and-first-lady-were-american-style-icons/","keywords":["curiosities","Newsfeed","John F. 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