See Jackie Kennedy’s Wedding Dress, 73 Years Later: All About the Gown She Wore to Marry JFK

Ariana Quihuiz, Nicole Pomarico, Emily KrauserSat, September 12, 2026 at 10:15 AM UTC

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Jacqueline Lee Bouvier and John F. Kennedy leave St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church in Newport, R.I., following their wedding ceremony on Sept. 12, 1953Credit: Bettmann -

Jackie Kennedy (née Jacqueline Lee Bouvier) married then-Senator John F. Kennedy on Sept. 12, 1953, in Newport, R.I.

The bride wore an ivory silk taffeta gown designed by Ann Lowe

More than 70 years later, the former first lady’s wedding dress is still considered one of her most iconic looks

Jackie Kennedy’s wedding dress is as iconic as the woman herself.

Born Jacqueline Lee Bouvier, she married then-Senator John F. Kennedy at St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church in Newport, R.I., on Sept. 12, 1953, one year after they met through a mutual friend, journalist Charles Bartlett.

Lifemagazine covered the major national event, reporting that more than 600 guests attended the lavish ceremony and 900 joined the new bride and groom for the reception.

For her nuptials, Jackie wore an ivory tissue silk taffeta gown designed by Ann Lowe that featured a portrait neckline, fitted bodice and bouffant skirt. The silhouette of the dress was very traditional, but the embellishments, which included large rosettes and wax flowers, were on the more playful side. As for JFK — who was later elected president in November 1960 — he opted for a classic look with a black suit jacket with tails and pinstripe trousers.

While the former first lady’s effortless ensembles of pillbox hats and tailored separates cemented her status as a style icon of the ‘60s and ‘70s and influenced the fashion world today, her wedding dress remains one of her most celebrated looks.

From the designer to her bridal accessories, here’s everything to know about Jackie’s custom gown.

Jackie’s wedding dress was designed by Ann Lowe

Jacqueline Lee Bouvier wears an Anne Lowe-designed wedding dress and holds a bouquet in a bridal portrait taken in New York City in 1953Credit: Bachrach/Getty

Lowe, a trailblazing Black designer, created Jackie’s ivory gown.

She worked with some of the most elite American families, including the du Ponts, Roosevelts and the Rockefellers, and designed dresses for Jackie’s mother, Janet Lee Auchincloss, who commissioned the designer for her daughter’s wedding gown and bridesmaid dresses.

Jackie’s dress quickly became a well-known bridal look, but Lowe was not originally credited for her design. When asked about the designer of her wedding gown in the press, Jackie reportedly responded, “a colored dressmaker did it,” per Elle.

Julia Faye Smith, the author of Lowe’s biography Something to Prove, told Elle in September 2019 that Lowe later contacted Jackie to express her disappointment in the comment.

“Within days Mrs. Kennedy’s secretary called Ann,” Smith said. “She explained that Mrs. Kennedy had not seen the final text before publication and did not know that Ann would be referred to as she was in the article. The White House sought retraction, but the publication never followed up on it. Still, Ann felt no animosity toward the Kennedys.”

Jackie’s original gown was destroyed by water damage

John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Lee Bouvier walk through their outdoor wedding reception in Newport, R.I., on Sept. 12, 1953Credit: Bachrach/Getty

A week before the high-profile nuptials, a waterline in Lowe’s studio burst, flooding the space, per the National Museum of American History. The water damaged Jackie’s wedding gown and nine of the bridesmaid dresses. Lowe chose not to tell the Kennedy family and instead purchased new fabric to remake all the dresses that had been destroyed.

It took nearly eight weeks to complete Jackie’s original wedding dress, and Lowe and her team remade it in five days. The designer was reportedly expected to make a $700 profit off the final gowns but instead took a $2,200 loss due to the incident.

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The dress featured a pleated bodice and full skirt

John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Lee Bouvier embrace on their wedding day in 1953Credit: Brooks Kraft LLC/Sygma/Getty

The ivory gown Jackie wore down the aisle was made of 50 yards of silk taffeta, per the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. The dress featured a portrait neckline, bouffant skirt, pleated bodice, scalloped hem and large rosettes.

Small orange wax blossoms were attached to the center of each rosette, a trademark of Lowe’s designs.

“Flowers were something she did over and over and over again,” Elizabeth Way, curator of costume and accessories at The Museum at FIT and author of Black Designers in American Fashion, told Vanity Fair in January 2023. “She was just really great at almost sculpting the fabric and building up into three dimensions from a flat surface.”

Jackie’s gown also included a few hidden details. For the bride’s “something blue,” a blue ribbon was sewn into the underskirt. Additionally, an Ann Lowe label was placed inside the waistline of the skirt.

Jackie reportedly didn’t choose her dress

John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Lee Bouvier cut their wedding cake in 1953Credit: Bettmann

Despite Jackie’s wedding gown being one of the most referenced bridal looks of all time, she reportedly wanted to wear a simpler, sleeker design on her big day.

JFK’s father, Joseph Kennedy, overruled Jackie’s idea and had final approval on the wedding dress design, per Elle.

Smith told Elle that “Ann did like to please her clients” and that Jackie “probably had some say in the design of her own gown,” as Lowe consulted with her on the design and colors of the bridal party dresses.

She completed her look with sentimental accessories

Jacqueline Lee Bouvier on her wedding day in 1953Credit: Brooks Kraft LLC/Sygma/Getty

Jackie incorporated her “something borrowed” into her bridal accessories. She paired her gown with a tiara and a rosepoint lace veil adorned with orange blossoms, which her grandmother, Margaret Lee, originally wore.

As for jewelry, Jackie wore two gifts from her husband-to-be: a pearl choker and a diamond bracelet. She also carried a bouquet of pink and white spray orchids and gardenias to complete her classic bridal look.

Her silk taffeta gown is too fragile to be displayed

Caroline Kennedy and Ted Kennedy admire Jackie Kennedy’s wedding dress, on exhibition at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston in May 1997Credit: Brooks Kraft LLC/Sygma/Getty

Jackie’s wedding dress is a part of the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum’s permanent collection and was last on display in 2003 to celebrate her and JFK’s 50th wedding anniversary. The gown has since become too fragile to showcase and doesn’t leave the museum.

The dress has, however, been recreated on several occasions for exhibits. In 2013, Marshall Field’s Department Store donated a paper replica to the museum, which was displayed in honor of the couple’s 60th wedding anniversary.

The ivory gown was also replicated in 2023 for the exhibit “Ann Lowe: American Couturier” at the Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library in Delaware.

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”