\n\tValerie Steele, the fashion historian, director and chief curator of The Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, said Kennedy, like Queen Elizabeth II, knew how to make herself instantly recognizable in a crowd by using bold color, and defined silhouettes.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t![\"Jackie](\"https:\/\/wwd.com\/wp-content\/themes\/vip\/pmc-wwd-2021\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\")
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\t\t\t\t\tJackie Kennedy\u2019s Chanel-inspired, American-made pink suit Nov. 22, 1963, the day President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. It is stored at The National Archives in a climate-controlled vault.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGetty Images<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cMrs. Kennedy was really great at it. When she went to India, she wore bright Indian colors. She understood that if you wore a striking color and had a simple look, people would grasp right away who you were. It\u2019s not just a question of fashion, but also a fashion at a distance, how it plays out in pictures, the message, the semiotics of it have to be fairly simple,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\n\tGolbin added that Kennedy was successful in weaving together French and American style to create a distinctive look, but she wasn\u2019t the only one doing it.<\/p>\n
\n\tClaude Pompidou, who was first lady of France from 1969 until 1974, had a similar \u201cenergy,\u201d according to Golbin. \u201cFrance fully entered the fashion diplomacy platform with her. Her wardrobe projected the modern avant-garde [spirit] of her husband Georges Pompidou, and of post-war France,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\n\tAt the time, Pompidou wore haute couture by younger designers, including Yves Saint Laurent, Pierre Cardin and Andr\u00e9 Courr\u00e8ges, \u201cand really crystallized this notion of using fashion as a visual language to portray the key elements of the platform that her husband was trying to get across. All of the [French] first ladies after that continued to do so,\u201d Golbin added.<\/p>\n
\t\tFlying the French Flag\t<\/p>\n
\n\tAfter Kennedy, fashion-loving first ladies Nancy Reagan and Melania Trump<\/a> carried on the love affair with French fashion, albeit to a lesser extent than Kennedy. Reagan wore Chanel, Yves Saint Laurent and Valentino in addition to American designers James Galanos and Adolfo, longtime favorites of California\u2019s Ladies Who Lunch.<\/p>\n \n\tTrump often wears Christian Dior for official occasions. Last month she chose a pale delphinium pink silk strapless gown from Jonathan Anderson\u2019s haute couture collection for a state dinner at the White House with King Charles III and Queen Camilla. She\u2019s also been snapped wearing Louis Vuitton<\/a> and Givenchy, while her stylist, the designer Herv\u00e9 Pierre, is French American.<\/p>\n \n\tBy contrast, French first ladies almost exclusively fly the national flag.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cFashion and luxury are very important sectors in France, symbolically and economically. France remains the land of haute couture and fashion shows that attract people from around the world several times a year. First ladies want to present and promote the fashion economy,\u201d said Elizabeth Pineau, a political journalist at Reuters and coauthor of \u201cLe Vestiaire des Politiques,\u201d which looks at what male and female politicians wear, and why.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\tMichelle Obama<\/a> in an Azzedine Ala\u00efa jacket, Etro print top, Moschino white top and Gunex black pant and Carla Bruni-Sarkozy in a Dior coat in Strasbourg, France.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPascal Le Segretain\/Getty Images<\/p>\n \n\tEvery first lady has had her favorite French designers. Current French First Lady Brigitte Macron<\/a> frequently wears Louis Vuitton<\/a> and is particularly close to Nicolas Ghesqui\u00e8re, but also wears designs by Balmain, and blazers and coats by Alexandre Vauthier. Her predecessor Carla Bruni\u2019s closets were bursting with Dior, but also with pieces by Chanel and Christian Louboutin shoes.<\/p>\n \n\tAs soon as she stepped into the political spotlight, Bernadette Chirac started wearing Chanel and Dior, which was designed by John Galliano at the time. She was also the woman who gave Princess Diana a handbag from the house that was later named the Lady Dior because the royal wore it so much, and in many so different colors.<\/p>\n \n\tWhen a French first lady goes off-piste, and opts for a non-French designer, it\u2019s a cause c\u00e9l\u00e8bre.<\/p>\n \n\tIn an interview, Pineau recalled the scandal that Nicolas Sarkozy\u2019s now ex-wife, C\u00e9cilia Attias, caused in May 2007 when she appeared at her husband\u2019s inauguration wearing a champagne silk dress by the very Milanese label Prada.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cShe caused quite a stir at the \u00c9lys\u00e9e Palace. Everyone noticed that she was in Prada. It was very unusual for a French first lady,\u201d she said. The Sarkozys divorced later that year, so flying the French flag may not have mattered much to the former first lady.<\/p>\n \t\tSpeaking a Different Language\t<\/p>\n \n\tPineau believes that when American first ladies host their international counterparts or travel on official business, \u201cthey\u2019re more diplomatic than the French. When Melania Trump<\/a> comes to France she wears Dior. The French, instead, think about their own country\u2019s luxury and fashion.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n