The photo shows the late President of the United States, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, on the day of his assassination, November 22, 1963.
Kennedy was wearing one of his typical two button suits. Like the also deceased Duke of Windsor, JFK's single breasted jackets had buttons 2" above and 2" below the waist rather than the more common button on the waistline. This style looks best when both buttons are closed while standing, as compared to a conventional two button suit where the bottom button can literally not be closed without distorting the line of the jacket.
Some have speculated that Kennedy wore this design to conceal the brace he required because of his back problems but I have more than one photo of a pre-War JFK wearing the same style before he was injured. More likely it was simply his personal choice.
Photo: LIFE
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3 comments:
Very creative but sensitive post. On the other hand, I can't look at Jackie's outfit anymore without thinking of Parker Posey in The House of Yes.
Interesting detail, Will. I own both 3 button (Ralph Lauren) and 2 button (Paul Stuart) suits but never thought about the position of the buttons.
JFK's back problems started before the war, and indeed almost kept him from service. The source was likely a degenerative condition. Thus he may have indeed favored these jackets most of his life to hide a back brace.
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