Frances Folsom Cleveland
Teresa Heinz Kerry
...and we're not supposed to think the Democrats have degenerated over time? :)
Regards, Ivan
Posted on 08/03/2004 11:55:44 PM PDT by MadIvan
TERESA Heinz Kerry has presented herself to Americans as a multi-lingual free spirit, a woman with a taste for a Seventies-era Jacqueline Bisset coiffure and a habit of tossing a sweater over her shoulders, as if her political outings demanded no more of her than patio luncheons in Nantucket. Were she to take up residence in the White House as first lady in a John Kerry administration, no-one would expect her to fade into the chintz.
She is in many ways a contrast to Laura Bush, who has sought above all to look imperturbably well-kempt. After nearly four stressful years in the White House, Bush’s smile remains dependably attractive, her hair neatly clipped and her neutral suits are as proper as schoolgirls’ uniforms.
And so another battle of sorts has intensified following the Democratic National Convention - this one over the many contrasts in taste and appearance and comportment between the potential first ladies. It is a pageant that many might prefer did not exist, but which nonetheless occupies a corner of voters’ minds.
In the popular view, the scrutiny and fascination with the style of first ladies began with Jackie Kennedy, and redoubled with Nancy Reagan and Hillary Clinton. But a focus on fashion is not so exclusively modern a preoccupation, either by the electorate or by first ladies themselves. Fashion memorably concerned a number of presidential wives who pre-date the mid-20th century, a few of whom wielded a distinct influence over the tastes of American women at a time when the celebrity culture’s tentacles were not yet so all-entangling.
Kerry’s look of vague aversion to the constraints of political life, in fact, might call to mind Grace Goodhue Coolidge, who, as the wife of Calvin Coolidge, who served as president from 1923 to 1929, arrived in Washington to observations that she "kept her wits at the end of her tongue". With her lean frame, the result of a passion for hiking and swimming, Coolidge was America’s first ambassador of women’s sportswear.
"It was the 1920s, Gertrude Ederle had swum the English Channel and there was this great sense of excitement about women and sports, and Grace Coolidge embodied this new athletic ethos," says Carl Anthony, author of several books about first ladies and life in the White House. She adapted herself to flapper style in a manner so admired that she was awarded a gold locket by the couturier Charles Worth on behalf of the French garment industry.
Few political wives, though, have ever commanded quite the sartorial attention that the country heaped upon Frances Folsom, who, at the age of 22, on a June day in 1886, became the wife of President Grover Cleveland, a man who was nearly three decades her senior.
As early as the 1870s, the press was tuning in to what women were wearing to presidential inaugurations. But the arrival of Cleveland created a new kind of frenzy. "The papers absolutely loved Frances Folsom," says Alden O’Brien, costume curator at the Museum of the Daughters of the American Revolution in Washington, "because she was so pretty and it was just so newsworthy and charming to have this incredibly young woman in the White House."
Cleveland’s preference for shoulder-baring clothes managed to arouse the ire of the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union, which petitioned her to dress more conservatively, saying that her style posed a threat to the chastity of young American women. Comparisons to Britney Spears do not seem out of place.
At one point during the Cleveland presidency, a gossip report declaring that Cleveland had abolished the bustle from her wardrobe knocked the fashion industry on its head. When Cleveland read this fabricated item, she decided the rumour was not worth denying and stopped wearing bustles publicly.
And consider, too, the fame of Julia Gardiner Tyler, second wife of President John Tyler, who married him while he was in office in 1844. A socialite of New York and East Hampton, Tyler had been given the name the "Rose of Long Island" before she reached the White House. She scandalised her family by appearing in an advertisement for a clothing merchant in 1839. A year later, she and her sister, Margaret Gardiner, toured Europe, in search of vibrant social life and wealthy husbands. A chronicle of the trip was published in the 1920s as Leaves from a Young Girl’s Diary.
One suspects Heinz Kerry would have had quite a time with the Gardiner girls, and probably improved their Italian, French and Spanish - and their Portuguese - to boot.
Frances Folsom Cleveland
Teresa Heinz Kerry
...and we're not supposed to think the Democrats have degenerated over time? :)
Regards, Ivan
Ping!
Is that what that is? I thought she was going for "rats nest"
Huh? Under what pretense or hallucination did they insert Clinton's name in that list? hahahahahahahahahaha
Ever heard of Dolly Madison?
Unless you're talking about cupcakes, probably not.
I didn't get that addition either.
I'm hoping the practice of having first ladies named after snack foods ended in 1817.
Well, if Theresa makes it to the White House (please, God, no) does this mean we can call her "Ding Dong?"
If you're undecided about who to vote for, and you're not too crazy about President Bush but you lean to the Republican side, then at least vote for the First Lady in this case. Laura Bush is probably the best First Lady ever. She's a class act, and represents America and American values more than anybody.
One of Granpa Dave's young friends has nicknamed her T-Rex!
Grace Coolidge was not a "sweater girl", she was very much an elegant dresser in the haute couture mode, and I can't imagine her wearing sportswear anywhere but on the tennis court (or Worth - I mean, WORTH, having anything to do with her if she did.)
Frances Folsom Cleveland was indeed a beautiful woman.
There were other great beauties among the First Ladies - Julia Gardiner Tyler, the "Rose of Long Island", Harriet Lane, who acted as hostess for her uncle James Buchanan, Edith Carow Roosevelt, Ellen Axson Wilson (who's a distant cousin) But the all time prize for captivating First Lady is still held by Dolley Madison.
Jackie Kennedy - as a Dem first lady, had style.
Teresa Heinz-Kerry isn't the string on her hat box, by comparison.
Really, there should be no questions, here!
Don't forget Abigail Adams!
Teraysuh! I say there old girl, you look a bit under the weather. I would say she has taken way, too many fugly pills. Maybe she got the lead role as the ugly one in an soon to be released hooror movie. Bush/Cheney 2004
LOL! Oh. Man. Teresa Antoinette.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
