Overview
- Jacqueline Kennedy wore the violet wool maternity coat on Nov. 8, 1960 in Hyannis Port while eight months pregnant, and it appeared on a Life magazine cover introducing the new first couple.
- Sotheby’s estimates the unlabeled, double-breasted piece with a rounded collar and swinging silhouette at $6,000 to $8,000.
- The consignor is a family with long ties to the Kennedys, and the coat was shared among Mrs. Kennedy’s close friends who were expectant mothers.
- Sotheby’s frames the garment as a rare cultural artifact that communicates optimism and modernity, according to global head of handbags and fashion Morgane Halimi.
- The inaugural Handbags & Fashion sale at the auction house’s new Breuer headquarters also features an Alexander McQueen evening gown and a 1990s Hermès sterling silver Mini Kelly.