JFK's White Oxford Dress Shirt

On July 19, 2003, significant artifacts from both Jacqueline and President Kennedy were auctioned to the public during the now famous Hantman Auction, held in Potomac, Maryland. At this event, Michael R. Lam, co-founder of Great American Doll Company and Great American Eyewear, secured many valuable Kennedy artifacts including a rare, custom-made, white Oxford dress shirt that was personally owned and worn by President John F. Kennedy.  

                                       

JFK’s presidential duties obligated him to perform many functions during which he regularly wore high-end suits, ties and the mandatory luxury white Oxford dress shirt. Thus, the President would have many of these custom-made dress shirts in his wardrobe at all times. In the case of this particular dress shirt, when it was featured at the Hantman Auction, it had been laundered and was neatly folded, to go back on JFK’s closet shelf, awaiting the President’s next government-related event.

 

 

In 1962, this particular Oxford shirt happened to fall into the hands of Mrs. Kennedy’s assistant, Mary Gallagher, previously the personal secretary to JFK. Gallagher was in a prime position to both acquire what she considered valuable relics of the Kennedys, and she personally saved these rare personal effects for posterity.

 

Although Gallagher cannot tell us which particular historical events this shirt bore witness, it is clear that this personally owned and worn garment was most assuredly bound up in the special history of President John F. Kennedy.

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Shirt Description: This is a classic, beautifully designed, white cotton Oxford dress shirt with elegant French cuffs. The label affirms that it was created by the world famous Italian tailor, Brioni Roma, and that Roma utilized only the finest materials and craftsmanship in the Presidential shirts’ design and hand-made construction.

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The following is how Brioni Roma personally describes the methods employed in hand-making his high-end suits and dress shirts:

The Brioni Tailors are the boundless heralds of the men’s tailoring art. They are the men and women who achieve the highest level of sartorial excellence. Their artistry is imbued in all the unseen details that distinguish Brioni garments. From the initial cutting to the final ironing phases, they impart expertise to all the steps that bring a Brioni men’s suit to life, rendering it an unmatched creation and an emblem of the expertise handed down from generation to generation.

Every suit and dress shirt is the result of the Brioni method, a process unique to the company that requires 220 steps and more than 22 hours of effective workmanship. Under the supervision of our tailoring experts, each suit and shirt design comes to life thanks to more than 6000 meticulously hidden stitches made by hand. With the manual skill as its pivot, Brioni suits and shirts caress the body lightly and molds to the silhouette with absolute precision. In this process of sculpture, the Brioni Master Tailors work with each client to create unique masterpieces in a harmonious dialog between body, personality, needs and desires.