a cosmopolitan upbringing. he was born in des moines, iowa, in 1932. he learned to sew from his grandmother, eventually attending design cool and becoming a hat maker. >> were you the person who put the pillbox on jackie kennedy? >> yes, i was. >> a storied start to his career was creating the hat of the era for jackie kennedy at her husband's inauguration. >> it was a rather windy today. it ended up with a dent in it, so during all the ceremonying, it had a dent, and everybody who conyesterday it put a dent in it. >> reporter: dressing rock stars and artists, using his friends. he made things as though you didn't really need the structure as much as you needed the woman.