The National Archives hosted this 90 minute event. Hello, everyone. [applause] how are you . Thank you for being here. We are going to have a rousing evening, i hope. Certainly an interesting one. I have to say, the whole topic of what the first lady wears, we know, is a frequent topic of discussion. We have lisa here, who wrote the book on the first ladies collection. Lisa, i would speculate that you departmentt visited at the smithsonian. We are told it is the most visited exhibition at the smithsonian. We turn 100 years old this year. How fantastic. I want to ask all of our panel, why do we care so much about what the first lady wears . What is the impact . What is the legacy . What is the message . I think she is a symbolic figure. She is in a way, a little bit like the queen of america. People look at her to see what kind of a female image she is conveying. I think we also see her as i think that people definitely want time you late her. From how she is conducting herself to the w
So, i am going to ask all of our panelists, why do we care so much about what the first lady wears . What is the impact . What is the legacy . What is the message . A symbolicshe is figure. Little bit at her a like the queen of america. People want to emulate her from how sheance is conducting herself and with theg herself world. I want to remind everyone, we are going to have a question and answer session at the end of this, so if you have questions and you think you might forget, write them down. We have Dolly Madison, who presided over the first ball. Ral what do we think about Dolly Madison and the impact that she had . Its taking us back, way back. People criticized her. They thought she was too fancy and not aristocratic enough. When you think that Dolly Madison grew up as a quaker when she married James Madison she broke from this quaker background. A woman who was demurely dressed rake out inty to amazing close. A nod to the quaker cap. Wonder if this is what she longed to look
Styles of the times in which they lived as well as their personal style. Joining us is the curator of the first ladies collection at the National Museum of american history. The National Archives posted this 90 minute event. [applause] hello, everyone. Thank you for being here. Were going to have a rousing evening, i hope. Certainly an interesting one and an interesting discussion. The whole topic of what the first lady wears, we know is a frequent topic of discussion. We have lisa here who wrote the ladies the first collection at the smithsonian. I would speculate you run most visited department at the smithsonian. We are told it is the most visited and its one of the oldest, 100 years old this year. How fantastic. That is wonderful. One task all of our panelists why do we care so much about what the first lady wears . What is the legacy . What is the message that the first ladies have . Ica symbolic figure. She is in a way a little bit like the queen of america. We look at her to see
Well as their individual personalities. Joining the panel is Lisa Kathleen graddy, the curator of the first ladies collection at the National Museum of American History. The National Archives hosted this 90minute event. Hello, everyone. How are you . [ applause ] thank you for being here. Were going to have a rousing evening, i hope. Its certainly an interesting one and an interesting discussion, and i have to say the whole topic of what the first lady wears we know is a frequent topic of discussion, and we have Lisa Kathleen graddy here, who wrote the book on the first ladies collection here at the smithsonian, and Lisa Kathleen, i would speculate that you run the most visited Curatorial Department at the smithsonian. We are told it is the most visited exhibition at the smithsonian and at this point the oldest. We turned 100 years old this year. How fantastic. 100 years old. That is wonderful. I want to ask all of our panelists why do we care so much about what the first lady wears. W
Dolley madison who presided other the first inaugural ball in 1809. What did we think about Dolley Madison and the impact she had . Its taking us back. Way back. Way back. Dolley madison was criticized. People criticized here, didnt they, and thought she was too fancy and too much into fashion and too aristocratic, not democratic enough. Not democratic enough, but you could come to Dolley Madisons parties as long as you were appropriately dressed, so for their time very democratic. They did that in versailles as long as you were properly dressed. When you think Dolley Madison grew up as a quaker, so when she married james madison, she broke from this quaker background, so a woman who had been very demurely dressed suddenly had this ability to really just blazen out in amazing clothes and shes fond of reds and yellows and turbans, maybe a nod to that quaker cap. Shes able to fulfill this dazzling vision you have to wonder if this is what she longed to look like as a little girl. Yeah. A