George

George, as you may know, was the magazine name chosen by John Kennedy , Jr., for his venture into the world of publishing. Copies of the magazine still turn up at home, because my Mother loved them, and she stashed them everywhere.  To be sure, George Washington was a hat wearing man.  Everyone was, in the Eighteenth Century, so this was not a departure from the norm.  John, Jr. wore baseball caps, as evidenced in press coverage of his short, but important life.  That's not where I'm going with this hat thread, though.  It's the connection straight through John, Jr., to his Mom, Mrs. Kennedy Onassis, and her pillbox.

The pillbox had many rebirths: as a page boy costume accessory, as a monkey's added extra attraction, as a cigarette girl's hat in a nightclub, and finally, as Mrs. Kennedy's iconic hat.  It may not have been the only thing our beloved Jacqueline ever wore on her head, besides Hermes scarves, but it's the hat we will always see her in.  So when the New York Times calls and says they need a pillbox for a shoot in Paris, we say: "Like Jacqueline Kennedy's pillbox?".  I prefer to interpret Halston's style, rather than copy, unless it's a costume gig, so the pillboxes we make are a cross between that highly recognizable c. 1963 pink nubby wool version, and the ones my Mother's bridesmaids wore  in 1964.  

Back to George, and the much missed John, Jr.: he came to the antique clothing store I worked in many moons ago to buy several pair of sharkskin pants.  I got to do the fitting. Pin by pin, three pair.