By Steven L. Brawley

May 10, 2017: For many years I have been seeking information regarding the blue and white toile used in President Kennedy’s White House bedroom. A much more feminine design than one might expect – featuring flowers and angels/cherubs. (Image below courtesy JFK Library).

The fabric has always intrigued me. According to several accounts, the toile was not originally intended for the President’s room. However, when he saw Sister Parish’s fabric swatch printed with angels, he reportedly said, “I've always loved angels.” His selection would adorn his White House bedroom’s antique four poster bed and window curtains. President Johnson would retain the same décor.

Now, the 2016 JACKIE movie has provided me with more clues about the toile.

The sets for the Jackie movie are outstanding, and the attention to detail is superb. One of the rooms beautifully recreated is the President’s bedroom.

The movie’s production designer Jean Rabasse and his team, including set decorator Véronique Melery, dug into archives of the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum to learn more about Jackie’s decor and restoration through her work with American decorator Sister Parish, decorative arts expert Henry Francis du Pont, and French designer Stéphane Boudin of Maison Jansen.

An article in SETDECOR helped me on my journey. The article featured décor and set design expert William De Biasio, who I know from several Facebook groups. The article also included interviews with Rabasse and Melery.

I kindly asked De Biasio if he would reach out to Melery, who has a noted 34 year career as a set decorator and production designer, to provide me with more details on the fabric. He kindly did so.

According to Melery, the fabric is named Toile Cherubins and is currently available through Charles BURGER of Paris. It is 59 percent linen and 41 percent cotton. It is now available in gold, red, peach, and the original blue.

Thanks to the new JACKIE movie for helping solve my toile mystery. (Image below courtesy Charles BURGER of Paris).

January 5, 2017 Notes: Rendering by Jake Gariepy of a beautiful mix of yellow flowers for a Kennedy state luncheon in honor of the Vice President of the Republic of China in July of 1961. Zinnias, daisies, chrysanthemums, and marigolds are some of the blooms in use here in a Tyler-era French porcelain fruit basket.

This is the Blue Room in its pre-Kennedy state. Later in the administration, Jackie completely transformed the room with the help of French decorator Stéphane Boudin.

Image copyright Jake Gariepy (Dapper and Dreamy)

December 26, 2016

Review by Lynn Wooten

I think Natalie Portman has come closest of most actresses in capturing the essence of her as a human being vs. the usual stereotypical portrayal (along with, in my opinion, Blair Brown in "Kennedy"). The White House TV tour felt very authentic to me. I imagine those who have never seen the real TV tour might think it's a cheap impersonation and won't realize just how spot-on Portman is in recreating it. She certainly has come closest to capturing Jackie's public and private voices. The sets are also impressive, although "Hyannis Port" felt more like a lake house (which, I'm guessing, the property used for filming was).

But this is not a documentary. And that's really important to keep in mind for those of us who have followed this story so closely and know it in greater detail than those who haven't. It would be easy to fall into the trap of nitpicking it to death. Yes, there are some obvious -- and in many instances quite avoidable -- factual inaccuracies.

Again, it's a dramatic storytelling, not a documentary. I think you have to recognize going in that the timing of some things is off and has been condensed...it's a collection of snapshot scenes pieced together with flashbacks back and forth and out of order, etc.

For me, many things triggered deep emotional responses, and some are actually jarring -- it's one thing to see the fuzzy, grainy, yet still dramatic Zapruder film. It's quite another thing to see that scene recreated in extreme close-up. (Part of the very brief recreation is what it must have looked like from Nellie Connally's position). It takes your understanding of the horror to a different level.

December 24, 2016 Notes: Rendering by Jake Gariepy of Jackie's White House Entrance Hall 1961 decorated for the holiday season.

Image copyright Jake Gariepy (Dapper and Dreamy)