By Mike Naughton

This is a little information on Jackie Kennedy's pink Chanel suit, My (Great) Aunt Kate did the finishing alterations and stitching on the sleeves and hems. 

Aunt Kate was a seamstress of note, fine fingers like delicate pieces of spun glass, she worked for Chez Ninon, a boutique that made clothes for the high and mighty.

Her employer, Miss Sophie, was with the couture section of Bon Wit Teller prior to opening her own shop. 

When I was 5 or 6 years old, I was brought "downtown" one day to visit the "girls in the workshop"; when we arrived the sewing machines became still and everyone jumped up to meet Aunt Kate who in turned showed me off to the "girls".

The girls called her Kitty. I could not imagine Jackie Kennedy getting a finer reception than Aunt Kate. 

I remember meeting a gentleman, possible Mr. Anthony, a designer who was very fond of Aunt Kate, but weren't we all.



I know I met Miss Sophie, but I don't know if I met another seamstress who Aunt Kate always referred to as, "Marie, she takes care of her mother and they live in the parish."  I was always relieved when I met Marie on many future occasions and Aunt Kate confirmed her membership in Good Shepherd; I would feel sad if she defected to another parish. 

The girls called her "Kitty."

Note: This article originally appeared on www.pinkpillbox.com in 2009. In 2012, Author Nicole Mary Kelby contacted PPB  to assist in her research for her fictional account - The Pink Suit. It is uncertain the exact role Aunt Kate played in the "assembly" of the suit. There is on-going research into the role Chez Ninon played in the creation of Jackie's Chanel suit.

Image: Aunt Kate with her nephew Mike Naughton. Courtesy Mike Naughton.