Nancy Reagan was such a style icon that an entire display at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum is dedicated to her fashionable frocks.
From the Adolfo coat she bundled up in on Inauguration Day in 1981 in her signature bright-red hue, to the embellished lace asymmetrical dress in white that she paired with Hollywood-style ivory gloves later that night, Reagan “never made a fashion faux pas,” said her favorite designer, Oscar de la Renta.
Reagan, who passed away at her Bel Air, Calif., home Sunday, frequently wore the late designer’s creations. There was the empire-waisted rosy gown she wore to her final state dinner in 1988 and the long-sleeved lace dress that she paired with large gold earrings after her husband’s endorsement of George H.W. Bush.
The former actress, an eternal size 2, wore her favorite cherry-colored shade of clothing so often it became known as “Reagan red” — and Princess Diana even donned a crimson pocket square when the leading ladies met at the White House in November 1985 in tribute to her fellow fashion icon.
‘For me, dressing well means dressing simply. I try to choose clothes that look good today but that will also look good tomorrow.’
- Nancy Reagan“Ronnie had always teased me about how I should clean out my closet,” Nancy Reagan once joked in an interview with People magazine, using the nickname she had for former President Ronald Reagan. “Now I’m glad I held onto my dresses for so long. Going through my closets has been a walk down memory lane for which I will always be grateful.”
While her style was conservative, she wasn’t afraid to take risks.
At a state dinner for French Prime Minister Jacques Chirac at the White House in March 1987, she wore a peacock-colored dress that she finished off with a feathered brooch in the center.
As she got older, she became more fond of pantsuits while still using the same designers from her time in the White House.
In 2009, she linked arms with President Barack Obama — donning an electric-red suit made by Adolfo — as he officially established a commission to commemorate Ronald Reagan’s 100th birthday.
“For me, dressing well means dressing simply,” Reagan told Time magazine. “I try to choose clothes that look good today but that will also look good tomorrow.”
