The Met Recognizes Jackie O, a Woman of Both Substance and Style

NEW YORK — Forty years after her emergence as first lady, why does the world continue to be fascinated by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis’ legendary style?

A blockbuster exhibition, opening May 1 and continuing through July 29 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, will explore her enduring influence through some 80 original costumes and accessories from her formal White House wardrobe as well as pieces worn during her husband’s 1960 presidential campaign.

Her taste was about much more than clothes, according to Hamish Bowles, European editor-at-large for American Vogue, who has taken a leave of absence to mount the exhibition. Titled “Jacqueline Kennedy: The White House Years,” the show is drawn from the collection of the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum in Boston and will show how her personal fashion choices were a metaphor for her aspirations to make the White House a stylish showplace of the world’s most important art and antiques, as well as a suitable backdrop for guests from the realms of art and culture and national and foreign politics. Documents and objects associated with her work in historic preservation and the arts also will be included. Among the featured objects: the famous pillbox hat worn for the inauguration ceremonies, the ivory satin gown worn to the pre-inaugural gala and the red dress worn for the televised tour of the White House in 1962.

Vogue parent company Conde Nast is sponsoring the exhibition.

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Bad boy Sean “Puffy” Combs pulled the wool over the eyes of the folks at People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, so to speak. Prior to last Saturday’s Sean John show, the hip-hop music and clothing mogul told the animal activist group he had sworn off fur.

Following the surprising revelation from one of Fashion Week’s biggest fur offenders, PETA called off protesters, who had planned to be outside the show, faxed out hundreds of pro-Puffy press releases and sent the mogul fresh flowers and a bottle of vegan champagne to boot.

But later that night, when the show went on, out came a forest full of dead animals of every stripe.

“He lied,” PETA fur campaign coordinator RaeLeann Smith said in a phone interview. “He lied to avoid fur protesters. It just goes to show that he realizes fur has a social liability in the 21st century.”

Assurances that the Sean John line wouldn’t feature fur came from Jeffrey Tweedy, chief executive of the line, who was quoted by the Associated Press as saying, “We’re taking a new direction--we’ve matured and Puffy has matured.”

Additionally, the show’s publicist, Hampton Carney, confirmed the remarks in a phone interview with PETA, Smith said. “He even went so far as to say Puffy had been influenced by Stella McCartney, Russell Simmons and other anti-fur activists,” she said.

Carney did not return calls.

Retribution was swift. A dozen or so protesters chanted “Liar,” “Fur Pimp” and “Animal Killer” as Combs walked into court Wednesday morning. But the mogul seemed to have other things on his mind. Gun possession and bribery charges, perhaps?

Combs’ mother didn’t let the flying fur stop her from modeling a huge lambskin vest while touring the front rows of some of the hottest shows this week.

“This is me,” said Janice Combs, who was wearing bronze leather pants, gold boots and a head of platinum blond hair extensions. “I’m a clotheshorse, and I love to shop. I’ve come to see what’s hot and what’s not.”

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Though she is still making the rounds of fashion shows in New York, Elsa Klensch is leaving the airwaves Feb. 17. Her seminal “Style With Elsa Klensch” on CNN pioneered fashion on television, but after 21 years of dutifully recording the cycles of fashion, Klensch is retiring. She said budget cuts and layoffs following the AOL-Time Warner merger slashed her staff. Now Klensch is considering offers from other networks--she won’t say which--and is looking forward to spending time with her husband and writing.

Though tapes of her programs are in the Metropolitan Museum’s collection, many of her fashion press colleagues are hoping she’ll write a book documenting her adventures--and how she managed to pack for all of that endless globe-trotting.

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Billed as the first “runway beauty show,” mega-cosmetics chain Sephora put more than 60 models in 15 brands of makeup on the catwalk Thursday during the last days of Fashion Week. The challenge of playing to the rafters inspired looks so extreme and dramatic that the models could have been mistaken for cast members of “Cats.”

Worse, sparkly glosses have now spread to the cheeks, where they highlight every blemish. While vivid, glossy lips continue as a trend, the most avant-garde idea came from Makeup For Ever’s artists, who matched a model’s eye makeup to the purple glittery corset that they had painted onto her nude torso.