Jackie Kennedy exhibit to open in Washington

WASHINGTON -- The tourism industry is hoping Jackie Kennedy's glittering gowns and jewelry can light up Washington just as the youngest first lady did during her husband's presidency. \n"Jacqueline Kennedy: The White House Years," an exhibition of more than 80 costumes and other possessions, opens Saturday at the Corcoran Gallery of Art after stops in Boston and New York City. \nThe Kennedys and Washington share a history of optimism and tragedy, from John F. Kennedy's rousing inauguration to his funeral procession on Pennsylvania Avenue. \nTourism officials hope the show will help draw people back after the Sept. 11 attacks. \n"Come, be inspired,'' calls the Web site for the Washington Convention and Tourism Corp., which is coordinating "Jackie packages'' of hotel, restaurant and other deals this summer. \nHotel occupancy is back up to 85 percent, about the same as this time last year, according to Victoria Isley, spokeswoman for tourism board.\n"We know we have some work to do with the leisure traveler,'' she added. "We think this is a great invitation.'' \nThe exhibition is a huge draw no matter what the context. Most of the clothes and other possessions had never been displayed publicly before it opened in New York City and Boston last year, said Frank Rigg, director of the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum. \nMrs. Kennedy had kept her "state clothes'' in storage and forwarded many of them to the JFK library in 1983. After her death in 1994, her children, John and Caroline, forwarded the rest. \nThe gowns are the centerpieces. Called costumes because "she became the star of a show, in a way,'' Rigg said, they are mostly of solid colors and simple lines designed to make bold, sleek statements from afar. \nMrs. Kennedy insisted on formality, sometimes even at the cost of practicality. In India for example, she wore a demure yellow silk dress to ride an elephant; in Pakistan, she chose a tight red shift to ride a camel. \nLack of space forced organizers to leave her riding clothes behind, Rigg said. \nThe exhibit does not include the clothes she was wearing in Dallas Nov. 22, 1963, when her husband was assassinated, or the black suit she wore to the funeral.