As early as the 1870s, the press was tuning in to what women were wearing to presidential inaugurations. But the arrival of Cleveland created a new kind of frenzy about fashion. "The papers absolutely loved Frances Folsom," said Alden O'Brien, costume curator at the Museum of the Daughters of the American Revolution in Washington, "because she was so pretty and it was just so newsworthy and charming to have this incredibly young woman in the White House."
The press, to Cleveland's distaste, nicknamed her Frankie. Many women began shaving the backs of their necks in emulation of her close-cropped haircut. "People always say, `Oh, Jackie was an American princess,' but Frances Cleveland really was," Anthony said.
Although she had not granted her consent, Cleveland's image began to appear on a mind-boggling array of products from liver pills to women's undergarments. Her preference for shoulder-baring clothes managed to arouse the ire of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, which petitioned her to dress more conservatively, saying that her style posed a threat to the chastity of young American women. Comparisons to Britney Spears do not seem out of place.
At one point during the Cleveland presidency, a gossip report declaring that Cleveland had abolished the bustle from her wardrobe knocked the fashion industry on its head. According to Presidential Wives: An Anecdotal History by Paul Boller Jr., when Cleveland read this fabricated item, she decided the rumor was not worth denying and stopped wearing bustles publicly.
Her affinity for the retail industry also showed itself in her habit of holding Saturday afternoon teas at the White House for department store clerks.
Going back even further in US history, Dolley Madison, whose travels to Europe gave her a taste for the look of classical imperialism, managed to popularize turbans for women when she returned home. Her own turbans were decorated with bird of paradise feathers.
And consider too, the fame of Julia Gardiner Tyler, second wife of President John Tyler who married him while he was in office in 1844. A socialite of New York and East Hampton, Tyler had been given the name the "Rose of Long Island" before she reached the White House.
Widely acknowledged to have been a great beauty, she had scandalized her family by appearing in an advertisement for a clothing merchant in 1839. A year later, she and her sister Margaret Gardiner toured Europe, in search of vibrant social life and wealthy husbands. A chronicle of the trip was published in the 1920s as Leaves from a Young Girl's Diary.
One suspects Heinz Kerry would have had quite a time with the Gardiner girls, and probably improved their Italian, French and Spanish -- and their Portuguese -- to boot.
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