Making context
C · INSTITUTIONAL RECORDThe U.S. National Archives describes a line-for-line version made in America from Chanel fabric, avoiding political criticism over foreign clothing. That establishes making and political context, not symbolic intent in the morning choice.
The refusal to change
A/B · WITNESS RECORDLady Bird Johnson’s near-contemporaneous diary records Jacqueline refusing a suggestion to change because she wanted people to see what had been done to President Kennedy. It is a witness record, not Jacqueline’s own recording.
Preservation and later memory
C/D · RECORD / INTERPRETATIONThe suit is held by the National Archives, with display and research access restricted for 100 years under a 2003 deed. Phrases such as ‘the end of innocence’ belong to later interpretation, not documented wearer language.
The documented meaning lies not in a symbolic morning choice, but in the later decision not to change.