( CNN ) -- Jacqueline Kennedy was still wearing the blood-stained watermelon pink suit when she got to the White House in the early-morning hours after her husband was shot dead . She had refused to take it off at Parkland Hospital in Dallas or on the flight back to Washington with the body of her husband . Once at the White House , her personal maid put the suit in a bag so Mrs. Kennedy would n't have to look at it . In the words of President John F. Kennedy , she looked `` smashing '' in the suit , which may be why the President asked Jackie to wear the now-famous outfit to Dallas on November 22 , 1963 . The suit looked like a Coco Chanel , it was actually a knockoff , made in the United States . The first lady wore it at least six times before that fateful day . She was known for her fashion sense . Museums have hosted collections of her gowns , hats and jewelry . In Fort Worth on the morning of November 22 , the President even joked about his wife 's style . `` Two years ago , I introduced myself in Paris by saying that I was the man who had accompanied Mrs. Kennedy to Paris . I am getting somewhat that same sensation as I travel around Texas . Nobody wonders what Lyndon ( Johnson ) and I wear , '' Kennedy quipped . Hours later , Jackie Kennedy was trying to crawl out of the presidential limo , her suit spattered with her husband 's blood . When aides suggested she change her clothes , she refused . `` Her remark , I think she made it more than once is , 'No , I 'm going to leave these clothes on . I want them to see what they have done , ' `` author Philip Shenon said . JFK assassination a collective memory for American children . Hours later , Kennedy continued to wear the suit during the emergency swearing in of Johnson as President . `` That whole scene is obviously just surreal , '' Shenon said . `` She arrives in the cabin in Air Force One in these clothes , covered with the President 's blood , and she 's expected to stand there and witness the swearing in of her husband 's successor . '' The suit today is in the National Archives building in Maryland . It came in a box , along with a handwritten note from Jackie Kennedy 's mother on her personal stationery . It read simply : `` Jackie 's suit and bag - worn November 22nd , 1963 . '' The suit was never cleaned . The public has n't seen the suit since the assassination and wo n't for another 90 years . Opinion : 50 years on , the enduring lessons of JFK 's presidency . In 2003 , nine years after her mother 's death , Caroline Kennedy gave the suit as a gift to the people of the United States with the understanding that it would not be put on display until 2103 . And even then , the Kennedy family will have to be consulted before any attempt is made to display it . They want to avoid sensationalizing the horrible act . Also hidden from view in the new archives building in Maryland : the blue blouse Jackie Kennedy wore beneath the pink suit , her stockings , blue shoes and blue purse . What they do n't have is the first lady 's iconic pink pillbox hat . `` The hat is a mystery , '' said Shenon , who wrote `` A Cruel and Shocking Act . '' `` The hat apparently goes to the Secret Service initially and the Secret Service turns it over to Mrs. Kennedy 's private secretary , and then it disappears . It has not been seen since . '' The archive has the suit stored in a windowless vault , in an acid free container , where the air is changed three times an hour to properly maintain the wool and cloth . It is kept at a temperature of 65 to 68 degrees , which is best for the fabric . Boy who witnessed JFK assassination recalls the day .
The suit was a knockoff of a Coco Chanel design . Jacqueline Kennedy had worn it on several occasions before Dallas . Comment: The whereabouts of the pink pillbox hat remain a mystery .