Belgian shoes and shirtwaists

Nobody seems to have written about Mrs. Lyndon B. Johnson as a style icon, but it's been fascinating to look at all the photographs from differing eras. At a certain point, Lady Bird Johnson settled on a hairdo and stayed with it until the end, although there came a time when the black was permitted to fade to a more natural color and then to what Nature had made. Perhaps her hairdresser and Queen Elizabeth's were cousins. Her clothing was beautifully, although unobtrusively, tailored. Photographs from the 'Sixties and 'Seventies show that dresses were shortened to the "ladylike" length that, although quite short, was not mini and was favored by conservatively stylish ladies of a certain age. Shirtwaist dresses, although fairly difficult to find these days, with their fitted waists and sometimes darts, truly never go out of fashion, and she wore them often, and very becomingly. After the return to Texas, photographs often depict her wearing a hat with a brim and often in trousers, not a skirt, where the occasion permits. In these, her feet are frequently seen to be neatly shod in Belgian Shoes. Other female occupants of the White House may have spent more and been more often touted as models of fashion, but, for my money, when it comes to fashion and style Mrs. Johnson stands way out in front of all the other post-WWII women who occupied her position. Most wardrobe items appear stylish and classical and there's not much that even approaches the ridiculous as we look back in time. The same can't always be said for others.