Nancy Reagan’s First Lady Fashion Was Designer, Copied & Controversial

Thirty-five years after former President Ronald Reagan and former First Lady Nancy exited the White House, a new Hollywood-fied biopic that explores their impact will be released nationwide Friday.

Dennis Quaid’s cinematic portrayal of the 40th American president in “Reagan” will examine his unlikely rise to power and how his wife supported him throughout. For millions, the former first lady’s name is synonymous with high fashion, and a certain well-heeled class. How costume designer Jeneva Burguiere will interpret that luxe ladylook elan as played by the actress Penelope Ann Miller remains to be seen on the silverscreen. Burguiere did not respond to a media request Monday.

In the high-flying Eighties, Nancy Reagan exemplified a sense of style that extended beyond her designer wardrobe. Her slender physique reflected the actress that she once was, having appeared in stage, television and film productions including 11 movies. Before she and Reagan became a power couple on the world stage, they acted in the 1956 film “Hellcats of the Navy.” Born Anne Frances “Nancy” Robbins in New York, the Smith College graduate was set up on a dinner date with Reagan to talk about problems she was having with another Screen Actors Guild actress with the same name, but who was in danger of being blacklisted for Communist inclinations. Their marriage two years later was her first and his second. The former president and Jane Wyman, with whom he two children, had divorced in 1948.

After serving as California’s governor, Reagan first won the U.S. presidency and took office in 1981, starting what would be two consecutive terms for his administration. In the high-flying ‘80s, when excess was celebrated by Wall Street types, the Reagan White House was known for its glamour. So much so that the Council of Fashion Designers of America honored her with its lifetime achievement award in 1989. ABC News’ Barbara Walters said of Reagan at that time, “She has served every day for eight long years the word ‘style.’”

Well-coiffed, well-mannered and always turned out, Reagan left nothing to chance. Hairdresser Julius Bengtsson flew with the First Couple on Air Force One to Canada for a trip in 1981. Dressing to impress, she had different outfits for two appearances on the first day. As a sign of the public’s interest in her designer choices and spending habits, photographers tried unsuccessfully to shoot the label of her Maximilian full-length mink coat, which a handler carried indoors. Sarah Lang, whose husband Peter was then a MP, had no issues with Reagan’s upscale preferences. “It would be true if she spent money and didn’t look good, but the fact is, she looks great.”

But Reagan’s air of sophistication and wealth did not wash with many, in light of escalating homelessness and a looming recession. Nevertheless, Adolfo, Bill Blass, James Galanos, Mary McFadden and Oscar de la Renta weren’t just favorite designers, but they were also friends. They also took dressing the first lady very seriously. In advance of a 1987 state dinner, Galanos shared 20 sketches that he had made for Reagan with Martha Phillips, the in-the-know owner of the Park Avenue boutique Martha’s, who selected three favorites and suggested a few adjustments. Having sat in on that lunch at The Plaza hotel, her grandson Andrew Burnstine recalled Monday, “Months later, the results of their collaboration were on full display. At one of the Reagan administration’s lavish state dinners, the first lady appeared in a stunning red one-shoulder chiffon gown.”

Reagan’s inner circle included Betsy Bloomingdale, Anne and Kirk Douglas, Frank Sinatra, Bob Hope and Leonore and Walter Annenberg. Accepting the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation’s Award on Reagan’s behalf in 2012, Carolina Herrera said, “It’s not only what she was wearing but the way she did things — from the way that she received people in her house to the beautiful flower arrangements and wonderful dinners. That is all connected. It’s not only what you are wearing. It’s also the way you handle things. She handled things in a very elegant and glamorous way, which is what the first lady of the country should be.”

As first lady, Reagan, who died in 2016, was known for her “Just Say No” campaign to combat drug and alcohol abuse. She traveled nearly 250,000 miles in the U.S. and in several countries for the effort. But the Reagan administration’s handling of the AIDS crisis — or lack thereof — was a point of consternation for many people.

How to Be a First Lady

From the start, Reagan had indicated that she would be taking her FLOTUS role seriously. She told WWD a month before the 1981 Inauguration Day, “It’s a little like planning the Normandy invasion.” Her tweaks included reducing the number of guests at the inaugural balls. “It gets like a madhouse. I want to make it more comfortable and warmer,” she explained at that time.

She also set out to shorten the inaugural parade, having attended a couple that went on for hours. “What if it’s raining or snowing? The poor people watching.”

Reagan tightened up the East Wing Staff too, preferring a 30-person team versus Rosalynn Carter’s staff of 80. Her goal was to turn Washington into a social hub, and to do that she had to prove that politicians do not have to be frumpy to wield power. She filled the White House with famous friends, inviting actors such as Frank Sinatra and Jimmy Stewart to some of the 56 state dinners held during her husband’s two terms, along with New York socialites such as Brooke Astor and David Rockefeller, and designers including Valentino, Oscar de la Renta and Herrera.

Drawing on her own bedrock conservative values and her unapologetic faith in the power of intuition, Reagan stripped the platitudes from the traditional woman-behind-the-man stereotype of first ladies and was a sharp contrast to the drab years of the Carter administration. Along the way, she helped publicize the American fashion industry, and, during her eight years in the White House, American designers became ambassadors of good taste and good business, commanding headlines right alongside the fall of the Berlin Wall, trickle-down economics and “Star Wars” defense buildup.

Her 1981 inaugural weekend wardrobe included a handful of formal dresses from different designers. “I like giving everyone a chance,” she said in an interview with WWD. “I think that’s only fair. I would play up American designers.” Galanos, who became a decades-long friend, dressed her in a white one-shoulder gown for and then four years later in a white chiffon gown with Austrian and Czechoslovakian beads. Reagan had also worn one of his designs — a white one-shoulder wool style when her husband became California’s governor years before.

Courting Designers and Seeing Red

“Furred and feathered” was how Reagan was described by WWD at the 1981 inaugural weekend festivities. In the winter of 1981, the just-installed first lady was having an “up” effect on the designer business at retail, with Saks Fifth Avenue reporting a 200 percent boom for Adolfo suits and eveningwear nationwide. Bergdorf Goodman, Martha’s, Henri Bendel, B. Altman & Co., Lord & Taylor and I. Magnin also saw gains. Reagan’s fondness for a bold red was so steadfast that “Reagan red” became a catchphrase with shoppers in the ‘80s. She sparked the term by wearing a bright red Adolfo dress, coat and hat to the 1981 inaugural. Reagan once said of Adolfo Sardinia that his clothes were made with such precision they could be worn inside out. The Pantone Color Institute’s executive director Leatrice Eiseman said Monday that aside from being “somewhat of a fashionista,” Reagan was surrounded by lady friends, who were all fashionistas. “It did have a big influence on red in fashion at that particular time, because it was such an attention getter. There’s no question of that any time a political figure wears a lot of a color — especially when it’s someone, who is so attached to and so involved with fashion, it’s bound to draw attention and influence what people will buy,” Eiseman said.

But the former FLOTUS’ ardor for her favorite shade and for fashion proved to be problematic though. In 1981, she worked with Lenox to upgrade the White House china with red and gold trim, which cost $1,000 per place setting and nearly $210,000 in total from funds donated to the White House Historical Society.

Reagan’s golden touch with retailers was spoken of in 1981. B. Altman’s president John Christian predicted her impact on fashion in WWD. “In her own way, she’s very on top of fashion; everything is understated and done well. She makes a customer much more aware of what a lady should be,” he said at that time.

In the same article, Henri Bendel’s former president Geraldine Stutz said, “She knows her style and what suits her. She is marvelously groomed without it being stiff or studied. Her makeup is good and her hair is wonderful.”

But her zeal for designer clothes became controversial in 1982, when Reagan revealed that she had accepted thousands of dollars worth of designer merchandise. Designer Stan Herman recalled Monday receiving a call from de la Renta, who said that he, Blass and the rest of the CFDA’s board of directors were going to take an ad in The New York Times to support Reagan. Herman said he questioned with the CFDA should be that political and declined to add his name to the list. “That was my feeble attempt to get back at her because of how her husband was treating the AIDS epidemic,” Herman said. “But she certainly was an icon in our business. She supported Jimmy Galanos and all of the fine, upscale designers. After Jackie Kennedy, she was the most influential [first lady, who impacted sales]. She loved fashion. She lived for the clothes. Everybody wanted to dress her.”

What Happens When You Overspend

To try to quell the controversy about the great cost of her fashion habit, Reagan sent a dozen designer outfits to Parsons School of Design to distribute them to museums nationwide in 1982. Reagan surprised reporters by spoofing the situation, singing and dancing to “Second Hand Clothes” at the Gridiron Club’s dinner that same year. The clotheshorse reputation hadn’t worn off though by 1989 despite her attempts.  Addressing the Republican National Convention, Reagan let the crowd know that her peach-colored silk dress was a repeat outfit. “I do hold on.”

Interior designer Ted Graber was tapped for the Reagan White House, but Reagan was emphatic that the decorating would be left in his hands. Such a question led to her firing off seven “no’s.” In fact, Reagan had her own blueprints to map out the move and questioned how far the budget allocated to update the family quarters would go. “Upstairs at the White House” and “Eighteen Acres Under Glass” were two books that were used for reference. The first couple brought a lot of furniture from their Pacific Palisades house into the White House including their king-sized bed. Encouraging the president to adopt an afternoon nap habit was on her to-do list, since Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson were known to do so. “President Kennedy said that it only makes good sense. Your mind can’t work properly, when you’re tired and your judgment is poor,” Reagan told WWD before moving into 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

Manners 101

Reagan was known to sometimes thank hostesses in advance of dinner parties by sending flowers to say she was looking forward to the evening. That would be followed up with a phone call the next day. If someone already had “a thousand flowers,” Reagan opted for a book or maybe linen. She could also appreciate simpler things, having once declared mushrooms and spaghetti as her favorite first course, which she had enjoyed at Brooke Astor’s.

Through the many years of standing by Reagan including after the assassination attempt by John Hinckley Jr., the former first lady could be empathetic at times. A few months after her husband’s failed initial presidential run in 1976, she described what made her saddest in the campaign in a WWD interview. She recalled a conversation with a woman in her 90s, who asked Reagan if she knew what love was, during a Kansas City hospital visit. Before she could respond, the patient got out of her bed and took the hand of a woman, who had been staring motionless at the ceiling, and whispered that she loved her, Reagan said.

“The other woman became slightly animated and said, ‘Yes, I know.’ Then they recited the Lord’s Prayer,” Reagan told WWD in 1977. “I wept unashamedly, and still can’t get that lonely scene out of my head. I don’t think that I ever will.”

As for what made her happiest during that campaign, Reagan said, “Meeting all those uncomplicated people. Those people, they are so decent, so American, so much needed now. After our experience, I’m sure most people are good,” Reagan told WWD in 1977.