This request for information was a multi-part question: According to the Wash Post, Pat Nixon had a beauty salon installed in the White House, Nancy Reagan renovated and expanded it. I have heard that Laura Bush had it removed but cannot verify. Do you know anything about this?While it's hard to put an exact number on any of the dresses worn by First Ladies since they are frequently donated or provided at a great discount, do you have some sense of what might be the most extravagant Inaugural wardrobe worn by any of the First Ladies? Based on what I can find, it seems like it might be a tie between Laura Bush in '05 and Nancy Reagan in '85. Any thoughts on this one?
It might be fun to include Rosalynn Carter in our story, since she was so refreshingly frugal compared to many other First Ladies. I am wondering if you know of any quotes or anecdotes about her specifically as they relate to fashion, beauty or style?
Carl Sferrazza Anthony's response: I believe Nancy Reagan's Inaugural trosseau may have proven to be the most expensive in terms of 1981 and then 1985 US currency. A lot has been written on this topic and you may find some factual information that is reliable in the otherwise unreliable Kitty Kelly biography of the First Lady. Kelly's tone is acrimonious but she did punctuate her work with some substantive factual research and I believe information on the Inaugural clothes can be found here. You might also consult the fully-reliable Make-Believe, by Laurence Leamer; it covers the 1981 Inaugural.
As for Rosalynn Carter, the real reason she wore a "used" gown to her husband's 1977 Inaugural Ball actually had nothing to do with frugality and everything to do with sentiment: she had worn the gown to her husband's first inaugural ball following his swearing-in as Governor of Georgia, a moment she held as a highpoint personally and so, attached emotionally to the memories associated with that dress, she wanted to wear it again. She did own - and bring to the White House - a sewing machine, she wrote, but found little to no time to ever use it.
Regarding your first question it is true that Pat Nixon accepted the supplies and machinery for a beauty shop that were donated to the White House by a cosmetology association, and she had them installed in a small room on the second floor, in the family quarters. Nancy Reagan did refurbish this - but beyond that, I don't know anything more. I do know that it did still exist during the Clinton years because I personally saw it, when I was invited into the private rooms.
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