Looking for Jackie: American Fashion Icons Lecture with Kathy Craughwell-Varda

May 14, 2026

Event Details

Date: May 14, 2026
Time: 6:30 pm
–7:45 pm

Greenwich Historical Society is excited to present an engaging and enlightening series of educational lectures and presentations exploring the breadth of American history over the course of 250 years. Each month, join the Historical Society for a special presentation covering topics from experts in the fields of fashion, local and national history, archaeology, historic preservation, archives, and more.

Light bites and drinks will be available from 5:30-6:30pm in the lobby of the Vanderbilt Education Center before each presentation begins. A Q&A with the audience will follow all presentations.


What makes a fashion icon? Join the Historical Society for an evening of exploring female fashion icons throughout America’s lengthy history.

Kathy Craughwell-Varda, Senior Curator at the Greenwich Historical Society, will introduce attendees to American fashion icons and present-day influencers who have defined American style. With no monarchy to emulate, Americans have long been drawn to women who possessed style, charisma, and grace. Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis possessed these qualities in abundance. This presentation titled, Looking for Jackie: American Fashion Icons, will provide an examination of American women who were the “Jackies” of their era, women who, since the 1800s, have had a similar impact on American fashion. The lecture will reveal how these women’s distinctive personal styles captured the imagination of the American public and influenced popular fashion.

Speaker Biography

Kathy Craughwell-Varda

Senior Curator, Greenwich Historical Society

Kathleen Craughwell-Varda is the Senior Curator at the Greenwich Historical Society and the curator of the upcoming exhibition, Fashioning America: 250 Years of Greenwich Style. She earned an M.A. in costume history/decorative arts from New York University in conjunction with the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. She lectures widely on costume and textile history and conservation and has written articles on women’s history for several exhibition catalogues.

 

 

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