Mary Todd Lincoln was no Jackie Kennedy. Although Mary Lincoln is often portrayed as being consumed by aristocratic airs, she hardly fit in with the upper-class. She spent hefty sums of money on custom tailored dresses to “look the part;” but her fashion choices were often scoffed at, and she is far from being remembered as an iconic fashion figure.
But Mary Todd Lincoln is more complex than her fashion sensibilities. She was more than egocentric, frivolous, and mentally disturbed—the attributes she is commonly reduced to.
As Spielberg’s new film Lincoln hits the box office, Rumpus Saturday editor Michelle Dean, in her article Reconsidering Mary, takes a closer look at President Lincoln’s controversial First Lady.
