Julia Fox Defends Blood-Soaked Jackie Kennedy Halloween Costume Following Intense Backlash

Julia Fox is holding her ground.

The model and author, 35, took to Instagram on Oct. 31 to defend the controversial Halloween costume she wore to Julio Torres' party on Oct. 30. For the evening, she stepped out in a pink skirt suit that was covered in blood. She wore white gloves and a pink pillbox hat to complete the Jackie Kennedy inspired costume.

Fox's pink suit was very similar to the double-breasted wool suit the then-first lady was wearing on Nov. 22, 1963, when her husband, President John F. Kennedy, was assassinated while riding in a motorcade in Dallas, Texas.

Her controversial look drew immediate backlash for being "insensitive," as many wrote on social media. However, Fox is doubling down on the costume, as she shared in her Instagram post.

Alongside two photos of herself wearing the look, Fox wrote, "I’m dressed as Jackie Kennedy in the pink suit. Not as a costume, but as a statement. When her husband was assassinated, she refused to change out of her blood-stained clothes, saying, ‘I want them to see what they’ve done.’ The image of the delicate pink suit splattered with blood is one of the most haunting juxtapositions in modern history. Beauty and horror. Poise and devastation."

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Fox concluded, "Her decision not to change clothes, even after being encouraged to, was an act of extraordinary bravery. It was performance, protest, and mourning all at once. A woman weaponizing image and grace to expose brutality. It’s about trauma, power, and how femininity itself is a form of resistance. Long live Jackie O."

Followers commented on her post, agreeing with her statement about Jackie, who died in 1994 at the age of 64. Some commenters called it powerful, while others simply left hearts and other supportive emojis.

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Jack Schlossberg, the grandson of JFK and Jackie, shared his own reaction to Fox's costume. On Oct. 31, he wrote on X, "Julia Fox glorifying political violence is disgusting, desperate and dangerous. I’m sure her late grandmother would agree."

Many people in his replies agreed with his statement, calling Fox's look "disrespectful," while some others shared her Instagram post in defense.

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According to The New York Times, Jackie's pink suit, her shoes, handbag and stockings from that day were reportedly "blood-covered and folded in a towel” following the fatal shooting. 

The items are preserved at the National Archives and Records Administration’s facility in College Park, Md. According to the Los Angeles Times, Jackie’s maid, Providencia Paredes, placed the outfit in a bag but did not have it cleaned following the shooting. It was sent in its bloodied condition to the National Archives sometime before July 1964. 

Jackie was photographed in the outfit next to Lyndon B. Johnson in the immediate aftermath of JFK's death. Johnson, who was then vice president, became president following Kennedy's death.

"They actually had another dress laid out for her to put on and she refused," historian Steve Gillon told PEOPLE in November 2022.

"She went out in her blood-stained suit and stood next to Lyndon Johnson. Despite these horrible circumstances, she was willing to stand for a photo because she understood what it meant for the nation to have continuity in government," he said. "She understood that she had a role to play in helping the nation transition to a new president."