On October 20, 1968, Jacqueline Kennedy married Aristotle Onassis

Fifty-Five years ago today, Jacqueline Kennedy became “Jackie O.” On October 20, 1968, Kennedy married Aristotle Onassis—a longtime friend and Greek shipping tycoon, who was one of the wealthiest men in the world at the time.

The wedding was held on the groom’s private island of Skorpios, located in the Ionian Sea. The ceremony itself was small and attended by only around 40 close family members and friends. The former first lady’s two children—Caroline and John, Jr.— were present, and participated in the Greek Orthodox nuptials.

But the reception afterwards held surely more fanfare, with Onassis’s mega-yacht, the Christina 0, as its setting.

The bride wore a short white lace Valentino dress—uncannily alike to some of the house’s more recent designs.

Mrs Kennedy Onassis’s choice helped set the tone for her subsequent 1970s style, which was, whether vacationing in Greece or on the streets of New York, classic and glamorous—yet noticeably more relaxed.

Mr and Mrs Onassis were married till Aristotle passed away in 1975. And while their union was at the time somewhat controversial in the American press, it gave Jacqueline the privacy and security she desired.

In the nearly seven years they spent together, the couple split their time between Greece, the U.S., and Paris. A happy period, indeed, but a time too that prepared “Jackie O” for her next chapter—working as a book editor in New York.