The Anatomy of Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy's Style
In March, Ryan Murphy announced that he had cast Broadway breakout Sarah Pidgeon as Bessette-Kennedy in his forthcoming FX series, American Love Story. And just last week, the showrunner released the first images of Pidgeon alongside her co-star, Paul Kelly. While Kelly was lauded for his resemblance to John F. Kennedy Jr., Pidgeon's CBK grew criticism, largely in part for her wardrobe: a flimsy brown coat over a black turtleneck, cropped trousers, slingback kitten heels, and an empty Birkin.
Many dissenters were quick to point out that just because a garment mimics Bessette-Kennedy's minimalist wardrobe, that doesn't mean it hits the mark. 'I know the silhouettes look the same but Zara is very different from vintage Calvin, Narciso, Jil,' stylist Gabriella Karefa-Johnson commented on an Instagram post. '[S]orry but the wardrobe is wrong,' Moda Operandi founder Lauren Santo Domingo agreed.
A fashion publicist for Calvin Klein, Bessette-Kennedy had an exacting eye for fashion, filling her wardrobe with Prada, Helmut Lang, Jil Sander, and Yohji Yamamoto. (She was especially fond of Yamamoto, who gave her sleek style an avant-garde flair.) That's not to suggest it was entirely inaccessible: she was loyal to Levi's 517s and stocked up on her favorite headbands at a local New York apothecary, C.O. Bigelow. But to assume her considered style, tailored to a tee, could be replicated without effort would be a mistake.
In Elements of Style, we're distilling a celebrity's fashion sense into its most basic components. Here, we break down the five key pieces in Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy's closet. Copycats, take note!
Statement Outerwear
When it works, it works! A Prada acolyte, Bessette-Kennedy incorporated the belted outerwear into her wardrobe in both black and camel. But while her palette was usually muted, that didn't stop her from experimenting with texture, pattern, and color, like the ruffled Yohji coat she wore to the 'Newman's Own' George Awards, or the red plaid Prada number she wore out and about in NYC.
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