I saw the minimal looks of for the first time Carolyn Bessette Kennedy and this is what I thought: before reading the date of the photographs, you could easily think that they were taken today! By typing the name Carolyn Bessette Kennedy online we will find photographs that have nothing different from those of today’s celebrities when they are paparazzi in their daily lives. This is because nostalgia reigns supreme today and the look towards the 90s is a recurring reference both on the catwalks and for our everyday looks.
Carolyn Bessette Kennedy fully embodies this nostalgia. Born in 1966 in New York, she immediately became involved in the world of fashion, starting to work for Calvin Klein but still remaining a character very far from the spotlight; in the 90s, after a movie-like encounter in Central Park while jogging, he starts dating John Fitzgerald Kennedy Jrson of the former president Kennedy and of Jackie Kennedy Onassis, the nation’s golden bachelor. On 21 September 1996 the two got married in a secret ceremony, in which only fifty guests were present: to all intents and purposes the golden couple of the decade. She would like at all costs to live the relationship and her life in a confidential way, but this certainly doesn’t discourage the paparazzi from taking photos of her as soon as she leaves the house, immortalizing her looks every day.
Just three years after the wedding came the news of the death of Carolyn Bessette Kennedy and her husband, as well as her sister. The three were headed to a wedding in Martha’s Vineyard, aboard an airplane piloted by JFK Jr. himself which, due to bad weather, crashes, leaving none of the passengers escape.
JFK Jr. and Carolyn become symbols, two characters forever crystallized in their youth and in a love that is as strong as it is tormented. On the other hand, the act of becoming a true icon is often closely linked to a premature death. This is because in our minds we imagine those people as eternal Peter Pans, young, beautiful and tormented.
Although there are not many photos of Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, around 100 in total, given her confidentiality and limited life span, this still allowed us to get a clear idea of her style and to name her it-girl, undisputed muse of effortless and minimal style.
His palette was mainly composed of black, white, gray and brown and it is said that his wardrobe contained a maximum of 40 items, all essential and suitable for any occasion, in a decade in which, on the contrary, it was more than rare to see a star wearing a dress more than once. Neckline always visible with wide but never exaggerated necklines, shirts unbuttoned to the right point, low heels – almost always by Manolo Blahnik – and a few small accessories.
A style that to many may seem simple, even boring but which was anything but. Men’s shirts for the evening, very small handbags, skirts by Yhoji Yamamoto, Miu Miu and Prada were his must haves for a refined and always cutting-edge style.
All combined with a soapy face, long blonde hair, sometimes tied in an imperfect ponytail and often red lipstick. Even for his big day, his wedding, he doesn’t abandon the minimal chic style, wearing a silk-like slip dress made by the then still unknown Narciso Rodriguez, whom he met during his years working at Calvin Klein.
In short, in the 90s we have two predominant style archetypes: the heroin-chic and grunge style of Kate Moss and the effortless and perfect in its imperfection of Carolyn Bessette Kennedy.
Tagwalk, a well-known fashion search platform, observed that in 2023, the ’90s were the single most searched tag and the minimalism tag rose by 46% compared to the previous year. This feedback can also be seen on the catwalks, just as it is easy to find references to Carolyn Bessette Kennedy’s style, a fixed point for many designers: from the return of Pheobe Philo, the beloved The Row and to the many proposals for white shirts up to skirts camel color from Gucci, Micheal Kors, Saint Laurent and MaxMara among others.
Almost 25 years after the death of Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, the fashion system continues to look back to the past and bring her style back to life, wondering what she would have worn today and how she would have combined the various items. Perhaps her figure is still so appealing because in a world dominated by sharing, by social media, it is interesting (and certainly also an oxymoron) to relate to the life of a diva who in just 100 shots made history and is fixed in our minds , with her long blonde hair wearing pieces we all might have in our closets.
