If you have not yet heard of Ryan Murphy’s new show Love Story: Carolyn Bessette Kennedy and John F. Kennedy Jr., I am sorry to say you are probably living under a rock. My social media feeds have been bombarded with photos of both the real life individuals and moments from the show since it first began airing on Feb. 12. Love Story tells the story of JFK Jr. (JFK and Jackie Kennedy’s middle child) and his wife Carolyn Bessette. Nostalgic romantic story aside, the real star of the show is neither of the two fated lovers, but the heavily curated ’90s closet of Bessette, a then publicist at Calvin Klein.
If one is to really try and understand why people know about Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, it is not just her last name, but her understated elegance that has captured the attention of modern-day viewers such as myself. Though married to someone people deem as “American Royalty,” Bessette never once participated in tacky or crass dressing. She was avoidant of logos, very rarely, if ever, wore jewelry and was well known for her curation of a very neutral closet. One very telling story of her habits is when she was going on a ski trip, she forced the logo of her Prada ski suit to be removed before she would be willing to wear it.
Why does this style of dressing capture the public imagination and create such a huge posthumous following? To me, Bessette’s closet is in stark opposition not just to modern celebrities, but also to the fervent overdressing glitz and glam of the 1990s fashion scene. Bessette was simply very well known for dressing in all black with a simple red lip and never many accessories. She would often wear black on black, or a simple pair of jeans with neutrals and a long coat. Her narrow glasses became a staple of her look, even as they were used to shield her from the neverending pursuit of the paparazzi. She also became famous for her simple collection of headbands, specifically her tortoise shell ones. Many people call her fashion ‘old money,’ but in truth it was just minimalistic and unimposing. She was an ardent outfit repeater that reminded people that her worth was not set in the label on her shirt, but in her composure and elegance. This is something we rarely see today, where everything is about an artificial and curated personality. Bessette seemed at ease in her style as if it came naturally to her. The clothes she chose were worn in, and, unlike most people today, even her Birkin 40 bag was battered, left on the ground and actually used to the point where you could see wear and tear on the surface. This ease in her own character and elegance is what has created such a craze to emulate her.
This public obsession with Carolyn Bessette Kennedy shaped the production of Love Story. When initial photos of the cast and costuming were released there was public outcry. Everyone had an opinion as to what Carolyn Bessette Kennedy would wear and would not wear. After her untimely death in 1999, she became a figment of the American collective imagination. Her way of dressing herself became something that everyone had an opinion on, whether they knew her or not. This cult following actually forced extreme changes to the costuming of the show.
The show producers and closet department have had to go to great lengths to appease the fans of Bessette. Private collections were borrowed from, archival clothing was put together and every minute detail of every outfit was dissected to be the most accurate it could be. Apparently the crew obtained “about a hundred” of the style of jeans that Bessette would wear: Levi’s 517 Bootcut Jeans, according to Rudy Mace, a costume designer who worked on Love Story. Some of the items acquired for the show were even the original ones that Bessette herself wore in the ’90s, which I personally found to be an unexpected dedication to the authenticity of the character.
Though it has been almost 27 years since the death of JFK Jr. and Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, the young Kennedy bride has remained an icon of fashion. Not only has she been talked about for years on the internet, the same old photos being circulated over and over again, but now there has become a new trend of women posting reels and photos of themselves dressing in the same elegant manner as Bessette, and labeling it “The Carolyn Effect.” At times, even when people have died, they are able to inhabit a place in our collective imagination for decades to come, something that Carolyn Bessette Kennedy has managed to do. Many people are puzzled by her mystery and allure, never being loud or giving interviews has given way to a public curiosity surrounding Bessette, the woman who captured the love of “America’s Prince.” As noted by one of Love Story’s executive producers, at the beginning of the show there is nobody dressing quite like Carolyn Bessette, and by the end the people on the street in the show are starting to adapt to the new style that her newfound fame has plastered across every newspaper. Almost three decades later, the “Carolyn Effect” is as strong as ever, marking the immortality of a fashion icon who died too young.
Lusine Boyadzhyan is a Junior in the College of Arts and Sciences. She can be reached at lboyadzhyan@cornellsun.com.
