Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy's stylish legacy has been utterly betrayed

Telegraph

16 hours ago

When it comes to a costume designer's dream subject, you would think Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy would be high on the list. The epitome of Nineties minimalism and pared-back elegance, the striking blonde Calvin Klein publicist and wife of John F Kennedy Jr left an indelible mark on fashion.
Her slip dresses, crisp white shirts, immaculate tailoring, on-point denim and unbranded accessories were a blueprint for now-ubiquitous ' stealth wealth ' dressing, marking a clear shift from Eighties extravagance. In the social media age, her influence has not only endured but intensified; it's rare to see a mood board or stylish Instagram feed that doesn't feature her sleek silhouettes. If I could inherit the wardrobe of any fashion icon living or dead, it would be CBK's.
So when news broke of the upcoming television series American Love Story, which will tell the tale of the ill-fated golden couple who married in 1996 and died in a plane crash in 1999, it was an exciting prospect. However, when the first look appeared online over the weekend, I – and every other self-respecting fashion fan with access to the internet – was nothing short of horrified.
The series of images taken from a camera test were posted on Instagram by Ryan Murphy, the American writer-director-producer behind the series (who's proved his skill in everything from Glee to fashion fable The Assassination of Gianni Versace). The post shows actors Paul Kelly and Sarah Pidgeon, who reportedly beat thousands of others who auditioned, in their upcoming roles as the tragic lovers.
Some elements of the stills are convincing – Kelly looks the image of JFK Jr in a double-breasted dark grey suit and crimson patterned tie. Pidgeon's outfit, on the other hand, completely misses the mark, suggesting that the series will be a betrayal of CBK's stylish legacy. Everything about the look, based around a camel coat that feels more Karen Millen than Calvin Klein, feels off.
'I don't want to criticise the actor, because there's so much more to a role than the way you look, but it's baffling – it looks like an AI creation,' says writer and fashion influencer Camille Charrière, who was one of many commentators who expressed dismay on social media. 'Carolyn's spectacular simplicity is so recognisable. Everything she wore was about proportions, and I think that's why everyone who has pored over pictures of her is up in arms. Why is she wearing ankle-grazing trousers with those shoes? She would never have put those two things together. The length of the coat is wrong, the width of the shoulders is wrong, even the bag [an Hermès Birkin] is visibly empty.'
The stakes are high because, as well as an enduring style muse, CBK was a culturally significant figure. As a working woman, she was an outlier in the upper echelons of Manhattan society, and is remembered for her refusal to pander to media attention in an era when high-profile women were intensely scrutinised. Her wardrobe echoed this quiet dignity and made American fashion covetable – crucial to the industry now more than ever amid Donald Trump's tariffs.
'She wore everything with this kind of classic, American sportswear mentality and intelligence,' says Sunita Kumar Nair, who wrote CBK: Carolyn Bessette Kennedy: A Life in Fashion. 'That was the mainstay of all the leading American designers in the Nineties. She worked for Calvin Klein, so she knew how to draw on the ease and simplicity of it all and make it accessible. She had this kind of inner assuredness that was really captivating, but at the same time she never really gave too much away.'
Admittedly, it does sound like a hard balance to strike, and inimitable style does sometimes remain just that. 'Simplicity is often the hardest thing to get right,' says Charrière. 'That's why The Row has such a fanatical fan base, even though the prices are through the roof. It's not actually that easy to find well-made items that have those easy, simple cuts.'
But the thing that's most galling about the CBK costume debacle is that many of her most recognisable pieces are still readily available to purchase today. Take, for example, the high-waisted bootcut jeans she owned in both medium and dark washes – they're Levi's 517 style, which can be found in plentiful supply on Vinted and in vintage shops. Then there's the unbranded oval sunglasses she owned in both black and tortoiseshell, still made by New York-based label Selima Optique (if their £448 price tag feels prohibitive, contemporary labels like Le Specs and Jimmy Fairly offer convincing alternatives for around the £100 mark).
And while American Love Story might have maxed out its handbag budget on the Birkin Pidgeon is pictured carrying, here's hoping the costume department has also picked up a Boat and Tote from quintessential New England brand, L L Bean. CBK favoured the large iteration of the durable canvas holdall, which can allegedly carry more than 200kg and retails for just £41.
Rather than buying new, fans – and costume designers, for that matter – might be best advised to shop second-hand, recreating what Charrière refers to as CBK's 'essence' rather than her copying her exact wardrobe look-for-look. 'If you're putting her in new clothes, it's not going to look right, because none of her outfits were box fresh,' she says. 'You'd never see her in a full runway look – she always mixed and matched pieces. She had a very lived-in wardrobe and wore things again and again, which is something we just don't see anymore.'
Disgruntled fans will have to wait until February 2026, when the series is due to be released, to see if any aspects of the style icon's legacy have been honoured for television. Until then, we'll be taking CBK as a reference point for timeless, trend-proof dressing – as always.