I’m Stuck in an Incu Change Room and All I Have Is $36 in My Bank Account and a Pinterest Board dedicated to Carolyn Bessette Kennedy
Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy exists in the accolades as an it-girl.
Image credits: Vanity Fair ,September 1999, ‘The Private Princess’
She loved a fucked-up shoe.
This is captioned underneath a photo of Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy on Instagram. She loved a square toed, snakeskin shoe.
The former wife of John F. Kennedy Junior, Carolyn tragically died alongside her husband and sister in an airplane crash in 1999. Recently, Carolyn has undergone a cultural veneration as the New York Times has dubbed her a “Ghost Influencer.” This is mainly due to her legacy as a style icon who epitomizes 90s minimalism.
Carolyn’s approach to fashion revolved around elegance, sophistication, and simplicity. She showcased a new, unpretentious way for the upper class to define themselves and their wealth. Status from minimalism has continued into the contemporary climate, seen through growing interest in ‘clean girl’ and ‘quiet luxury’ aesthetics. Rather unsurprisingly, Carolyn has become a poster-child for the latter.
Simultaneously, Carolyn rejected the uptight preppiness typically associated with WASP aesthetics. WASP comes with its own aesthetic and pop cultural legacy: if you’re unfamiliar, think Ralph Lauren, boat shoes, tennis and especially the Kennedys.
The Kennedys represent a certain ethos of the United States: rich, good looking, and highly educated with a lineage traceable to Patrick Kennedy; an Irish immigrant who worked in Boston as a barrel maker before serving on the Massachusetts state legislature from 1884-95. This cliché rags to riches story is characteristic of a distinctly American dream.
It then follows that JFK Jr would marry a woman who was in life and looks an archetypical all-American girl. Described by high-school classmates as the “Ultimate Beautiful Girl,” Vanity Fair reports that she was a muse for designers at Ralph Lauren. With buttery blonde locks, Carolyn was an aspiring model before becoming a sales assistant at Calvin Klein. Seemingly uncomfortable with her newfound fame after marrying America’s sweetheart, dozens of paparazzi pictures show her rowing (oval sunglasses on) in the Hamptons, or walking a dog on the streets of New York in a tweed red Prada coat and black beanie. In these pictures there is always a connotation of American excellence; whether through her husband, or the surrounding American scenery.
Image credits: Evan Agostini, Hulton Archive, Getty Images
Simultaneously, Carolyn’s wardrobe — defined by simplicity — allowed her to assume a variety of roles. She was at once a WASP, the wife of a public figure, the girl next door, a Calvin Klein shop assistant turned publicist. The latter is most important, as Carolyn appeals primarily to American working women. These are outfits and clothes made to live in: Carolyn is the paragon of 90s minimalism, and more broadly represents what I call ‘functionality as fashion.’
90s minimalism represented a radical shift from the opulent 80s and was defined by neutral tones, clean lines, and quality tailoring. Women’s attire now focused on practicality as it became clear that women’s employment rates were continually increasing.
As a result, Calvin Klein, Helmut Lang, Miuccia Prada and Tom Ford started designing clothes you could walk, work, and party in. Whether it’s tweed heeled Mary Janes paired with a corduroy grey sweater from Miu Miu’s FW97 (designed by Miuccia Prada) or Kate Moss in a pinstripe pant suit for Gucci FW96 (designed by Tom Ford) 90s minimalism teetered precariously between sensuality and elegance. Practicality as a defining conceptual model in fashion allowed clothing to meet at the nexus between style and comfort.
Yet, it was her wedding dress — a bias cut, cowl neck silk gown designed by then unknown designer and personal friend of Carolyn, Narciso Rodriguez — that is most emblematic of 90s sensibilities. Dennis Reggie, the couple’s wedding photographer, later told Vanity Fair that the dress was “indicative of the way the wedding was — natural and of the moment, not trying to be any more than it was in its simplicity.” The wedding dress cemented Carolyn’s legacy as a style icon.
It is this simplicity that draws me and so many others to Carolyn’s style. Or more pressingly… how can it be emulated?
As Sunita Kumar Nair notes, Carolyn’s legacy comes from her ‘it factor.’ It is an intriguing notion to outside spectators: rolling out of bed and within ten minutes, becoming the most elegant woman in the room. And yet, if not obvious, this type of refined, ‘effortless’ coolness is heavily cultivated.
Carolyn exists in the accolades as an it girl. Only two videos exist of her speaking. This elusiveness adds to her charm: a mysterious, elegant socialite that was truly candid, truly humble. And yet, it is clear that Carolyn’s style was by no means effortless. This is the central paradox of Carolyn’s style and 90s minimalism more broadly — appearing un-put together in a put together way requires a lot of, well ... putting together.