How to Achieve Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy’s Iconic Style: Fashion Tips and Tricks
Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy's style was timeless, sophisticated, and elegant. Her refined aesthetic paired sleek, minimalistic pieces and all that is classic all-American. Her fashion was characterized by muted colors, clean lines, and tailored items which all perfectly demonstrated less can be more.
In the current era of the microtrend, her style is a reminder that fashion sense can be timeless and classic. Decades later her aesthetic being celebrated shows the elegance in choosing quality over quantity and embracing a sustainable timeless approach to personal style. Here are some ways to recreate her iconic style!
This information comes from the book CBK: Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy: A Life in Fashion by Sunita Kumar Nair. This blog post really is just the tip of the iceberg, I recommend picking up a copy if you are curious to learn more.
Minimalistic Dresses
Carolyn Bessette-Kenndy often opted for dresses that were slinky and neutral. These were made of classic materials like silk or satin, and like with all of her clothes, she opted mostly for black, white, navy, or brown. Even her wedding dress fits in this category.
Effortless Hairstyles
Her styling, not just her clothes was always thought out. She loved a simple ponytail and was often photographed wearing headbands, similar to this tortoiseshell print one from Amazon.
No Logos or Branding
The absolute epitome of quiet luxury, Carolyn never wore logos or anything branded. There is even a story about her asking an employee to remove the signature Prada label from her ski outfit.
Tailored, Tailored, Tailored
Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy always wore garments that were perfectly tailored. This greatly contrasts today's oversized blazers and trousers, but when dressing as simply as she did, the way that her outfits remained elevated was the fit of the garments. It was an example of quality over quantity. Everything always suited her body perfectly, length, fit, neckline, everything was intentional.
Classic Footwear
Carolyn also favored simple shoes. She typically gravitated towards anything with a pointed-toe or a kitten heel. In one memorable paparazzi photo, she is even sporting a classic black pair of Havianas flip flops, simple is key here.
The Perfect Denim
Again it's about quality here, she often wore the Levi 517s in the boot cut style and plenty of Calvin Klein denim, specifically in structured styles.
No Jewelry
This one is a bit crazy to me, she never wore any jewelry, not even at formal events, not even at her wedding! She wanted to “avoid undue attention to her hands and ears”.
The Perfect White Button-Down
Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy loved a white button-down, it’s noted that she liked the ones from the Gap, here’s a similar one to the ones she was photographed in.
Perhaps most Iconic of all, her famous Sunglasses
Carolyn only ever really wore one style of sunglasses from Selima Optique, which were so notably her style that the brand even named a style after her. They are pretty pricey at $475 a pair, here is an Amazon dupe for a fraction of the cost.
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