The Antithesis of Modern Trends: How Carolyn Bessette's Style Captivates a New Generation
The cultural fascination with the Kennedy family has taken a fresh turn with FX's record-breaking limited series, Love Story. While the show chronicles the tragic romance between John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette, much of the recent fervor surrounds Bessette's iconic fashion sense, which is experiencing a remarkable resurgence among Gen Z audiences.
From Private Publicist to Fashion Icon
Carolyn Bessette worked as a publicist at Calvin Klein before marrying into America's most storied political family. Her deeply individualized style, characterized by 90s minimalism with pieces from designers like Calvin Klein, Jil Sander, Yohji Yamamoto, and Prada, has become the unexpected star of the streaming phenomenon.
Love Story has become FX's most-watched limited series ever on streaming platforms, with more than 25 million hours viewed across the first five episodes on Disney+ and Hulu. This unprecedented viewership has created a new generation of admirers seeking to emulate Bessette's aesthetic.
The Quiet Luxury Revolution
Sunita Kumar Nair, creative director and author of CBK: Carolyn Bessette Kennedy: A Life in Fashion, argues that fashion served as Bessette's primary means of communication with the world. "I think that was the reason why she didn't really give that many interviews," Nair explained in an interview with the Guardian. "She felt that maybe the fashion just speaks for itself when she's public."
Dr. Colleen Hill, senior curator of costume at the Museum at FIT, categorizes Bessette's style as the epitome of "quiet luxury"—a dramatic shift from the opulent displays of wealth that characterized 1980s fashion. "[Calvin Klein] was thinking more about fit and materials than he was embellishments and this opulent luxury," Hill noted.
The Irony of Mass Emulation
What makes this trend particularly compelling is its inherent contradiction. Bessette cultivated a style defined by strong self-awareness and a deliberate refusal to follow popular trends, yet she's now being emulated by millions through social media platforms like TikTok.
"She is probably the antithesis of what Gen Z has been growing up with," observed Nair, who also consulted on Love Story. In an era dominated by influencers documenting their every move, Nair suggests that "the quieter you are, the more interest or mystery you engender."
Record-Breaking Auctions and Multi-Generational Appeal
The commercial impact of this fashion revival has been substantial. Earlier this week, a Prada camel coat worn by Bessette sold for $192,000 at auction. The Fashion Auctioneer, which hosted the sale, grossed $408,750 through an auction featuring four items Bessette gifted to John F. Kennedy Jr.'s assistant Rosemarie Terenzio, plus twenty original vintage pieces loaned to Love Story.
Lucy Bishop, fashion historian and owner of the Fashion Auctioneer, had been researching pieces worn by Bessette for over a decade. "I always had an instinct and felt that eventually the time would come where Carolyn Bessette Kennedy would gain recognition for being one of the greatest style icons of the 20th century," Bishop revealed.
During a two-day exhibition in Manhattan prior to the auction, Bishop witnessed the multi-generational appeal firsthand. "Women who were of Carolyn's generation in the 90s were bringing their daughters to see the clothes," she recalled. "We even had two little girls who came with their mother and were asking if Bessette's wedding dress was there, because they'd seen it in a book and thought she was so beautiful."
Calvin Klein Alumni Share Their Experiences
The cultural moment created by Love Story has prompted women who worked at Calvin Klein during the 1990s to share their experiences. Kara Mendelsohn, who worked in sales in the late 90s, detailed the strict guidelines employees followed in a TikTok video. "We had a very specific image we were supposed to uphold," she explained. "We were not allowed to wear any nail polish... you really needed to wear extremely minimalist makeup."
Her daughter Ella subsequently posted about her mother's connection to the era depicted in Love Story, trying on vintage Calvin Klein pieces styled to emulate Bessette's distinctive look.
The Bigelow Effect: From Historic Apothecary to Fashion Destination
Perhaps the most unexpected consequence of this fashion revival involves CO Bigelow, America's oldest apothecary founded in 1838. A viral TikTok identified the store as Bessette's source for her signature tortoise shell headbands, triggering an unprecedented surge in business.
"It's much easier to walk into Bigelow and play with headbands and hair accessories and feel like you're Carolyn, than to go into Calvin Klein and be like, 'let me try on a $5,000 dress,'" explained Alec Ginsberg, the fourth-generation pharmacist who now runs the store with his father.
According to Substack writer Emily Sundberg, CO Bigelow's sales have increased by 500% since 2023, with the store selling six figures' worth of hair accessories in February alone. "And it's not just downtown New Yorkers," Ginsberg noted. "It's tourists, people traveling from all over."
This remarkable fashion resurgence demonstrates how a television series can resurrect and reinterpret historical style for contemporary audiences, creating commercial opportunities and cultural conversations that span generations.
