Fashion World's Anticipation for JFK Jr. Drama Amid Style Controversy
While New York Fashion Week showcased autumn collections this weekend, the most eagerly awaited event was not on the catwalk but streaming on Disney+. 'Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr and Carolyn Bessette' is a fictionalised drama series exploring the iconic couple's courtship and turbulent marriage in the mid-Nineties, with the fashion community particularly desperate to witness its portrayal.
A Story Ripe for Television Adaptation
The narrative is compelling for television audiences. John F. Kennedy Jr., the only surviving son of President JFK and Jackie Kennedy, represented American royalty and was once named People Magazine's Sexiest Man Alive. Together with Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, they formed the golden couple of their era, tragically dying young after less than three years of marriage in a plane crash piloted by JFK Jr.
Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, widely known as CBK, was not merely a beauty and fashion icon during her lifetime; she has endured as the ultimate poster woman for minimalist New York Nineties style. This enduring influence explains why the show's producers strategically launched it during New York Fashion Week, as her aesthetic remains profoundly in vogue, with her minimalist outfits still runway-ready today.
Production Challenges and Fashion Outrage
American producer Ryan Murphy, renowned for Glee and American Horror Story, may not have fully anticipated the intense interest in CBK's style nuances when initiating this project. However, he certainly does now. Last summer, when set pictures were released, fashion watchers expressed outrage at the actress portraying CBK wearing attire deemed unacceptable—a cheap-looking leather blazer, copper-coloured satin slip skirt, and Converse high tops—that the real CBK would never have worn.
Following this firestorm, Murphy acknowledged possibly underestimating CBK's cultural significance but clarified that these clothes were merely stand-ins for test shots. From that point, the production team committed to meticulous accuracy, including sourcing the original Yohji Yamamoto ruffle skirt she wore to a fundraiser, recreating her Narciso Rodriguez wedding slip dress from scratch, and distressing the correct Birkin bag (the No 40 style CBK owned, not the No 35 featured initially) to achieve an authentic 'lived-in' feel.
The Enduring Legacy of CBK's Minimalist Style
Recreating CBK's signature immaculate minimalism presents an extraordinary challenge, especially as her look enjoys renewed popularity matching her heyday. While she had many admirers during her lifetime, a new generation now idolises her style. To grasp CBK's impact on fashion psychology, one must revisit the mid-Nineties when she worked as a publicist for Calvin Klein in New York, embodying his clean American aesthetic as the perfect clothes horse.
This era celebrated slip dresses, high-heeled strappy sandals, and the 'less is more' philosophy, where It-girls dominated headlines. Bessette, with her long glossy blonde hair, radiant smile, athletic model figure, and impeccable style, was already a trendsetter when she began dating JFK Jr. in 1994. By their marriage two years later, at age 30, she had ascended to fashion icon status, rivaling her mother-in-law Jackie Kennedy.
Defining Elegance and Contemporary Chic
CBK was photographed incessantly, whether walking her dog in a black tank, bootcut jeans, and block heel sandals; shopping in Tribeca in a black turtleneck, toffee cords, and brown loafers; or attending black-tie events in a plain white shirt and black ruffled Yohji Yamamoto skirt, accessorised with no jewellery and loose hair. In fashion acumen, she surpassed Jackie Kennedy, redefining elegance, chic, relaxation, and contemporaneity simultaneously.
Her style blended wool beanies with tailored Prada coats and sandals with bootcut jeans. She occasionally incorporated splashes of colour—a red subtly checked coat, yellow loafers—with neutral tones like black, beige, cream, and denim, avoiding prints. Jewellery was rare, and makeup minimal, typically limited to dark red lipstick. On her wedding day, she married in an ivory slip dress with her hair in a sprouting bun, epitomising refined simplicity.
Core Principles of Polished Dressing
Under CBK's influence, simple American style gained an extra edge and polish, never looking better. She championed buying better and less, mixing classic items with edgier pieces, such as Yamamoto's structured designs. An early adopter of taking jeans seriously, she wore them clean and pressed—bootcuts or straight legs—and experimented with textures and hairstyles like scraped-back ponytails or tortoiseshell hairbands to offset monochrome dresses.
Always groomed yet never stiff, she believed in the transformative power of a tailored coat. Remarkably, most of her wardrobe—except slip dresses—remains wearable today, approaching what would have been her 60th birthday in 2026, devoid of high hemlines, skin-tight trousers, or sheer fabrics, showcasing timeless wearability.
Insurmountable Recreation Challenges
Despite Murphy's production team striving to replicate CBK's attire—even sourcing her signature Aldo by Selima Optique sunglasses—authentic recreation proves nearly impossible. While actor Paul Kelly resembles JFK Jr., actress Sarah Pidgeon lacks CBK's likeness. Bessette was a dreamy-eyed, 5ft 9in beauty with an athletic figure and extraordinarily thick, glossy bright blonde hair, integral to her look.
During last year's controversy, even Carolyn's hairdresser criticised the portrayal, noting the hair colour was 'totally wrong' and 'ashed out.' Pidgeon's wig appears too thin, messy, and insufficiently 'New-York-show-pony.' The clothes, despite a ten-member style advisory board, seem insubstantial; for instance, her Manolo Blahnik sandals are present, but the accompanying black slip dress resembles H&M rather than the original glove-fit design.
Final Verdict and Fashion Disappointment
The remade Narciso Rodriguez wedding dress looks identical yet lacks the original's glow and fluidity on Bessette's figure. An oversized white shirt, iconic on CBK, appears waitressy on Pidgeon, and the Yohji ruffle shirt loses its bounce. In one scene, bootcut black jeans, a sweater, and loafers seem ordinary, whereas CBK would have turned heads effortlessly.
The issue may be that simple clothes appear mundane unless worn by a 'thoroughbred racehorse,' or Pidgeon's slight frame fails to do them justice. Regardless, New York's front row will likely find Love Story disappointing, devoid of CBK's magic and style. Those seeking tips on mastering Nineties minimalism must resort to scouring 30-year-old images of the unparalleled Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, as this dramatisation falls short of capturing her essence.
