STYLE NOTES ON: CAROLYN BESSETTE-KENNEDY

I am not quite sure if the obsession with Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy's style is already levelling off but I still find her style worth a Style Notes edition. It is 90s Nostalgia at its best.

I was born in 1991 and while I do remember my parents discussing Princess Di and Elton John over toasts with jam at the breakfast table, I have no memories of anyone discussing Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy. To me, she is the internet phenomenon whose style was reborn thanks to social media and our current nineties nostalgia moments.

Being more drawn to a minimal style, of course I added her to my list of style inspiration as soon as her popularity increased again probably a year ago. Carolyn’s style epitomizes the quiet luxury aesthetic long before it became a modern buzzword and I am here for it.

---

I love how simple the fashion circle is. It was very clear that after the eighties were rediscovered from around 2018-2020, we would all be wearing nineties-inspired clothes for the next era. Sorry, people of the internet, but it is no coincidence the Olsen twins came up with the Margaux bag. At a fashion house like The Row, you know the nineties are coming back and you look at the references and you take CBK’s handbag obsession and turn it into a new version. Easy as that.

---

While social media is still busy reposting pictures of Carolyn’s iconic looks and giving us all affiliate links to shop her outfits, I’d like to do my usual analysis of breaking down elements of her looks. Since I feel like there is already a lot of content on her style, I tried to dig deeper and look for principles in her wardrobe and patterns that stand out. I guess we all know by now that she was into a minimal silhouette, crew neck sweaters and a sharp coat but there is more to it.

*all pictures via Pinterest

THE SIGNATURE STYLE

THE THREE WORDS: SIGNATURE SILHOUETTES, MINIMAL AND NINETIES

If Carolyn lived to this day and Allison Bornstein would do a TikTok on her three words, she would probably land on the three words signature silhouettes, minimal and nineties for her (although it is ironic that CBK wouldn’t have thought of the last word because she was actually living at the time).

We all know by now that her signature style was also marked by a minimal makeup and minimal hairstyles. So let’s get into the signature silhouettes that got her personal style from average to iconic:

SIGNATURE SILHOUETTE NO. 1: HIGH NECK AND LOW WAIST

In almost all of CBK’s outfit, you quickly realize there is a high neck line and a low waist line. It might be owed to the trending nineties silhouette but she sticks to this religiously from day to night looks.

She also transferred this silhouette from summer to winter, from no-coat-looks to full on wrapped-up fall attire.