Two major books have been released around the anniversary of her death. Last year came CBK: Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, A Life in Fashion, by Sunita Kumar Nair, a fashion journalist who has worked for the Sunday Times Style, W Magazine, WWD and Vanity Fair. The second is Once Upon a Time: The Captivating Life of Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, by Elizabeth Beller. The first book, in coffee table format with stunning photos to illustrate the interviews with, and essays by, prominent fashion experts, is much better than the second, which veers into hagiography.
Anyone in the Kennedy orbit becomes a part of the mythmaking, after all. Bessette Kennedy, whose name since her death (and due to the social media ubiquity of her image) has been abbreviated to the initials CBK, was linked in style to her mother-in-law, Jackie (whom she never met). They shared a restraint to their dressing that synced them up through different decades. Both chose very good quality designer clothing, often monochromatic, with simple lines, worn with a few carefully chosen statement accessories (an Hermes scarf and giant black sunglasses for Jackie; little oval Selima sunglasses and a headband for CBK).
Jackie was very of her time, first prim and proper as a First Lady in the ’60s, then a bit more louche as an international socialite (the ’70s) and later book editor (the ’80s), when she was rechristened Jackie O. While the younger Jacqueline Kennedy often embraced colour, her later incarnation was more in the neutral zone, heavy on black, navy and cream. CBK, in turn, was brilliantly strict with her palette – white, cream, black, grey, camel. Keeping to a neutral, logo free colour palette is a time-honoured shortform way to telegraph class and refinement. It works the same way as quiet luxury does today, with understatement at its heart. Those who know, know.
CBK was the director of publicity for Calvin Klein’s flagship store in New York City until her marriage. Her own style was honed there, it was one of the leading labels of the ’90s minimalist wave after all. But she moved on to favour Yohji Yamamoto, and wore the Japanese avant-garde designer most regularly through the three years of her married life.
It takes money to look like Bessette Kennedy. Kumar Nair talks in her book about the designers who have been influenced the stealth wealth genre, from Phoebe Philo-era Celine to The Row, Bottega Veneta and Jil Sander. There is a recent interview with Lucie and Luke Meier, the current creative directors at Jil Sander, another of the key labels of the minimalist movement in the ’90s – CBK was a fan. The Meiers said that she remains a perennial part of their moodboard today. Kumar Nair, in conversation with the Meiers, quotes Geoffrey Beene, the late denizen of American elegance, as having said that only the immensely wealthy can afford to be excessively simple. Here is their response: “The simpler the pieces, the better the fabric and the shape have to be! Everything has to be impeccable. You cannot hide behind a lot of decoration, everything is exposed.” The moral of the story is that this look is pricey to emulate, because when brands like Zara, Cos, Club Monaco or Uniqlo, knock it off it can never look quite the same. In minimalism, fabric, stitching and construction count.
The white shirt is the item we most associate with Bessette Kennedy, namely the white Yamamoto shirt she wore – crossed over and paired with a long, black ruffle column skirt – to the Whitney Museum gala in 1999. She also defaulted to a white shirt for daily wear. This is a trend we wrote about earlier this year, but it bears repeating because the idea is a simple way to channel CBK anytime, anywhere.
Another hallmark piece in her wardrobe was the little black dress. For formal looks, she would slick her hair into a low chignon and wear the simplest, form fitting black dresses, with barely-there high-heeled strappy sandals, often paired with long gloves. She also wore gloves with her wedding dress, bringing back genteel, old-fashioned accessories as an elegant counterpoint in the era of grunge. Gloves have been making a comeback on the red carpet this year, so it is a good time to take that page from CBK’s stylebook.
For work day looks, CBK often chose high boots, as in high-heeled, but also high on the calf. These wardrobe staples always make you feel pulled together, and they work especially well with another CBK fave, the pencil skirt. This below-the-knee look is back, and a quick way to spruce up your closet for fall.
Because she was so relentlessly stalked by paparazzi as she went about her daily life in Tribeca, walking the dog, going shopping, Bessette Kennedy’s off-duty style is equally influential. There were many signature elements of CBK’s casual looks that are choices you can still make a quarter century later and you will appear as modern and timeless as she did back then.
She knew that the classics were classic for a reason. The pop of a yellow rain slicker dockside in Boston, for instance. Corduroy jeans. Stan Smiths. Carpenter jeans, or bootcuts (vintage Levi 517s, to be exact). White Ts. Loafers º– which are back in a huge way right now, just add ankle or knee socks to keep the look fresh – were a CBK favourite. She would borrow from the boys, choosing a men’s Rolex, or grabbing cardigans from the men’s line of Calvin Klein to throw on over her simple outfits.
Yes, all this simplicity and off-hand style looked great because Bessette Kennedy was young, beautiful and innately stylish. She would be 58 today, and no doubt would have evolved a new look to go with the times. But her formula for how she dressed is the reason she is an inspiration to so many women around the world. Like most women of great style, Bessette Kennedy had a uniform. She knew what was “her,” or how she could make something “her.” So the advice this week isn’t how to copy CBK, but rather how to pluck bits and pieces from her example – and make it “you.” Choose a colour palette, choose signature jewelry, have a favourite designer or two, a favourite fancy shoe and a favourite casual shoe or three, and then keep the course steady. Consistency is chic.
Always asking questions,
—Leanne Delap
