Photo-Illustration: The Strategist; Photos: Getty Images, Retailers
We’ve obsessively tracked Carolyn Bessette Kennedy’s style since the beginnings of the Strategist. It all started with her (rumored) preferred lipstick — a shade called Cranberry Veil from Face Stockholm — in 2017. But the fascination with all things CBK related might’ve reached a new level with the premiere of Ryan Murphy’s Love Story. A few weeks ago, Emily Sundberg reported in Feed Me that C.O. Bigelow had its biggest non-holiday sales day in history thanks to West Village girls stocking up on tortoiseshell headbands, and last weekend, a Strategist senior editor spotted a display of tortoiseshell headbands with a photo of Bessette Kennedy in the front window of Zitomer. Selima Optique — which makes the Aldo sunglasses she was often photographed in — saw a 1,314 percent increase in sales of that style in the two weeks since the show debuted (compared to the previous two weeks before the show), according to a spokesperson for the brand. Strategist readers have CBK on the brain, too: They bought a lot of tubes of Cranberry Veil last month.
If you find yourself suddenly wanting tiny sunglasses or searching for vintage Yohji Yamamoto on the RealReal, let us be of service. We searched for everything Kennedy had that’s still available. This involved going down rabbit holes across different sub-Reddits, following Instagram accounts, and reading up on anything about her style. You might recognize the Egyptian musk oil from Abdul Kareem, which contributor Fiorella Valdesolo wrote about after spotting it in an XOJane post by Cat Marnell. But you may not know about the foundation powder mentioned in Bessette Kennedy’s friend Carole Radziwill’s memoir What Remains or the Chuck Taylors she reportedly wore while working at Calvin Klein. While many of her pieces were designer — like the Narciso Rodriguez wedding dress that has its own Wikipedia page — she schlepped a Boat and Tote, too.
Want to be emailed about sales and other updates to your saved products?
Success! You’ll get an email when something you’ve saved goes on sale.
Yes
Carolyn Bessette Kennedy was often photographed in well-fitting basics, among them long- and short-sleeve crewnecks from Petit Bateau. According to John F. Kennedy Jr.’s assistant RoseMarie Terenzio (who later became good friends with CBK), the French label’s 100 percent cotton staples in black and white were a favorite of Bessette Kennedy, who throughout the mid- to late-1990s paired them with everything from a Yohji Yamamoto raincoat to to carpenter jeans and flip flops.
Want to be emailed about sales and other updates to your saved products?
Success! You’ll get an email when something you’ve saved goes on sale.
Yes
Want to be emailed about sales and other updates to your saved products?
Success! You’ll get an email when something you’ve saved goes on sale.
Yes
T-shirts like the Petit Bateau above were often paired with bootcut jeans from Levi’s, specifically cropped 517s, as reported by “Page Six” and Vogue. The style, which debuted in 1969, is fitted through the hips and flares at the knee to go over boots, though she liked to wear them with loafers and strappy Prada sandals, too.
[Editor’s note: If you want to buy a new pair, they are available in men’s sizing from Levi’s here.]
Want to be emailed about sales and other updates to your saved products?
Success! You’ll get an email when something you’ve saved goes on sale.
Yes
Reaction to the original test images of Love Story was not great — and especially toward the pieces worn by Sarah Pidgeon, who plays Bessette Kennedy. One of the items that fans decried were the Chuck Taylors on Pidgeon’s feet — but we were wrong. As Amy Odell reported in Back Row, the series — which is based on Elizabeth Beller’s biography Once Upon a Time: The Captivating Life of Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy — got this detail right, and the lack of any photographic evidence (unlike the images showing her in Stan Smiths or Airwalks) has to do with the fact that she wore them before meeting J.F.K. Jr.
Want to be emailed about sales and other updates to your saved products?
Success! You’ll get an email when something you’ve saved goes on sale.
Yes
Only Bessette Kennedy could make wearing sneakers in the sand look completely practical and even stylish. Photos of Carolyn and JFK Jr. show the couple leaving Hyannis Port, where she was wearing white Adidas Stan Smiths, a green sweatshirt, and a yellow rain slicker. She wore the sneakers in the city, too.
Want to be emailed about sales and other updates to your saved products?
Success! You’ll get an email when something you’ve saved goes on sale.
Yes
She also wore sneakers from Airwalk, the skateboarding shoe company that was popular in the ’90s. Her preferred pair were the 19 Oz style in black-and-blue, which from afar look a little like a pair of Air Jordans.
[Editor’s note: We couldn’t find her exact pair, but these are from the same “19 Oz” line.]
Want to be emailed about sales and other updates to your saved products?
Success! You’ll get an email when something you’ve saved goes on sale.
Yes
Want to be emailed about sales and other updates to your saved products?
Success! You’ll get an email when something you’ve saved goes on sale.
Yes
Want to be emailed about sales and other updates to your saved products?
Success! You’ll get an email when something you’ve saved goes on sale.
Yes
This headband is the most ubiquitous Bessette Kennedy symbol. Though Love Story spawned a fresh wave of CBK fervor at C.O. Bigelow, it wasn’t the first time the pharmacy sold out of the acetate accessory (a December 2023 TikTok trend saw throngs descend on the pharmacy). She was nary without the headband on strolls through 1996 and 1997 and often paired it with her Selima Optique shades. You can still find it at Zitomer for now.
Want to be emailed about sales and other updates to your saved products?
Success! You’ll get an email when something you’ve saved goes on sale.
Yes
As Alice Gregory wrote for the Strategist in 2017, Face Stockholm’s Cranberry Veil is “especially good on an otherwise bare face” — which was Bessette Kennedy’s preferred way of wearing lipstick. She supposedly wore the shade for nights out on the town between 1997 and 1998 and appears to have worn it at a Whitney Museum party and another art event. The brand cites Bessette Kennedy as having been a “frequent customer at our SoHo store in the ’90s … Her favorites were Nail Polish #13, a sheer opal/iridescent shade, and of course, Cranberry Veil Lipstick.”
Want to be emailed about sales and other updates to your saved products?
Success! You’ll get an email when something you’ve saved goes on sale.
Yes
Kennedy also supposedly wore the Egyptian musk oil from Abdul Kareem, which is “clean and mellow and faintly soapy,” writes our contributor Fiorella Valdesolo. “It’s hard not to appreciate the dichotomy of a woman with unfettered fragrance access opting for something so down-to-earth,” Valdesolo adds. And it’s only available through this seller on eBay now.
Want to be emailed about sales and other updates to your saved products?
Success! You’ll get an email when something you’ve saved goes on sale.
Yes
From an excerpt of Carole Radziwill’s (who was married to J.F.K. Jr.’s cousin Anthony) memoir: Kennedy kept Mac Studio Fix Powder in her makeup bag to use under her eyes. It’s available as a foundation-setting powder now with over 67 different shades.
Want to be emailed about sales and other updates to your saved products?
Success! You’ll get an email when something you’ve saved goes on sale.
Yes
Bessette Kennedy’s bleached-blonde hair is synonymous with her style. A natural brunette, she started seeing colorist Brad Johns in 1996, who helped her achieve that “child of the beach” color she’s famous for. To keep it healthy, it’s reported that she (and John) used Kiehl’s cream to smooth, condition, and style their hair.
Want to be emailed about sales and other updates to your saved products?
Success! You’ll get an email when something you’ve saved goes on sale.
Yes
Like every good New Englander, Bessette Kennedy had the L.L.Bean Boat and Tote and actually used it — on a boat.
Want to be emailed about sales and other updates to your saved products?
Success! You’ll get an email when something you’ve saved goes on sale.
Yes
Bessette Kennedy famously eschewed visible logos, though she could often be seen carrying a giant 40-centimeter Birkin bag. She was also partial to the fashion house’s classic belt with that unmistakable H.
Want to be emailed about sales and other updates to your saved products?
Success! You’ll get an email when something you’ve saved goes on sale.
Yes
Want to be emailed about sales and other updates to your saved products?
Success! You’ll get an email when something you’ve saved goes on sale.
Yes
This midiskirt was spotted on Bessette Kennedy only once as part of a head-to-toe Prada outfit in October 1996 to greet the press outside her and JFK Jr.’s Tribeca home for the first time as Mrs. Bessette Kennedy. The piece is now part of an auction of some of the most sought-after pieces from her closet.
Want to be emailed about sales and other updates to your saved products?
Success! You’ll get an email when something you’ve saved goes on sale.
Yes
As The Cut reported, Sarah Pidgeon wears a cream-colored rollneck sweater from J.Crew, something that Carolyn herself might have worn considering the style’s popularity at the time. The brand recently rereleased its original 1988 rollneck, technically for men, and an updated version for women with a wider ribbed neck and cuffs.
Want to be emailed about sales and other updates to your saved products?
Success! You’ll get an email when something you’ve saved goes on sale.
Yes
Want to be emailed about sales and other updates to your saved products?
Success! You’ll get an email when something you’ve saved goes on sale.
Yes
Our senior editor Ailbhe Malone spied a Mackenzie-Childs teapot next to Carolyn at lunch at Caroline Kennedy’s (played by Grace Gummer) — before she’s eating a salad of dandelions Caroline’s husband, Edwin Schlossberg, found in Central Park (that Carolyn spits out into her napkin).
Arguably the best part of the show is the way it recreates the atmosphere of living in New York City in the ’90s — through music and fashion, yes, but particularly through its sets, such as its depictions of the sleek Calvin Klein offices and JFK Jr.’s (reimagined) Tribeca loft. Curbed’s Adriane Quinlan talked to the show’s production designer, Alex DiGerlando, about getting “period correct” chairs and other details. Over at Secret Strategist, we noted all the pairs of lamps that pop up in various spaces, all of which you can still buy.
Calvin Klein’s office lamps.
The Strategist is designed to surface useful, expert recommendations for things to buy across the vast e-commerce landscape. Every product is independently selected by our team of editors, whom you can read about here. We update links when possible, but note that deals can expire and all prices are subject to change.