Everything to Know About Carolyn Bessette’s Wedding Dress Leave a comment
If the imagery of slick Manhattan skylines, Upper East Side soirées, New England summers, and Kennedy compounds hasn’t cemented Ryan Murphy’s biographical romance anthology, Love Story, as the water cooler show du jour, then the inundation of ‘90s minimalism certainly will.
Charting the famed relationship between Carolyn Bessette— a slick, insouciant publicist for Calvin Klein and perennial downtown darling—and John F. Kennedy Jr.—political scion and co-founder of the now-defunct George magazine—the limited series shines a spotlight on the notoriously private couple’s whirlwind entanglement. Thus far, we’ve seen their on-again, off-again origin story, their cataclysmic public breakdown in Central Park and a glimpse at their tragic undoing. However, it’s the fashion that’s actually become the most enduring part of the show.
From her iconic Levi’s to her collection of Prada knitwear and anything-but-basic basics from Petit Bateau, the wardrobe seen on actress Sarah Pidgeon has made a convert of sleek, understated style out of even the most stringent maximalist. Still, one would argue that it’s not her Yohji Yamamoto skirt and white shirt set or floral Chanel midi dress that’s her most iconic look, but her understated and wedding dress.
With CBK and JFK Jr’s nuptials taking centre stage in the upcoming sixth episode, the paired-back gown is once again thrust into the spotlight. Ahead, we’ve spoken to the show’s costume designer, Rudy Mance, about the making of the dress, and broken down everything you know about the small island ceremony itself. From the custom Manolo Blahniks she walked down the aisle in, to the anti-bride colour she wore to her rehearsal dinner, read on for all the details on Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy’s wedding dress, ahead.
Everything to Know About Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy’s Wedding Dress
1. The Dress
To set the scene, Carolyn Bessette Kennedy and John F. Kennedy Jr. tied the knot on September 21, 1996 at an intimate wedding ceremony hosted on Cumberland Island, which is just off the Georgia coast. The event was supposedly a secret, which made the understated simplicity of her wedding dress all the more captivating.
Instead of a billowing gown befitting of marrying “America’s Prince”, the then 30-year-old exchanged vows in a simple slip. Designed by Narciso Rodriguez, who was a close friend of CBK’s, the ivory-coloured dress featured a simple cowl neck that draped elegantly across her frame.
The silhouette was completely revolutionary and reshaped the face of bridal fashion forever. Offering women an outlet from cupcakes, shapes and stiff taffeta, the design was also a marker of a decade underscored by heroin chic and decisive simplicity, the latter coming to summarise her sartorial legacy.
“It was so simple, so elegant, and so classic,” explains Mance over email. “It was the perfect dress that reflected who Carolyn was, which was equal parts ahead of its time, so of the time, all while being absolutely timeless. It changed the way we thought of modern wedding dresses.”
Chatting to the Emmy-nominated costume designer, who has collaborated with Ryan Murphy nine times prior on period pieces like Capote Vs. The Swans, Mance tells me that the process of translating her dress for the screen first began with a sketch, then rigorous research.
(Image credit: FX)
Telling me that he “studied every single photo that was available of the dress”, he looked at Narciso Rodriguez’s initial sketch of the dress, which was published by Vanity Fair and watched The Lost Tapes to see how the dress moved.
However, the real eureka moment came when they stumbled across the remnants of the original material, which was fortuitously only a stone’s throw from JFK Jr. and CBK’s Tribeca loft.
“We discovered that Narciso had bought a silk crepe fabric from a shop here in NYC that’s still around called B&J Fabrics. They miraculously still had a very old and yellowed swatch of the original fabric, so through them, we reached out to the fabric mill in Italy and imported the exact same fabric. We custom-made the dress out of the original fabric Narciso used. It was important to me to be as exact as possible, not only out of respect to Carolyn Bessette, but also to Narciso’s beautiful design.”
All in all, the finished dress seen in the show was the result of three to four prototypes Mance made in order to get the exact proportions right. “The most challenging thing to execute was the drape of the dress, the way it hung on Sarah and the way it moved on her as she wore it,” he notes.
“It was such a simple dress, but so beautiful in how it almost flowed when she would walk, so the seams needed to be tweaked quite a bit to get the final shape of it. We tried different versions of the toile of the dress before we landed on the final recreation.”
Olivia Von Halle
Paloma Silk-Satin Gown
Reformation
Ceres Silk Dress
Polo Ralph Lauren
Satin Slip Dress
2. The Shoes
Whilst less widely discussed than a wedding dress, CBK’s bridal shoes were an extension of her refined and polished approach to personal style. For the occasion, she wore a pair of crystal-beaded satin sandals from Manolo Blahnik.
A favourite of another nineties New York icon, Carrie Bradshaw, CBK’s relationship with the Spanish designer resulted in him naming a slingback style in her honour. These aren’t the exact pair she wore for the big day, however, as she wore a shape similar to the Callasli.
MANOLO BLAHNIK
Callasli 90
Jimmy Choo
Elsy 70 Satin Sandals
AQUAZZURA
Tati 85 Satin Slingback Sandals
3. The Beauty Look
Another element that makes CBK’s wedding dress so eternal is her beauty look. Complimenting the understated essence of the ensemble was the fact that she styled her signature long block locks into an unfussy low bun.
It looked almost like something that she could’ve done herself the morning off, which only added to the element of effortlessness and glamorous nonchalance that continues to define her. Her “something old” was the clip that kept the style in place, which formerly belonged to her late mother-in-law, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Later in the evening, as she had her first dance as a wife whilst wearing her husband’s tuxedo jacket to shield her from the brisk Atlantic breeze, she took her hair down, leading to loose waves that rested casually on her décolletage. As for makeup, her complexion was kept buttery soft but matte and she lacked both a signature lip or eye look, really letting the elegance of the dress shine through.
Merit Beauty
The Minimalist
Westman Atelier
Face Trace Contour Stick
4. The Bouquet
CBK carried a small bouquet of lilies of the valley, which were clutched in her white glove-encased hands. The botanicals also held sentimental value for the blushing bride, as she once again honoured Jackie, who was known to have as she was known to have adored the flowers and even had them featured on her breakfast tray each morning to wake up to the scent.
5. The Guest List
CBK and JFK Jr. opted for a modest chapel, the First African Baptist Church, for the candlelit ceremony. Established in 1893, the one-room building hosted 40 of their closest family and friends.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Amongst the attendees were Kennedy’s cousin, Anthony Radziwiłł and his wife, former journalist and Real Housewives of New York star, Carole Radziwiłł. The wedding party also included Kennedy’s nephew, Jack Schlossberg, who is a political correspondent, writer and commentator currently running for a congressional seat in New York.
6. The Venue
For the reception, guests gathered at the Greyfield Inn, which is an exclusive, historic mansion built in the early 20th-century for the Carnegie family. Over a three-course dinner held under a white canopy, the newlyweds were said to have rung in the evening with music from Prince and cocktails on the porch.
Summarising the evening, JFK Jr. shared the following toast to his bride: “Carolyn has changed my life in a way I never thought was possible. She has just made me, tonight, the happiest man alive”.
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