I’m seeing a lot of discussion about how when she became a public figure, she was working for Calvin Klein and dressing for the job, in a way. Then she became a Kennedy, which had its own needs in terms of fashion. There’s a curiosity around what her personal style was before working at Calvin. Was the minimalist aesthetic truly her taste?
I think it was. She definitely had this interesting tomboy, kind of jock, side to her during college, but it was always very preppy. It was always going within that same kind of style arc. Friends reported that she’d come back with one perfect white shirt, while they’d come back with ten bags from discount stores. I’m sure she experimented with different things, but even recent pictures of her from her younger days that have been leaked are really interesting because she remains the same. There is actually no style difference when you look at it. I think that’s very telling of her, the woman, and consistent in who she was and what she liked.
You touch on this in the book, but what is the Carolyn Bessette style formula?
Everybody’s discussing the formula right now, right? I think it is really honing in on the basics, the capsule pieces. That word has been bandied around so much, but that is essentially how I broke down the book: the shirt, the coat…. Get those essential pieces, right? Really, really do your homework. There are ways in which you can make this idea fit whatever budget—today, there is just so much access—and then, go to a tailor and get it perfectly fit for your body.
What was the mix of luxury brands to more affordable pieces in her wardrobe? What brands did she favor?
Before she married John, she mixed in APC. She definitely had to wear Calvin Klein. That was expected of her and a kind of requisite, but she wouldn’t wear full Calvin Klein. She’d throw in a Gap white T-shirt, because that was kind of coming through at the time, and there were brands that are no longer around like Chaiken. She wore what was kind of termed “contemporary fashion” at the time. She always liked Petit Bateau and would mix that in with her Levi’s or a pair of tailored pants. I think these are all great examples of her mixing the high and low, which she did even when she married John.
In her day-to-day, she had a sort of uniform, which was either a white T-shirt or white shirt and jeans or slacks and loafers. She kept to a formula of mixing and matching, but she understood it. She was an incredible editor and incredibly well versed in how to do that. She went to the best university possible, right? Working almost side by side with Calvin, and her best friends were stylists and in the design team there, so her accessibility and her taste level were off the scale by the time she married John.