Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy a style icon?

[narniabusiness]

Recently I’ve seen a lot of references to Carolyn B-K as a style icon and I’m not sure that I fully understand the love. For those who are unfamiliar with her she worked for Calvin Klein, married a Kennedy and died tragically young.
Since the Kennedys seem to be the American equivalent of our Royal family, is it that the gives her a touch of glamour? Especially when combined with her tragic death, like Princess Diana?
Or is it that she really did look more stylish than her contemporaries? Does her frequent referencing in style guides mean that minimalism is having a moment?
Anyone else noticed these frequent references to her style and do you like it or think its unremarkable?

Long live trying!

I really find it strange how some see her style as a phenomena , I’m not saying she didn’t dress well , because she did but it was truly nothing spectacular.
It was all over the runways and not just at Calvin Klein . Ralph Lauren, Donna Karen , Michael kors they all mastered that understated timeless American look.
I was a teen when she died but even at that age I remember there were so many similarities drawn between CBK and Gwyneth Paltrow . Just watch a perfect Murder and you will see it .

It was all over the runways and not just at Calvin Klein . Ralph Lauren, Donna Karen , Michael kors they all mastered that understated timeless American look.

Is it normal for someone to look like they have stepped off the runway going about their everyday life though?

So normal in city like London , New York or Milan.

I don't see Meghan as a style icon either. She has worn some beautiful dresses and outfits, and she's pretty, slim and trim, but she's not a style icon.

I'm not sure that "knowing who she was" makes the look less bland. She was wearing them when they weren't worn by others, and it became the look people wanted.
You were basing the opinion on a couple of photographs. if you saw a couple of snaps of [name of style icon] off-duty, without knowing who [name] was, they would probably look bland too.

Jackie Kennedy's look meant nothing to me growing up. Shapeless shift dresses and square little jackets, a bit like the old ones in Mum's wardrobe. Later I realised that the trend had been popularised by Jackie K.

So normal in city like London , New York or Milan.

Well as a Londoner I don't see many people who look like they walked off the runway and that's despite so many years in the fashion industry!

For one the vast majority of people don't have the stature of a model!

Same here. Most people look business casual. The trading floor people are in business clothes.
Nobody stands out.

Caroline B-K had a certain je ne sais quo. That can't be bought or sought. It's innate. A small percentage of people have that.

Height a side it’s not difficult to emulate that look , and I see it very frequently , I’m talking about the polished well put together look.

There have been some mentions of Meghan, but a difference between CBK and Megan's style is that CBK's clothes were all perfectly fitted. Meghan, particularly whilst in the Royal Family often wore ill fitting clothes. They were often too tight or needed more discreet underwear.

@queenofarles I can only talk about my experience & from what I see, the vast majority don't look like they have stepped off a catwalk. I see ultra groomed women in certain areas but I don't see them as looking runway ready,

I think Meghan is a dreadful dresser. Looks like she doesn't have a clue with clothes that don't suit her and don't fit her. I remember seeing her on one of her first visits to the UK and her trousers were absolutely trailing in the dirt on the pavement. ( I didn't go to see her but happened to be thereabouts)

There is absolutely no comparison between Meghan Markle and Caroline B-K.

Oh no, it's turned a Meghan bashing thread.

Im 55 so I feel like i should know who this lady is, but i dont. I do know kate moss I wonder why this skipped me. I was living in hong Kong in the 90s working for BA maybe thats why. No social media I shall do some digging

I’m 54, have always loved clothes and I hadn’t really heard of her either until all this recent mentioning of her.

I looked her up and just thought ‘aaah, a Kennedy wife’ - of course she was a style icon.

She was the American elite and dressed the part. American minimalism is still with us for those with the lives (and looks) to suit it.

As a slightly eccentric middle aged Scot I don’t really feel qualified to be on this thread!

@queenofarles, It might be easy to emulate it, but to create a look at a time when that look isn't fashionable, and to then have women emulating that look takes a special something.
I'm not bashing MM, but I don't think she has the innate sense of what suits her, and she doesn't have a mannequin's figure. (And she wore new-looking ripped jeans).

With the royals, the one I think who has most innate style is Anne.

She was fab - effortless, understated, unfussy, super stylish, great body and lovely bone structure. Very simple hair and makeup and nothing that detracted from or overwhelmed her beauty. There may well have been a lot of work put in behind the scenes, I don't know, but the outcome was great. She was the opposite of "try hard". I dread having a "try hard" look.

Desperately unhappy family.

Thinking back to the nineties…how much did American fashion influence us here in Britain before the internet?

What I remember is Kate Moss, Helena Bonham Carter, Diana Princess of Wales, grunge and all things ‘Cool Britannia’.

Having not heard of Carolyn until this week, if you’d asked me in 1995-99 to name a Kennedy style icon I would have said Jackie…but in the sixties, not as a current icon.

@BankfieldForever , don't you remember how popular The Rachel was?
Didn't we admire the clothes from Clueless?
We watched SATC.

Cluless was massive for me but perhaps it's an age thing?

@clipboardz , I've not seen it, but I'm aware of the influence.
I secretly wanted to look like Britney Spears or Meg Ryan.

The Rachel was just a haircut, I don’t remember the clothes in ‘Friends’ ever being noticed or emulated at all, although I remember what they consisted of - pretty normal clothes for the nineties, nothing iconic.

And ‘Clueless’ - I’ve not seen it but if you’re talking about mini kilts and Burberry…no, I didn’t know about it until some revival of it not long ago.

Even though I’ve always loved clothes / fashion I was 25 and at university in the North of england in 1995 and we all just dressed like lumberjacks and lorry drivers.