Photos show how ‘Love Story’ recreated Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy’s iconic style

In this scene, before she meets John F. Kennedy Jr. for the first time, Carolyn (played by Sarah Pidgeon) wears a simple black turtleneck, flared black capri pants, and black leather loafers.

In both the show and real life, Bessette-Kennedy worked as a showroom assistant for Calvin Klein before rising the ranks to become head of publicity for the fashion house.

She was often seen wearing loose Levi’s 517 jeans, her hair slicked back into a bun, with a simple monochromatic coat over the top.

When it came to recreating the New York City icon’s style, the series didn’t always nail it. Early leaked images from the set were criticized online for being too modern, fast-fashion-looking, and different from Kennedy-Bessette’s more upscale style.

In response to the backlash, the show brought in a new costume designer, Rudy Mance, who dedicated himself to making the costumes as accurate as possible.

“I get it. I’m protective of [John and Carolyn] as well. We all just wanted to be as precise and accurate as possible,” Mance told Variety.

Mance said he and his team studied for months throughout filming, comparing old paparazzi photos of the couple with the new looks he was creating for the show and pulling in as many archival and vintage pieces as possible to accurately recreate the look.

“There’s so much mystery about Carolyn. My familiarity with her was through paparazzi images,” lead actor Sarah Pidgeon told Vogue.

Mance said that recreating Kennedy’s style before she was thrust into the public eye was the most challenging.

“Everybody knows what they wore from 1996 to 1999, but we were telling the story of how they met,” he said, according to Glamour.

Bessette-Kennedy often looked effortlessly sexy when she stepped out on red carpets, like in the strapless black Yohji Yamamoto gown photographed above. Pidgeon wears a similar dress for her meet-cute with Kelly in episode one of the series.

It was delicate work for Pidgeon to strike the same balance, especially when fans reacted strongly to early images of her in the role. However, the actor told Vogue she was ultimately grateful for the public feedback about her portrayal.

“The online conversations at the beginning of the process served as a reminder of how important it was to get our portrayal of Carolyn correct. She grew even more important to me,” Pidgeon told Vogue. “People really, really love Carolyn, and my priority every single day on set was doing justice to her legacy.”

Although Bessette-Kennedy’s simple outfits could be recreated with off-brand designers — like the white blouse and floor-length black skirt by Yohji Yamamoto that she wore in 1999 — Mance was dedicated to finding archival pieces. Pidgeon was wearing true recreations of Bessette-Kennedy’s looks whenever possible.

He also ensured the pieces would fit Pidgeon similarly to how they fit Bessette-Kennedy, as Pidgeon told Vogue.

“We found her Prada and Valentino coats, and fitted some Levi’s so that they looked exactly how they fit Carolyn,” Pidgeon told Vogue.

Kennedy’s clothes were always going to play a central part in her on-screen portrayal since style was so critical to her identity. However, Pidgeon said she hoped the clothes she wears offer a jumping-off point for the total woman she hopes to portray.

“She is known as this minimalist fashion icon, but I learned that she was also vivacious, funny, and had a wildness about her,” she told Vogue.