Even before the cameras rolled, Ryan Murphy’s forthcoming American Love Story—a new anthology series, the first installment of which will chronicle style icon Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy and political scion John F. Kennedy Jr.’s whirlwind romance—proved controversial. It was difficult to fault the casting—a smattering of promising rising stars and well-chosen big names—but the fashion? That was another matter.
Among the countless questions we have for the production team, the most pressing is: Will what we’ve seen so far be the thrust of Carolyn’s wardrobe on the show? And how will they approach adapting the style of Bessette-Kennedy’s mother-in-law, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, her daughter, Caroline Kennedy, or Carolyn’s boss, ’90s fixture Calvin Klein, for that matter?
As we await answers, we take a closer look at all the real-life figures set to feature in American Love Story, their distinctive styles, and the impressive actors due to play them.
Sarah Pidgeon as Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy
Photos: Getty Images
The striking, dark-haired, 29-year-old actor you may know from Prime Video’s The Wilds, Hulu’s Tiny Beautiful Things, or for her Tony-nominated Broadway debut in David Adjmi’s Stereophonic has gone blonde and donned slip dresses and strappy sandals to play the supremely chic fashion publicist at the center of American Love Story.
Carolyn Bessette was born in upstate New York and raised in Connecticut, modeled briefly before landing a sales job at Calvin Klein, and then worked her way up to becoming the brand’s director of publicity. She met the magnetic attorney and journalist John F. Kennedy Jr.—the only son of JFK and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis—in 1992, when he was still dating Splash star Daryl Hannah. JFK Jr. and Bessette got together some two years later, and were trailed by paparazzi right up until their engagement in 1995. For their secret 1996 wedding, she wore a minimalist white slip dress by Narciso Rodriguez, her friend and colleague at Calvin Klein, making the designer an overnight sensation.
Married life proved to be less of a fairytale: the media maelstrom around them intensified, the couple had numerous public disagreements, and, within a few years, rumors of an impending divorce began to swirl. Then, in 1999, John, Carolyn, and her older sister, Lauren, died in a plane crash off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard after John, who was piloting the aircraft, lost control of it. Carolyn, John, and Lauren were only 33, 38, and 34, respectively. Since then, Carolyn has been revered and remembered for her work, as well as her impeccable, pared-back style—quickly becoming immortalized as an enduring symbol of effortless ’90s elegance. Just as she often refused to give interviews or be shot for magazines, her approach to fashion had a luxe-but-low-key, don’t-look-at-me quality that, ironically, made her totally irresistible to onlookers.
Paul Kelly as John F. Kennedy Jr.
Photos: Getty Images