In 1996, Carolyn Bessette and John F. Kennedy Jr. married in a private ceremony at a small chapel on Cumberland Island, Georgia. The wedding, free from paparazzi and media, was a rare moment of privacy before they emerged as one of the world’s most famous couples. Rather than a grand princess gown, Bessette-Kennedy chose a dress that upended bridal traditions and set a new standard in fashion.
Her gown was a simple, bias-cut silk slip dress, its only flourish a gentle cowl neckline. She completed the look with a silk tulle veil, crystal-beaded Manolo Blahnik satin sandals, and sheer elbow-length gloves. The dress was created by her friend, designer Narciso Rodriguez. As a prominent publicist for Calvin Klein, many assumed she would wear one of his designs or perhaps turn to a rising star known for slip dresses, like John Galliano.
“The fact that she chose an unknown friend, as opposed to Calvin Klein, is just her all along: championing her friends and wanting them to enjoy her new limelight,” said Sunita Kumar Nair, author of “CBK: Carolyn Bessette Kennedy: A Life in Fashion,” in a phone interview.
Rodriguez was reportedly commissioned over drinks at The Odeon in New York City. He spent three months creating three versions of the dress for Bessette-Kennedy to choose from. In a 1996 interview with The New York Times, he called the final design “sensuous,” a vision he and Bessette-Kennedy shared from the start. The gown, gifted by the designer, was reportedly valued at around $40,000 at the time. “I made that wedding dress with so much love for the person that I loved most in the whole world,” Rodriguez told PBS in 2020. “I never viewed it as a press event.”
The understated column dress was perfectly suited for a small, intimate wedding, yet its simplicity had a seismic impact on the bridal industry. “There was a massive boom in this kind of very sleek silhouette,” said Nair. “Everybody was like, ‘I want to look like her.’ Gone with the meringues.”
Previously, opulent gowns had dominated bridal fashion. In 1981, Princess Diana’s wedding to the future King Charles set the benchmark with its puff sleeves and a 25-foot-long, pearl-embellished veil. This fairytale aesthetic influenced many, including Mariah Carey, whose 1993 Vera Wang gown was modeled after Diana’s. Other prominent figures, like Michelle Obama and Janet Jackson, also opted for more traditional, voluminous silhouettes.
Bessette-Kennedy’s choice marked a deliberate departure. “It’s interesting to think about Princess Diana; that was the wedding dress of the 20th century,” Rachel Tashjian, a fashion critic at The Washington Post, told CNN. “It was this woman coming out of this fairytale horse and carriage in an enormous, richly embellished dress.” In stark contrast, Bessette-Kennedy’s gown had “no embellishment, no ruffles, nothing.”
Tashjian added, “She’s sort of saying, rather than embodying some past fantasy or fairytale fulfillment, ‘I am going to do a clean slate, and look forward to the future.’” Nair agreed, noting, “It was the biggest indicator Carolyn gave of what was to come for the global public as the new Mrs. Kennedy.”
Ironically, Bessette-Kennedy’s trend-defying dress became a new blueprint for brides worldwide. Today, simple ivory slip dresses remain a popular style offered by designers from Victoria Beckham and Max Mara to contemporary brands like Reformation and Rixo.
Alexandra Macon, a wedding editor at Vogue, confirmed she “very often” sees women reference the Rodriguez gown. “When writing a wedding feature, it’s not uncommon for a bride to tell me she emulated Carolyn’s bridal look,” Macon wrote in an email to CNN. Months before she met Prince Harry, Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, told Glamour that Bessette-Kennedy’s was her “favorite celebrity wedding dress.”
“Carolyn’s was just done to absolute perfection,” said Nair. “That’s why we’re talking about it today, 25 years on.”
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