Pop culture fans have been eagerly anticipating the release of Ryan Murphy’s limited series “American Love Story,” which will chronicle the story of Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy and John F. Kennedy Jr.’s tabloid maelstrom of a marriage and tragic death when their plane crashed off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard in 1999 when they were 33 and 38 years old respectively.
But for fashion obsessives and the dozens of Instagram accounts that chronicle Bessette-Kennedy’s (or CBK as many refer to her) every look as she was hunted by paparazzi during the 1990s—the red mohair Prada coat, the black silk Yohji Yamamoto trench, the Prada Spazzolato box bag—the FX series was being heralded as a fashion super bowl of sorts.
And then they saw the first images from the show—featuring British actress Sarah Pidgeon who was cast as CBK—released on Instagram on June 14.
To put it bluntly, all fashion hell broke loose and seemed to unite the internet in ways that few things do these days. The verdict? Everything about the way Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy was portrayed was just…wrong.
The outfit—a tepid brown coat, cropped black pants, and notably deflated No. 35 Birkin bag—was derided, with critics quipping that the look was more in line of Mango, Zara, and Forever 21 than Bessette-Kennedy’s famous affinity for rich neutral shades, sumptuous fabrics, and overall embodiment of quiet luxury before we had the phrase to describe it. And that Birkin? Everyone knows CBK was partial to an overstuffed size 40. Even her original colorist, Brad Johns, weighed in, as her famous blonde hair seemed too bleached and texturally inaccurate (he told the New York Post that show’s interpretation is “burnt” and “ashy.”)
By the time follow-up visuals were released that showed Pidgeon wearing a trendy-looking bronze satin midi skirt, faux leather jacket, and Converse sneakers, the people were on the verge of losing their minds.
When fashion watchdog Instagram account Diet Prada posted the images, everyone from Moda Operandi co-founder Lauren Santo Domingo to influencer Camille Charrière commented with disdain (the post has over 1,300 comments). Stylist Gabriella Karefa-Johnson opined: “Please up the wardrobe budgets. I know the silhouettes look the same but Zara is very different from vintage Calvin, Narciso, Jil [Sander]…send help.”
The collective fervor was so loud that American Love Story creator and showrunner Murphy had to do some early damage control. “Carolyn Bessette is clearly a religious figure and it’s a religion of her own,” he told Variety, “It’s very interesting that people become so inflammatory.” He also sat down with Puck to explain that the images he shared are apparently not the show’s final looks. “It was a work in progress but I released it, because sometimes you put things out and the paparazzi backs off, so your actors don’t feel attacked,” he told the site. He also shared that there is a yet to be announced 10-person “style advisory board” is in the works to make sure the final costumes hit the right note.
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