CBK: Carolyn Bessette Kennedy: A Life in Fashion

by Sunita Kamir Nair, Gabriela Hearst (Foreword), Edward Enninful Obe (Preface)

Fashion and creative director Sunita K. Nair presents Carolyn Bessette A Life in Fashion , which pays homage to the style icon’s timeless, distinguished beauty and legacy in the first book of its kind.

Foreword by Gabriela Hearst, award-winning designer to First Lady Jill Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris

Preface by Edward Enninful, OBE, Editor-in-Chief of British Vogue

Long blonde hair, an iconic red lip, and effortless style—all signatures of fashion icon Carolyn Bessette Kennedy. Carolyn used fashion as her medium. She hadn’t found her voice yet in front of the camera as Mrs. Kennedy, so she let her fashion speak to the world for her. With her attention to detail, strict color palette, and unique, unidentifiable looks with the brand labels deliberately removed, she was the essence of class—no label would ever define her. She didn’t choose to abide by the typical patrician standard expected from a woman of her position who had married into a family dynasty; instead, she did the unexpected and wore her revolutionary clothes with aplomb, confidence, and grace.

Featuring spectacular photography and design, Carolyn Bessette A Life in Fashion gathers the greats in the fashion world to speak of her timeless style and presents never-before-published personal anecdotes from friends and family, including such fashion luminaries as Graydon Carter, Calvin Klein, Michael Kors, Manolo Blahnik, Wes Gordon, Tory Burch, and Samira Nasr. This book is the ultimate commemoration of Carolyn Bessette Kennedy’s style, fashion code, and the impact she left behind nearly two decades later.

Includes Color Images

Genres: Fashion, Nonfiction, Biography, Art, Biography Memoir, Memoir, History

256 pages, Hardcover

Published November 7, 2023

Reviews

[Elizabeth Bertram · Rating 1 out of 5]

As a Day 1 fan of Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, I was so disappointed in this book. Some of the CBK photos look like they’ve been lifted off of a TikTok account that makes heavy use of the bold glam filter. In other words, the editor and author must have no idea of what Carolyn Bessette Kennedy looked like if those photos were approved to publish. Also, the additions of modern day people and celebrities that embody her style is a joke (spoiler alert: they aren’t even in the same league!) and clearly just added to fill pages. Come on, Lily Rose-Depp and CBK DO NOT belong in the same book. Bleh! Carolyn deserved better than this “dedication”!

[Maditales · Rating 4 out of 5]

Icon

[Livia Svenvold Mcphee]

CBK invented brown with beige, platinum blonde hair, and having a hot husband. She did not, however, invent relatable rich person. That was Taylor Swift.

Her relaxed style didn’t make her ‘one w the people’. There’s a difference between a crisp white button down hand made by Calvin Klein himself and the oversized, sweat stained one you stole from your dads closet. Her casual was elegant because she could invest in quality.

That being said, the chill, masculine energy her clothes gave off WAS distinctly different from the Kennedy family attire. Her tomboy attitude felt daring, almost transgressive. The people loved it. BUT it didn’t make her one of us. She was the People’s PRINCESS💗👑, just like her royal counterpart from across the pond (shout out to princess Di). 🖤🐑

I feel like the contributors missed this distinction. each chapter had quotes like: “Her birkin held her makeup bag, her diary, her phone, and a change of clothes. There was a sense of realness to her and to her life.” 😭🙄This book just needed a normal person editor to make sure the words “Birkin” and “sense of realness” appeared literally nowhere near each other ❌❌

I LOVED the pictures. Many moments where I was like 🥹🫢😯 She unfortunately does look like the type of woman to die a young, tragic death. Not in a bad way. Just like those big sultry blue eyes and her virginal energy was meant to be memorialized or something. Omg didn’t realize I had so much to say about Carolyn. just took the bus three extra stops while writing this. AnywaysShe was a vision with a vision. I need a job. Xoxoxox

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love CBK's style but found the choice of images contrasting with text confusing. Example: They would reference a particular outfit but an image was nary to be found! How am I supposed to know which dress they were referencing??? I would have preferred a more conventional photo album tracking her style.

[E · Rating 5 out of 5]

counting this as one of my 2024 reads because I genuinely pored over these pages 🤍 CBK: icon, muse, birthday twin, etc

[Hari · Rating 1 out of 5]

Carolyn Bessette Kennedy: A Life in Fashion
does not live up to its title.

The pics when they are of Carolyn (which is surprisingly few and far between) are, mostly, fabulous. The prose is, mostly, painful. I mean the tabloid tone of quips such as: “Her fashion message was clear: She was a stunning, independent working woman who was dating the sexiest man alive”. 🙄 It’s the antithesis of Carolyn Bessette’s personal effortless style. What’s worse is that the two components are haphazardly placed so that pic and text hardly ever show the same thing.

The quotes from people who actually knew her are interesting. The ones from others less so, especially designers in full advertorial mode. There is so much filler! From the author’s leading wordy questions to random contemporary pics of people such as Lily-Rose Depp, desperately angling to make a tenuous CBK connection. One of the interviewees is in fact questioned ‘You mentioned you didn’t know Carolyn’ and responds ´No I really didn’t. I had to look her up’. 🤯

The book is basically a poorly edited mishmash mess. A lot of it is sheer wankery. Not the definitive. Please let someone else do her justice.

[Bloodorange · Rating 2 out of 5]

A loose assemblage of interviews with people who mostly never met Carolyn, brief quotes from people who did, and some really meh writing. On a practical note, many outfits and accessories mentioned lack visual reference. Please don't spend your money on this.

[Julia · Rating 3 out of 5]

A real mixed bag. The good: photos and some tidbits behind CBK's personal style, mostly in the last quarter of the book. The bad: a lot of largely irrelevant people/designers were included here despite not having met or known CBK personally, to give the book clout, I suppose? Several interviews made it clear that these people were just using it as a platform for self-promotion which was rather cringey. Remove these and the book would be half the size... Still, the good does outweigh the bad. I suggest checking this one out of the library though.

[Megara · Rating 1 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this book. I grew up watching Style with Elsa Klensch and love both vintage and contemporary fashion. I am several years younger than CBK and was in my mid-twenties when she died, so I was very aware of her. This book never acknowledges her thin, white privilege. They just fawn over her and talk about how gorgeous she was, which is a real disservice to her. They use a lot of paparazzi photos, too, which surprised me. Also, one contributer suggests we should have one Hermes jacket in our wardrobe instead of Zara. Great. Except even vintage Hermes is easily $400 and not at all size inclusive. This could have been a great book. CBK had great style. It isn't and will never be my style, but it was great. Too bad this was such a fluff piece.

[stephanie · Rating 2 out of 5]

as a lifelong CBK fan, this is a let down. I get it, this is not meant to be a biography, but more of a deep dive into her fashion. still, it barely gave me any new info or insights, which makes me question the research behind it.

the writing is bad and the editing is all o ver the place. the interview with Yohji Yamamoto is one of the few highlights, but only because he’s amazing on his own. the author’s questions are so empty they add absolutely nothing.

even as a coffee table book, it’s lacking substance.

[Lu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fashion!!! Surface level and a bit repetitive

[Virginia · Rating 5 out of 5]

chic is not even strong enough to describe cbk's divine sense of style

[Paula · Rating 4 out of 5]

I ordered this book from my library because as an artistic, creative person (albeit not interested in clothing really), I had seen the author interviewed on CBS Sunday Morning and thought I would enjoy hearing more about the artistic aspects a person living in a general, anonymous world into marrying a person of note and what that transition was.

Interestingly I found that the clothing worn pre-fame to be far more interesting. For example the information about wearing a practical coat to commute via walking in NYC v a coat a woman who was driven everywhere.

I definitely viewed this without a “famous, celebrity view but one of clothing/style as art”.

[Maggie Smardo · Rating 5 out of 5]

New favorite coffee table book.

Used interviews of designers and friends of CBK to paint a perfect picture of her style and her personality.

[Hannah · Rating 1 out of 5]

A mess of a book. Too many people talking about CBK, not enough about the woman herself, let alone her fashion. There are barely any photographs!

[Kaitlin Barnes · Rating 2 out of 5]

This needed a different editor soooo bad. Too many repetitive interviews and I wanted MORE PHOTOS OF CAROLYN

[Joanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yes, i appreciated this homage to CBK’s iconic fashion sense and her ability to build a practical yet spectacular wardrobe. But mostly, leafing through these pages made me sad that we lost Carolyn and John so tragically. I still recall hearing the news of their passing while on a beach in South Jersey, and my just looking forlornly out to sea. I think not only of the fashion we missed out on -which would have undoubtedly been fabulous-but also the impact these two would have/could have made on our world.

[Betsy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful photographs & commentary of Carolyn’s timeless fashions. There were many tributes too. Such a tragic loss of Carolyn, John & her sister.
They were all so young.

[Rosaria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Always admired CBK. Her still was impeccable and timeless. Everything she wore could be worn today and look fresh.

[R · Rating 3 out of 5]

Curious the book is so large in size when most of the photos seem to be paparazzi shots.

Doesn’t really do CBK, her image or story justice.

[Silke · Rating 4 out of 5]

What an icon.

[Daheelauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

My inspiration since I was 16

[Victoriakor]

С точки зрения разбора стиля - прекрасно, много информации про каждую вещь, что, как и откуда. Поскольку вещей было максимум 40, как говорят друзья главной героини, то в книгу добавили массу интервью. Часть по делу - дизайнеры, коллеги, знакомые. Вторая часть вообще непонятно зачем, включая беседу с юным фотографом, которому пришлось гуглить Кэролин, чтобы понять, чего хотят от него. Самым адекватным оказался Маноло Бланик. Самым загадочным - Йоджи/Едзи Ямамото.

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

I so admired Carolyn’s style - I expected this book to be mainly photos. To my surprise and delight it is filled with essays from colleagues and fashion folks. Fabulous book that I look forward to repeatedly re-reading.

[Amber · Rating 5 out of 5]

I purchased this out of nostalgia. CBK has always been a major influence on my past and current style (thankfully my eyebrows recovered from the 90's over plucking!). I enjoyed it as someone who liked superficially following her in the magazines when I was in high school. It's nice to know a little more about her, the people around her, and people who were also influenced by her.

(I'm not a literary scholar, editor, or fashion guru, so I'm not coming at this review from a profession Lense, which seems to be the primary complaints in the reviews here.)

[Natalie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book felt like a cookie-cutter overview of the fashion industry. If you already have a basic understanding of fashion, it comes across as superficial and a bit underwhelming. The interviews, while visually supported by nice photography, lacked real depth. There wasn’t much insight into the fashion itself — the reasoning behind styles, the evolution of garments, or the cultural significance of specific trends.

I was hoping for a more thoughtful exploration — a breakdown of different categories of clothing, their origins, transformations, and how they relate to broader themes in fashion. Instead, many sections felt brushed over, like recycled commentary we’ve all heard before. For example, the reference to Chanel and the little black dress felt painfully predictable. If you truly love fashion and have studied it beyond the surface, it’s the kind of thing that makes you roll your eyes.

In the end, it’s a beautiful book in terms of presentation — it would make a nice addition to a coffee table — but as a resource or serious read for someone passionate about fashion, it falls short. There are better, more insightful books out there that offer both depth and visual appeal.

[Brianna Wright · Rating 2 out of 5]

After seeing a series of review videos on TikTok referencing this book and CBK's timeless style, I immediately requested a copy from my local library with the hope that it would be a beautiful biography of CBK's life which I knew little about beyond her years working at CK and her marriage to JFK Jr. When my hold arrived, I was so excited to take it home and flip through what I'd hoped would be a breakdown of her gorgeous minimal wardrobe in relation to her personality/personally: why pieces were chosen, how pieces were coordinated, and the timeless quality that draws people to her style 30+ years later.

I was extremely disappointed to find this extremely expensive coffee table book is nothing more than interview snippets with friends + colleagues interspersed with paparazzi photos of CBK, pages that appear like ads from Vogue alongside random assortment of fashion iconography. 2.5 stars for the obvious work that went into a compilation, though my desired biography search for CBK continues.

[Darlene Foster · Rating 1 out of 5]

A love letter to a woman never met. I think Carolyn was a product of the 90's fashion and NYC especially. She wore black, beige, white. That's still a typical NYC woman go to. They invented the horridly overdone LBD, little black dress. I think it's lazy in 2024 to have no more imagination than an LBD. I'm not impressed with the sugary prose and interviews with designers who also never met her. She wore their item, whoop.
Her great beauty is subjective and I'm on the pale ghost-like creature we have in Gwenyth Paltrow side. Carolyn bleached her hair pale blonde and it washed out the rest of her features. It might have helped if she'd brushed it or used a conditioner to take the constant flyways.
After seeing the photos, I hadn't seen them since she was alive, I'm still not awed.

[Vic (not on here often) · Rating 5 out of 5]

loved loved loved this. CBK was one of a kind. I enjoyed reading the interviews from her friends, collegues, designers and photographers. It really opened my mind to aspects of fashion I hadn't thought of before, especially when it comes to minimalism, my favorite style, because of how CBK wore it so flawlessly. She was beautiful in a way that isn't seen often, and the way she deflected attention only brought more attention to her. Fashion was her weapon of choice, her anti-tabloid statement that silently but confidently she was her own person above all. I adore her. She would have accomplished so much in the future. Miss her even though I never knew her.

[Lynda · Rating 5 out of 5]

GORGEOUS.

I admit I probably google "Carolyn Bessette style" at least three times a week and this book still gives me the goose bumps. She's on the moodboard of every minimalist luxury brand every flipping season and still nobody ever gets tired of her.

I love reading the interviews of some of her closest friends and colleagues, and also from Yohji Yamamoto and Anne Demeulemeester - the two designers who Carolyn loved.

I hate the term "coffee table book" but this is the MUST add to fashion history lover's archive.