CAROLYN BESSETTE-KENNEDY

American publicist whose personal presentation became a clear reference for late-1990s style. Tailored coats that sit clean on the shoulder, long skirts that move without weight, a white shirt that reads precise rather than stiff, hair pulled simply, and quiet accessories. The approach is not minimal for its own sake, it is a method that lets proportion and finish carry the message.

Her image grows out of New York’s 1990s design and editorial culture, with roots in American sportswear and the city’s appetite for uniform dressing. The 1996 wedding brought the slip dress from studio runways into public ceremony and shifted bridal taste toward purity of cut. Designers and stylists continue to cite the look as proof that restraint can define an era.

Street photographs that function like editorials, magazine features that return to the same silhouettes, wedding imagery that is still requested as a brief for modern brides. Brand decks and moodboards repeat the codes: black and camel layered cleanly, satin or silk worn without ornament, and a white shirt fitted to the person rather than the trend. The images circulate because they are legible at a glance and withstand time.

Fashion periodicals and archival photo agencies from the 1990s, designer interviews and brand histories, bridal and eveningwear surveys that track the rise of the slip silhouette, reputable reference entries for dates and basic biography.