Carolyn Bessette Kennedy Already Found the Perfect Jean
Before adding another pair of jeans to your cart, take a detour and meander through your local thrift store or scroll through Poshmark or Depop. The perfect pair might already exist, and Carolyn Bessette Kennedy may have discovered them years ago.
Recently, Bessette’s minimalist style has gained renewed popularity with the release of Hulu’s Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette. Suddenly, social media feeds are plastered with photos of Carolyn walking effortlessly down Park Avenue in her signature look: a simple top, a tortoise-shell headband, and the most flattering pair of jeans.
These jeans are what everyone seems to be obsessing over. Bootcut, high-rise, and perfectly tailored, creating a silhouette that feels both relaxed and classy. In fact, some viewers have even debated the show’s style choices on social media, saying that Bessette famously favored high-rise jeans, not the low-rise pairs displayed on the actress playing the style icon, Sarah Pidgeon.
It gets better. You can wear the exact jeans she wore. Bessette was known for wearing '90s-retro bootcut Levi’s 517 jeans in the men’s style. No need to go straight to Levi’s, Bloomingdale's, or a designer boutique, because these sought-after pairs can often be found at your local thrift store or on resale apps for a fraction of the price.
As someone who struggles, and I mean struggles, to find the perfect pair of jeans, the hunt for that pair seems endless. There’s the “class jean” that works with a sweater and a zipped-up puffer, the “going-out jean”, and there’s the elusive “everything jean”, the pair you reach for every single day. Bessette's denim might just be the solution.
I recently scored a similar pair of jeans, vintage Levi’s 70s high-rise flare jeans for $22 from Depop in incredible condition (HELLO, how awesome), and you can easily do the same.
If Bessette’s style proves anything, it's that sometimes the best denim isn't new; it might just be waiting to be rediscovered.
