
Fans Criticize Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy’s Outfits in American Love Story
Fans are criticizing Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy’s attire in Ryan Murphy’s forthcoming series American Love Story, though one element of the debated costuming appears to be accurate.
Actress Sarah Pidgeon was photographed on set as the late Bessette-Kennedy on Tuesday, June 17, and social media was abuzz with reactions to her casual outfit, which featured Chuck Taylor sneakers from Converse.
“She’s meant to be portraying CAROLYN BESSETTE KENNEDY!!!!!” one user exclaimed on X on June 18. “And they’ve got her in a f***ing pleather blazer, a cheap silk midi, and DIRTY CONVERSE. I’m going to be sick.”
Another user echoed this sentiment, asserting that Bessette-Kennedy would never wear Chuck Taylors. “The styling for this ‘American Love Story’ is a disaster. Carolyn Bessett [sic] Kennedy was always chic and impeccably styled.”
A third fan expressed hope that the choice of shoes wouldn’t make the final cut, saying, “Please tell me the feet aren’t in the actual shot.”
During filming, Pidgeon, 28, paired the black sneakers with a bronze silk skirt, a leather blazer, and a black knit sweater. Bessette-Kennedy was known for her minimalist, sophisticated style, which may be seen as a precursor to the quiet luxury trend of recent years.
Despite some fans’ dissatisfaction with Bessette-Kennedy’s recreated outfits, author Elizabeth Beller suggested that the style icon might have actually approved of the portrayal.
In Once Upon a Time: The Captivating Life of Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, published in May 2024, Beller noted, “At times, when she wasn’t working, she dressed like a Bloomsbury bohemian in flowing dresses accessorized with Chuck Taylors.”

She continued, “Other times it was jeans and a white button-down shirt.”
Beller also highlighted Bessette-Kennedy’s influence on colleagues, stating, “Once she wore a long midi Calvin [Klein] skirt with Chucks on her feet and only a fitted black leather jacket as a shirt. Soon, Chucks, midi skirts, and jackets as shirts started appearing throughout the office.”
Bessette-Kennedy tragically passed away at the age of 33 in 1999 in a plane crash alongside her husband, John F. Kennedy Jr., who was piloting the aircraft. Kennedy was also 38 at the time of the accident, as was Bessette-Kennedy’s sister Lauren, who was 34.
The couple married in 1996. John Jr. was the only son of former President John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, who also had a daughter, Caroline, now 67.
American Love Story is scheduled to premiere in February 2026.