While everyone’s talking about the newest show: Love Story, one thing that’s been a heavy topic of focus is Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy’s wardrobe and how it shaped her development in her career.
While Carolyn doesn’t come from the same background, or status, as John, the way she dresses wouldn’t lead anyone to ever second guess this. She avoided trends, and stuck to staples: jeans, plain colored tops, stockings, blazers, boots.
In Carolyn’s early years of education, she started in Greenwich High School, and then transferred out to St. Mary then attended Boston University for higher education. Carolyn was also voted by her classmates in St. Marys as the “Ultimate Beautiful Person”.
The one thing that never failed to amaze everyone about Carolyn was how she used her beauty and style to enhance her career. She used the cards she was dealt, and won the game.
Her ability to ‘network’ began early on in high school, as she was described as being part of the “in crowd” and having attended “all the right parties”. Her ability to network then aided her career as she went from a saleswoman at the Chestnut Hill Mall in Newton, Massachusetts to then becoming the director of publicity for the company’s flagship store in Manhattan. Sources say that “while working for Klein in Boston, Bessette was noticed by a traveling sales coordinator for the company, visiting the Boston store, who recommended her to Susan Sokol, president of Calvin Klein Collection”. Sokol was said to be impressed with Carolyn’s “grace and style”.
Carolyn’s ability to use her style and network to create an image that kept pushing her career is a tip we can all be inspired by.