CBK by Sunita Kumar Nair

Author:Sunita Kumar Nair
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Abrams
Published: 2023-11-07T00:00:00+00:00

I CHOOSE NOT TO MAKE FAME AN ISSUE, IT ONLY BECOMES A PROBLEM WHEN IT’S THRUST IN MY FACE OR ON MY DOORSTEP.

CAROLYN BESSETTE KENNEDY

Pretty was not a compliment but an insult in the Lee rule book. The word is used so often to relay a multitude of opinions, but in reference to a look, it meant dull and plain, like the rest. Pretty meant prints, and Carolyn, including Jackie and Lee, had an overall aversion to them. If she did choose a print, you knew it was a considered purchase because they made rare appearances. Showing labels in any way was also a no-no. Carolyn had already made this part of her fashion doctrine, but Lee put the seal on it. Lee and Carolyn were demons about fit and would often deliberate on the art of a good one. Carolyn would ruminate on every detail—the cuff, hem, arm hole, length—her exacting eye always on the go. She often recruited her designer friends to her North Moore Street apartment to make last-minute alterations for formal evenings.

To the press, she came across as a strong, elegant woman, beautiful, and possibly too smart, all at the same time. What would bring headlines? I can only imagine a newsroom full of critical, slightly misogynistic journalists trying to find an appropriate selling angle for the next day’s print run. Women in the nineties were frequently demonized by the press, especially in their coverage of influential women. Take Hillary Clinton for example, an intelligent woman and a feminist, who reportedly bulldozed her husband and the White House staff; Courtney Love, controversial and talented, was labeled a “leech,” bleeding her famous, and supposedly hapless, partner dry. We all know what Princess Diana endured. Carolyn’s headlines varied between the rag truisms of “ice queen,” “moody,” or “cold Carolyn.” Imagine the emotional detriment of waking up to these headlines when they didn’t even know you.

JFK Jr., Antoinette Aurell, 1999

WASHINGTON WOMEN WORK IN PUBLIC SERVICES, THEY WANT TO BE JUDGED ON THE PUBLIC ISSUES, NOT ON HOW THEY LOOK OR WHAT THEY WEAR. FASHION TAKES A LOT OF TIME AND ENERGY. SOMETIMES, IT CAN BE A DISTRACTION.

CAROLYN BESSETTE KENNEDY, WWD, 1997

Sasha Chermayeff agrees. “John was born in front of the camera, and it was always part of his life. Carolyn was a private citizen, and as soon as she married John, she was constantly followed—nothing prepared her for that. The press was not so nice to her either. ‘Why is it OK to comment on whether she looked good and not to a man?’ Women get labeled all the time, hers was the cold bitch, et cetera, and she was anything but that. She was sensitive, so when you read something mean that’s written about you, that is very hard to take in. Then comes that pressure of being compared to John’s mom—she was suddenly American royalty, so she had to try and match Jackie. It was tremendous pressure, and I really felt for her. I think John knew the scraped back hair was a representation of her anxiety facing the press.

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