You Could Own a Piece From Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy’s Wardrobe

On Thursday morning, Sotheby’s announced its plan to auction off three cherished items formerly from the closet of fashion’s forever muse, Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, including an item from her favorite designer, Yohji Yamamoto. The reportedly private Bessette-Kennedy, a former publicist for Calvin Klein and beloved fashion insider, was thrust into the limelight in 1996 when she married John F. Kennedy Jr., arguably America’s most eligible and public-facing bachelor. While the press and laymen alike were enraptured with the couple’s marriage and relationship, causing them to be constantly flanked by paparazzi, it was Bessette-Kennedy’s sense of style in the images snapped of her that captured the attention of style enthusiasts across the country.

Sotheby’s, which last year sold Princess Diana’s famous black sheep sweater for over $1 million, is set to auction an unlabeled vintage faux-leopard fur coat; a Prada black wool coat (worn to Bill Clinton’s inauguration and while walking her dog — duality!); and a Yohji Yamamoto black wool jacket. The garments come from the collection of RoseMarie Terenzio, Kennedy’s executive assistant and publicist and reportedly a close friend of the couple. In a press release, Terenzio said Bessette-Kennedy gifted her the wool coat while the former was getting ready for a date: “She said, ‘It looks perfect on you. You should keep it. I’ve been photographed in it so many times, the media are going to start making fun of me.’”

Photo: Courtesy of Sotheby’s

To this day, 25 years after her death, Bessette-Kennedy has remained a fashion inspiration and a mainstay in style iconography. Tribute accounts, like @carolynbessette and @allforcarolyn, resurface photos and the occasional video , analyzing and obsessing over her outfits and hailing her chic and minimalistic approach to dressing. The book CBK: Carolyn Bessette Kennedy: A Life in Fashion posthumously explores her sense of style. Bessette-Kennedy even became one of the figureheads of last year’s “quiet luxury” fashion trend, something I can only assume she’d scoff at, but it served as a reminder of the staying power her truly timeless taste has.

The auction begins November 27 and runs through December 17, and for fashion lovers based in New York, the garments will be displayed December 5–10 at Sotheby’s.