The Tamesis
clothing designer for Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. and Caroline BassettThe talented Rudy Mance faced many major challenges while dressing one of the most stylish women of all time, played by the talented Sarah Pidgeon. How will he find all the glorious ’90s pieces that form the backbone of CBK’s enviable wardrobe? How would he have dressed her before she became famous and photographed countless times? (Answer: lots of vintage Calvin Klein.) How does he style her in her most private off-duty moments? And, most importantly, how on earth was he going to recreate her wedding dress?
For her intimate wedding to John in 1996 on Cumberland Island, Georgia, Carolyn wore a white silk sleeveless bias-cut Narciso Rodriguez slip dress that is almost as legendary as she is—sleek, simple, effortless; a true reflection of her everyday style. In the few surviving photos from the ceremony, you can see the gown’s scoop neck detail, as well as the care she put into styling and accessories—a casual updo, sheer white gloves, a tulle veil, crystal Manolo Blahnik shoes, and a bouquet of lilies of the valley.
Naturally, Mance studied these images closely. “It was really important to me to nail that dress for a number of reasons,” he told me Fashionthe show’s sixth episode, “The Wedding,” has finally been released. “It’s one of the most iconic costumes ever created and photographed. So, I wanted to honor her and also honor Narciso. He did an incredible job.”
Most helpful, besides the photos, was a set of Rodriguez sketches that Mance and his team found among them. vanity fairwhich shows the wedding dress and Caroline’s rehearsal dinner dress. “So, we used those as a guide to customize the two pieces,” Manns continues.
Then, it’s time to find the right wedding dress fabric. “I wanted to use silk crepe like Narciso did. Then, through research, we found a wonderful fabric store in New York called B&J Fabrics. They asked, ‘What are you doing?’ When we told them, their reaction was, ‘Oh, well, Narciso got the actual fabric for the wedding dress from us.’ They still have the sample! Over thirty years later, it’s small and yellowed, but they still have it.” Via B&J Fabrics, Mance and his colleagues were able to contact factories in Europe that produced silk crepe and ship the exact same fabric to the United States.
