Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy's Truly Timeless Style (PHOTOS)

Exactly 10 years ago today, Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy died in a plane crash with her husband John F. Kennedy Jr. and sister Lauren off the coast of Martha's Vineyard.

Bessette graduated from Boston University and went on to work in PR at Calvin Klein. She married JFK Jr. in a private ceremony in Georgia on September 21, 1996. The pair frequently attended events together, and even ten years after their deaths, her style epitomizes a timeless aesthetic: all the outfits below could have easily been photographed in 2009. Were she still around, she'd be a regular fixture here on the Huffington Post Style section.

At a function in honor of Jacqueline Kennedy at Grand Central Station in New York City on October 4, 1998.

comments(245)

(See People's photos of JFK Jr.)

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Comments

[ibwilliamsi]

03:25 AM on 07/21/2009

She's beautiful and had great taste in clothing. Simple timeless elegance.

That being said, most any outfit will look good with John Jr. hanging on your arm.

[yemaya]

07:20 AM on 07/19/2009

Sigh... One of the most beautiful interesting charismatic men ever to have walked the earth.

[jsomerville5]

06:23 PM on 07/19/2009

Actually, he was kind of a lost soul. Lacked direction in his life. Never quite grew up.

[Siara]

02:31 PM on 07/18/2009

I guess I'm culturally maladjusted... I've never understood our national fixation with the Kennedy family. I understand the interest in certain specific members of the family--- mainly JFK & his brother Robert. But most of them strike me as American aristocracy created by the media with nothing especially unusual about them. I'm not saying they're BAD people. I'm saying we should focus on their brhavior not their genealogy.

[PoliticalAmazon]

05:41 PM on 07/18/2009

They are aristocracy (I prefer to use the term "elites," because it also contains political implications), but the media didn't create their power. Joe Kennedy used the media at key points in his life to effect the change he wanted (like getting his sons elected), but the media didn't need to do anything to make them seem to be elites. That's who they were and are.

[photo6six]

02:11 PM on 07/18/2009

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[Phoebe Caulfield]

03:19 PM on 07/18/2009

America cannot afford this plan on the heels of Cap/Trade and Amnesty. Any uninsured person can go to any hospital and get treatment. Our country will be bankrupt, but countries do not go bankrupt. They inflate the money supply and increase tyranny. This is not about healthcare, it is about POWER.

[cityprof]

02:45 AM on 07/19/2009

You wouldn't say this if you went to a hospital for care because you didn't have health insurance. I wouldn't wish the experience on my worst enemy.

Look. Other nations can provide health care and not go broke. And speaking from experience, it's good health care too. Here's part of the problem:

1. Greed and the need for profit in a part of the economy that shouldn't have that built into it.

2. The unwillingness of certain segments of society to be taxed for services.

People who make it in this world always say they want to give back. Why do they complain about taxes (a form of giving back) when it is the American people and the American environment that gave them the opportunity to achieve that success?

[NWRICK]

12:46 PM on 07/18/2009

O/T but VERY important.
Please take a close look. She could be anywhere.

http://www.missingkids.com/missingkids/servlet/PubCaseSearchServlet?act=viewPoster&caseNum=1125977&orgPrefix=NCMC&searchLang=en_US

[exmate]

11:48 AM on 07/18/2009

Lots of style. Questionable substance

[PoliticalAmazon]

05:42 PM on 07/18/2009

Thank goodness becuase this is the "style" section.

[exmate]

11:47 AM on 07/18/2009

All things considered, he should have defied his mother, stayed with Darryl Hannah and become an actor.

[tomasedison]

11:10 PM on 07/18/2009

You are quite right. He would still be alive today without trying to play the part his Mother chose for him.

[dora rice]

11:30 AM on 07/18/2009

he was to perfect. God took him home.

[pomegrante]

10:19 AM on 07/18/2009

Lauren too.

[pomegrante]

10:18 AM on 07/18/2009

John John, you were one of the most gorgeous men I have ever seen who was also extremely intelligent and a maverick.

Such a winning combination in my book. You are so missed.

It is so sad what happened to you, Carolyn,and Paul Wellstone.

[Margo Arrowsmith]

09:52 AM on 07/18/2009

Good grief, she always wore black. 90% of the women in New York could be said to have 'timeless style' Someone should have told her that that doesn't go with her complexion, it washes her out.

Catty? Well, yes and I don't usually do that, but come on, what is the deal with this 'story'? So many more important things to talk about when talking about JFK, Junior.

http://www.squidoo.com/huffington

[iRock]

01:39 AM on 07/18/2009

He definitely could have done better, especially in the looks department.

And wasn't she a c0ke head?

I think he deserved better than what he had, especially given that strangers would see them arguing often in public.

oh well...

[jsomerville5]

06:23 PM on 07/19/2009

Yup, a cokehead. And their marriage was on the rocks at the time of the crash.

[chardonnay48]

07:21 PM on 07/17/2009

There is no next Jackie and there is No next JFK. They were both originals and the mold is broken.

[nswfm]

06:04 PM on 07/17/2009

I lived in NYC back then, wasn't there a coverup about her drug use/abuse?

[Punkynsnow]

05:40 PM on 07/18/2009

Yep, she supposedly had a wicked coke habit and they were reported to be on the brink of divorcing. I lived in NY then and worked at a newspaper, so we were pretty immersed in the whole thing.

[saami]

05:26 PM on 07/17/2009

The real looker was JFK Jr. He was incredibly handsome and she was skinny pretty.