Carolyn Bessette Kennedy’s Wedding Dress Designer Reveals Untold Story About Last Minute Gown Alterations

NEED TO KNOW

• Carolyn Bessette Kennedy’s wedding dress designer, Narciso Rodriguez, set the record straight in a recent interview with The Cut about last-minute alterations at her wedding to John F. Kennedy Jr.

• Rodriguez also shared where the inspiration came from for her custom-made silk wedding slip dress

• “I felt no pressure because I was making the dress for my best friend, and I never thought beyond that,” Rodriguez said of making the dress

Carolyn Bessette Kennedy’s wedding dress designer Narciso Rodriguez is setting the record straight about her famous wedding look.

In an interview with The Cut published on Thursday, March 5, the designer shed light on Carolyn’s iconic bridal style and shared his recollections about whether there were any wardrobe mishaps or last-minute dress alterations needed before her nuptials.

Rodriguez’s interview comes on the heels of Ryan Murphy’s TV hit series Love Story — which follows the story of John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette. The show depicts a scene where Carolyn is unable to get her wedding dress over her head with her make-up on, and the gown had to be opened and closed again right before the ceremony. However, Rodriguez says there were no such issues.

“I’ve heard so many amazing stories — the dress didn’t fit, people that were present weren’t present. It was just her and I in the bathroom, putting this dress over her head. I guess it comes with the lore,” Rodriguez told the outlet.

John F. Kennedy Jr. and his wife Carolyn Bessette Kennedy on March 9, 1999 in New York City.
Credit: Arnaldo Magnani/Getty

The designer also shared in the interview where the inspiration came from for the custom-made silk slip dress she wore, which later became one of the biggest fashion trends of the 90’s.

“She was the inspiration for the dress,” he says. “We talked about something that wasn’t fussy. I tried to pin her down and sketch with me several times, but she wouldn’t. She always had a reason to walk the dog when I brought my sketchbook over.”

“I went to Paris, and I worked on a couple of gowns, and she liked how I was making those kinds of dresses. She pulled the neckline down, and that was it. It was really such a simple meeting of the minds. We knew each other so well, and she was so gorgeous, I knew what to accentuate,” he added.

He said that he also collaborated with fashion designer Azzedine Alaïa in Paris, who “had me move the seams over half an inch.” He said while he was there, he also worked on the gloves and the veil to complete the look, describing it all as a “labor of love.”

“I felt no pressure because I was making the dress for my best friend, and I never thought beyond that,” Rodriguez told The Cut.

John F. Kennedy, Jr. editor of George magazine, gives his wife Carolyn Bessette a kiss on the cheek during the annual White House Correspondents dinner May 1, 1999 in Washington, DC.
Credit: Tyler Mallory / Newsmakers / Liaison Agency

“But when I got home from the wedding, there were news trucks outside of my apartment, and I couldn’t have imagined that it would be like that, or what it’s become even today. It’s an amazing thing,” he added.

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He said that he ultimately wanted Carolyn to feel her most beautiful self while in the wedding dress that he designed.

“Carolyn said to me that I create a frame for a woman’s personality and beauty to shine. And I love that. I always think that it’s my job to do that, to make a woman feel like her best self, that she shines. It’s not the dress that you notice. Look at that photograph of her. It’s her and that smile,” he said.

Read the original article on People