John F. Kennedy Jr., the 90s male style icon we still need

Exactly 25 years have passed since the tragic death of John F. Kennedy Jr.but his image and his style still tirelessly fill the pages of magazines and books worldwide. The only male heir of the namesake, equally young and prematurely deceased president of the United States and of Jacqueline Kennedy, one of the greatest style icons of all time, John John (a nickname given to him at a tender age by a reporter who had misunderstood his first name) embodied in everything, from his lifestyle to his appearance, that image of a charming, successful, elegant and powerful man that in the nineties knew no rivals.

Lawyer and journalist editor, exponent of what was considered the royal family American, lover of sports and social life, of ties and double-breasted suits as well as of tracksuits and sneakers, Kennedy Jr. was the face of an era and a world that, on the eve of the new millennium, would change forever..

And his disappearance, which occurred August 16, 1999 when he was piloting a small aircraft and sank into the Atlantic Ocean, taking with him wife Carolyn Bessettea figure equally remembered and celebrated by the fashion world, and her sister Lauren, inevitably gave birth to a myth.

Carolyn Bessette and John F. Kennedy Jr. at a gala in 1998.

New York Daily News Archive/Getty Images

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If already during their too short time in the limelight the two represented the most admired, sophisticated and fashionable couple of the jet set Americantoday, twenty-five years later, there are many who still look back at those years and are inspired. The last one was Jonathan Andersonwhich has dusted off and reinterpreted the famous t-shirt that John F. Kennedy Jr. used to wear while playing sports in the park, which featured the words «I Told You So“, in reference to her father’s 1961 election campaign, turning it into “I Told Ya” on Zendaya in the recent film Challengers.

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But it’s not just designers and film directors who are looking back: we too have chosen to dig into our memory album and go back to the Nineties (with a few forays a little further back), between traditional lawyer suits combined with baseball caps. mix and match even more unexpected. To show you, not without a hint of nostalgia, what it means to have an innate sense of style.

Matchy-matchy with mom Jackie

John Kennedy Jr. and Jackie

John F. Kennedy Junior and Jacqueline Kennedy in 1977.

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Maybe style also passes through DNA, or in his case the example of mother Jacqueline must have paid off. Their great bond also came through looks like this one, where they appear matched in shape and color.

Preppybut with an unexpected twist

John F. Kennedy Jr look

John F. Kennedy Jr. in 1978 at the West Side Tennis Club.

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A polo shirt, especially one that features that crocodile symbol, is perhaps what you’d expect at a tennis tournament in the heart of Manhattan. What you don’t expect are a pair of leather boots: it’s 1978, and this is how a young JFK Junior enjoys a sunbath on the sidelines.

Summer Charms

John F Kennedy Jr necklaces

Portrait of a young John F. Kennedy Jr. in 1976.

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The necklace with the tusk shaped pendant or the more elaborate one: accessories that, as for any young person (and not only), in the summer become real must-haves that are hard to part with in order to return to everyday life and look. We are in the second half of the Seventies and in these portraits of a summer between regattas and bathing on the beach, the desire to bring out one’s personality through the choice of a recognizable detail emerges.

John F. Kennedy Jr. in 1980

John F. Kennedy Jr. during the Labor Day celebrations in Hyannis Port in 1980.

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Jacket, tie and… hat

John F. Kennedy Jr. style

Carolyn Bessette and John F. Kennedy Jr. photographed in New York.

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Over the years it has become her look signatureor rather the one that was most attributable to him. We are talking about the complete, suit and tiewhich he did not disdain to combine with a classic baseball capworn backwards. A choice that may seem a little childish for many, but fun and relaxed. An invitation to never take yourself too seriously.

Carolyn Bessette and John F. Kennedy Jr. photographed in New York.

Carolyn Bessette and John F. Kennedy Jr. in 1996.

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The elegance of a camel coat

John F. Kennedy Jr. Coat Look

John F. Kennedy Jr. at an event.

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A key piece of the nineties is without a doubt the camel coat. Here in the double-breasted version, perfectly worn over a traditional formal and elegant look by business man.

Passion for sport, between suits and technical details

John F. Kennedy Jr. Casual Look

John F. Kennedy Jr. photographed in a casual look on the streets of New York.

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Putting aside starched shirts, tailored suits and ties, the sporty component that also characterized Kennedy Jr.’s life on a stylistic level was undeniable. From the combo of trousers and linen shirt with a technical nylon belt to the one formed by a tracksuit and sneakers, L’activewear It was a fundamental part of her wardrobe. Perhaps even her favorite, certainly the one she loved to have the most fun with in terms of styling.

John F. Kennedy Jr. casual look

John F. Kennedy Jr. relaxing on the beach at Hyannis Port, Massachusetts.

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John F. Kennedy Jr. look

John F. Kennedy Jr. in sports gear with his wife Carolyn, while photographing the paparazzi stationed outside their New York apartment.

Scarves, headbands and vests

John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn

John F. Kennedy Jr. wears a matching wool scarf and hat while walking with his wife Carolyn and their dog.

It was clear that the desire to experiment and subvert the usefulness of certain items of clothing was in his nature. But the best was yet to come. the accessories: scarves, lots of hats, even headbands and vests mixed in an original way. Even the lines differ from the common idea of nineties made of shoulder pads that were too wide and trousers that were often baggy.

John John Kennedy and his wife Carolyn in New York

The couple in 1997.

Lawrence Schwartzwald/Getty Images

In the saddle, in clothes and boots

John John Kennedy in New York

In 1998, riding his bike in a suit and hiking boots.

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The dress with the boots: why not? Among his favorite pieces, in terms of footwear, reigned the ankle boots, then typical of a style more for the mountains than for the city, which began to become popular also in the everyday wardrobe right towards the end of the nineties. He wore them like this, even on the saddle of the bike rushing to the office, combined with a normal suit with a regulation shirt.


Source: Vanity Fair

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