You Are Not JFK Jr.
D’You Know What I Mean? is a column on style and culture where writer Ben Kriz weighs in on taste, trends, and what it all means.
Right after finishing the first episode of Ryan Murphy’s Love Story, the new FX series chronicling the romance of John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette, I had a thought: if I could buy stock in the number of guys about to attempt JFK Jr.’s greatest style hits this summer, I would. I just didn’t think it would spike this fast.
STILLS COURTESY OF FX NETWORKS AND DISNEY+.
Two days later, Polo Ralph Lauren dropped a spring collection featuring a model looking suspiciously like John John himself — a drapey suit, a tie, sunglasses and backwards cap, posed on a bicycle on the streets of New York City. It was unmistakably riffing on JFK Jr. By just this last weekend, Abercrombie had a guy in literal Kangol hat and a blazer with very 90s faded jeans. The brands, they’re not easing into this. At this rate, the trend might burn out before summer even starts.
The brands are going in, what about real people? Well, if TikTok posts mean anything, guys have been spotted giving the Kangol hat a look in New York’s East Village. And almost to make my point for me, there was, of course, a viral JFK Jr. lookalike contest in Washington Square Park with many a tie and backwards hat worn, and zero of the real man’s aura re-created.
STILLS COURTESY OF FX NETWORKS AND DISNEY+.
JFK Jr. had undeniable swag, but very little of it is from the clothes themselves. He was tall, dark, handsome, and a Kennedy — let’s be honest. But his style worked because it was inseparable from how he actually lived. (Funny enough, Carolyn reportedly didn’t think he had much style at all.)
He wasn’t “putting together looks.” He was moving through New York — on his bike, in and out of offices, dodging paparazzi, heading to dinners, to the gym, to wherever the day took him. The backwards cap wasn’t a styling trick; it was practical. The tailoring wasn’t precious. Everything had a reason to exist. It looked good because it was lived in.
When you lift the outfit without the context, what you’re left with is a costume. The same way you can’t just throw on the headband and the glasses and suddenly become CBK, you can’t bike around your neighbourhood in a blazer and expect it to read as effortless. It reads as studied. Slightly off. A bit try-hard.
STILLS COURTESY OF FX NETWORKS AND DISNEY+.
So fellas, let’s huddle up for a second. You are not JFK Jr. You never will be. You are a guy who lives in London, Ontario. Your commute does not involve paparazzi (if you’re biking to work at all).. Your errands do not require evasive cycling manoeuvres through the city. The fantasy breaks pretty quickly when it meets real life.
Which isn’t to say you shouldn’t take inspiration or try to get a ‘fit off. Of course, you should. That’s how style works. Movies, media, people you see on the street — it all feeds into the mix. But there’s a difference between borrowing a reference and trying to inhabit someone else’s life wholesale.
STILL COURTESY OF FX NETWORKS AND DISNEY+.
The guys who actually dress well aren’t copying looks beat for beat. They’re editing. Taking a detail here, a feeling there, and folding it into something that makes sense for how they move through the world. The goal is to look like yourself, not a Kennedy.
At its best, personal style is specific. It’s shaped by your habits, your environment, and a taste you’ve taken the time to cultivate. You can’t shortcut that by buying the right hat. And besides, by the time you track one down, the moment will have already passed, and you’ll be onto something else. In the end, the only one that really works is the one you don’t have to think too hard about.
“Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette” is now streaming on Hulu on Disney+ in Canada.
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