Carolyn Bessette Kennedy’s 90s minimalist looks are easy to recreate with a handful of sewing patterns that aren’t even vintage- but they’re part of a stock from a designer who DID design for the minimalist 90s. I’ll share my favorites for the look. The popularity of “Love Story” on FX is trending both the 90s looks and the 90s music (and it’s a great soundtrack!) f Carolyn Bessette Kennedy were alive today, she’d be three years older than me.
First off, let’s look at CBK’s style: it was classic minimalist 90s but remember, we ALL wore these looks. I was a young career professional, not at all unlike CBK, and I worked as a graphic designer for a luxury real estate magazine in a high rise in Pompano Beach, FL as my first “real” job out of college.
In the show, she’s often featured with a cropped slim boot cut pant and loafers. The loafers were definitely 90s but the cropped flare pant wasn’t really a thing. However, this is a more modern (2025s) nod to the 90s minimalist looks, and I’ll recommend a pattern for that too!
A collection of Vogue Elements 90s sewing patterns which are now out of print (shown above) as an example of 1990s design, these were printed between 1992 and 1997 by Vogue Patterns and for their time were pretty unusual, featuring a model wearing the garment rather than a drawing. They are often available on Ebay.
The 1990s Looks you can easily recreate using sewing patterns
- Pencil skirts- below the knee, worn with heels or boots
- Wide leg pants or slim leg pants
- Straight cut dresses and shift dresses
- Blazer
- Long coat
- Turtleneck (although as I lived in FL at the time, I wore sleeveless ones, because it was hot outside and cold in the AC inside)
I loved the 90s style and lived it for sure, as a young corporate designer, first for a luxury real estate magazine in FL then later for a tech company and still later, as my own boss in my own design agency! I lived this lifestyle and have the sewing patterns in stash to prove it 😉
Here are 5 sewing patterns to get you that 90s minimalist look (from 90s patterns!)
Pencil Skirt and Slit Skirt. This pattern is designed for stretch fabrics with lycra – so cotton/lycra, Ponte knit or even scuba knit. The first three are from Christine Jonson Patterns, a designer with deep roots in 90s style vibes.
Taper/Wide leg pants – this no-side-seam pant is a go to for me to make pants in 20 minutes. They are now both sold separately as digital patterns (the wide pant is the one I’d choose for that 90s vibe).
Easy Coat – it’s truly easy to sew even for a beginner. I love the neckline – it has both a fold down open collar but buttons up at the top for warmth (just put your favorite big scarf around your neck.) Knee length or mid calf length (choose the longer version) and can be made in wool coating or even a rainwear fabric.
My favorite blazer is the knit Boyfriend Blazer. I’ve made SO many of these. It’s unlined and can be made in a knit, woven or stretch woven.
Turtleneck: I love the Nikko by True/Bias in both a sleeveless and a long sleeve version) but don’t also forget about a slouchy version in Three Tees which is a Christine Jonson pattern as well. I’ve used this pattern to make slouchy 90s tee shirts, turtlenecks, and currently have 2 of the dresses in rotation as dresses and two more as nightgowns!!
A few more patterns in a 90s vibe include the slip dress and slip skirt.
A modern “slip” dress and one of my favorites is the Ann Normandy Slip Dress. This dress with a higher neckline and cutaway shoulders with the slip dress’s classic thin (or medium) straps falls from a fitted bust to a gentle knee-length shape and can be made in linen or silky fabrics. This is a more wearable version than the backless version popular in the 90s that required you to be a waif-like shape (kind of like CBK! and Kate Moss, who is one of the “undiscovered models” in the show.)
A modern “shift” sleeveless dress, also available from Ann Normandy Patterns would 100% be a stand-in for the shift dresses CBK wears in the show.
The bias slip skirt is widely available now and popular again. I like a vintage one I’ve had in stash since the mid 90s from Vogue Elements but you can get a similar pattern from this one from Mood fabrics for free.
We wore cardigans!
We wore a lot of twin set sweaters back in the 1990s (I’m not all the way through the first season yet, so I don’t know if CBK wears one), a sweater worn over a tee – try the style: Marlow Sweater by True Bias has that twin set cardigan look in a cardi- pair with your favorite tee pattern and make them in the same fabric (tee should be slightly shorter than the cardi you choose.) One of my coworkers had the “starter capsule wardobe” for work – she owned only a few pieces and looked fabulous. Midi skirt, with a matching top (worn as a dress often), blazer, pants, a couple of pullover tops in coordinating colors.
What about those slim kick flare pants?
In the show, CBK is shown wearing cropped slim flare pants – this wasn’t really a “look” in the early and mid 90s – the pants were either long wide, slim, or carrot shaped – the flare didn’t really appear until about 1999. My favorite pattern for that “kick flare” is the Hot Patterns Miracle Pants which has a great slim fitting cropped flare (and a longer flare, I’ve made them here.) We actually DID wear a lot of slim dress pants – a pattern I’d choose today would be the Closet Core Pietra which has a slim cropped leg.
This group of patterns will get you far down the road to a classic CBK look – some using actual 1990s patterns that have stood the test of time by both being stylish, easy to sew and incredibly well drafted.