{"id":168758,"date":"2026-03-20T00:01:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-20T00:01:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/168758\/"},"modified":"2026-03-20T00:01:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-20T00:01:10","slug":"carolyn-bessette-kennedys-style-affects-new-york-retail","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/168758\/","title":{"rendered":"Carolyn Bessette Kennedy’s Style Affects New York Retail"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tSpring has (nearly) arrived in New York City, and so has a wave of Carolyn Bessette Kennedy<\/a>-inspired mania. Inspired by Ryan Murphy\u2019s FX show \u201cLove Story<\/a>,\u201d which chronicles the tragic romance of Carolyn Bessette and John F. Kennedy Jr., women all over the city can be seen recreating the former fashion publicist\u2019s most popular looks \u2014 from her classic jeans and black turtlenecks to midi skirts and leather coats. No outfit is complete without oval-shaped sunglasses and, of course, her staple tortoiseshell headband. <\/p>\n

Carried at the 188 year-old New York apothecary, C.O. Bigelow,<\/a> since the 1950s, the 1.5-inch acetate headband created by Charles Wahba and favored by Bessette Kennedy has been sold out on the pharmacy\u2019s website for weeks, while the store is flocked by fans<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\n\tAlec Ginsberg, Bigelow\u2019s Chief Operating Officer whose family has owned the store since 1939, is viewing the craze as one big party.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause of all the hype, you might think that this is just another New York line down the street, with angry people in a mob, but it\u2019s really the total opposite of that,\u201d says Ginsberg, who\u2019s stationed on the store\u2019s main floor daily. \u201cThe energy is just really fun. It\u2019s been great watching these 20-year-old girls discover the store, hang with each other and just have a good time shopping.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe recent spike in business happened almost overnight, according to Ginsberg, who says it\u2019s easy to decipher which customers are borrowing inspiration from Bessette Kennedy. \u201cWe get people from all different walks of life. It\u2019s very clear when there are people in the store that are clearly trying to mimic her look and also coming in and specifically asking where the headbands are,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I\u2019ve seen \u2013 and what we keep saying here \u2014 is girls being girls. There are all these strangers who come to try on different hair accessories. They\u2019re putting them in their hair, asking strangers for advice, saying \u2018That looks amazing. Or you should try this one, it\u2019ll look better with your hair color,\u2019\u201d says Ginsberg, who refers to Bigelow as \u201ca playground\u201d and has begun blasting \u201cStudio 54-inspired\u201d playlists during peak hours.<\/p>\n

While C.O. Bigelow declined to share exact numbers, sales and store traffic have \u201cincreased in a significant way,\u201d according to Ginsberg. While some of Bessette Kennedy\u2019s luxury clothing are out of many younger fans\u2019 price ranges, he believes that C.O. Bigelow accessories offer a more affordable way to pay homage to her style.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not like you can always walk into a luxury fashion retailer and try on a multi-thousand-dollar dress, but they can come to Bigelow and buy a $30 hair accessory,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s the most accessible thing about her that they can touch.\u201d<\/p>\n

While it would be all too easy to lean into the marketing aspect given the success of \u201cLove Story\u201d (as of February, it is FX\u2019s most-watched limited series ever<\/a> on Hulu and Disney+), the store is in no need of publicity. As the oldest pharmacy in America, Ginsberg says they\u2019ve long taken care of \u201c\u2018the who\u2019s who\u2019 of New York.\u201d Everyone from Elvis and Eleanor Roosevelt to Sarah Jessica Parker and Julianne Moore have been known to frequent the Greenwich Village joint over the years.<\/p>\n

\n\tFour miles uptown, Zitomer Pharmacy located in the Upper East Side, has been feeling the effects of the CBK craze as well. Zitomer CEO Sharon Sternheim traces the surge in business to a 2024 New York Times article<\/a> that listed Zitomer as one of the stores in the city to carry the Wahba headband.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe just knew that going forward, it would be a staple in everybody\u2019s wardrobe,\u201d says Sternheim, adding that the store sold 60 headbands in one day after the show premiered, and averaged a 20% increase in sales across the hair accessories offerings.<\/p>\n

Similarly, Selima Optique, the luxury eyewear company where Bessette Kennedy bought her iconic oval-shaped sunglasses, has seen a drastic jump in business. Whereas Bessette Kennedy wore the \u201cAldo\u201d style, the company put out a separate \u201cCarolyn\u201d line which featured a slightly bigger lens for those who found the original too small. (The \u201cCarolyn\u201d is worn in \u201cLove Story\u201d by Sarah Pidgeon\u2019s Bessette Kennedy after finding it a better fit than the \u201cAldo.\u201d) In 2025, Selima Optique launched a final version titled \u201cCBK\u201d, which features an even larger silhouette to round out the family trio.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tCR: FX<\/p>\n

In the four weeks since the show released on Feb. 12, Selima Optique\u2019s online Aldo orders have increased by 2,388% (and sales across the entire CBK family have increased by over 1,000%) compared to the previous period, according to the brand\u2019s Head of Content Th\u00e9o\u00a0Salaun, who is also the owner and founder\u2019s son. \u201cThat first weekend [after the show premiered], every single store was sold out of the Aldo and the Carolyn in black and auburn by that Monday,\u201d says Salaun.<\/p>\n

The eyewear brand prides itself on hand-crafting each pair, setting up an atelier in New York earlier this year to make bespoke frames \u201cto try to meet demand.\u201d Selima Optique has three storefronts in New York City and two in Paris, the latter not being exempt from the CBK fascination.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first week or two, a lot of the interest and attention was local to America. And by the next week, we started seeing a lot of interest internationally,\u201d says Salaun. \u201cWe had a girl messaging us from Munich asking if we had the Aldo in auburn tortoise available, because she wanted to make a trip to Paris for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAhead of the show\u2019s finale next week, those that spoke with Variety are unsure if the obsession will slowly die out. Each of their family-owned retailers and brands have been around for decades, and will (hopefully) continue to operate for years. While viewers may move on from the show, Bessette Kennedy has cemented herself as a style muse for a whole new generation.<\/p>\n

\n\tAs Ginsberg says: \u201cShe\u2019s like a rock star who went out at the height of their fame.\u201d<\/p>\n