Elegant style icon wardrobe essentials: Carolyn Bessette in white shirt

It seems as if Carolyn Bessette was born in white shirt. And she certainly lived in it. She wore a white shirt walking her dog, walking with John Kennedy Jr., walking out of her office, and walking around. Her white shirt is usually classic button down, man style, and white, very white. It is a miracle how she always managed to look so purely white in a city that could get dirty easy like New York. 

Carolyn Bessette wore a white shirt day in and day out. She wore it with jeans, khaki pants or a plain pencil skirt. And she wore it with a chignon, carrying it off like only Grace Kelly was able to do before her.

For Carolyn Bessette, perhaps a white shirt is not only a timeless wardrobe staple, it is her friend, protecting from the greedy media and the menacing world around her after her name was connected with the world's most famous bachelor in the world, John F. Kennedy Jr, the son of the youngest American President and the most elegant First Lady in American history.

And when she wore a white buttonless shirt from Yohji Yamamoto for a benefit in 1999, and wrap it around her body and tucked into her long black maxi skirt, Carolyn Bessette looked almost perfect, the only defect being the ruffles on the hem of her skirt.

The name of the event was "Brite Nite Whitney", the date of the event was March 9, 1999, and four months later, she was killed in plane crash, together with her husband and her sister. 

That was the last time she was seen publicly in a white shirt, and that white shirt becomes Carolyn Bessette white shirt: Tails tucked, cuffs rolled, no button, white as snow.