Sarah Pidgeon Offers a 2026 Take on ’90s Minimalism

While Carolyn Bessette Kennedy has remained a perennial style inspiration in the decades since her untimely death, Sarah Pidgeon may be one of the most ardent of CBK’s sartorial scholars.

The actor became especially well acquainted with Bessette Kennedy’s signature minimalism while portraying her in Ryan Murphy’s Love Story, wearing pieces onscreen that CBK herself had once owned. “We found her Prada and Valentino coats, and fitted some Levi’s so that they looked exactly how they fit Carolyn,” Pidgeon told Vogue earlier this year.

While the actor has since moved on from the role, it’s not totally in the rearview: Pidgeon will wrap up her Love Story chapter at the 2026 Emmys, where she is nominated for lead actress in a limited or anthology series or movie. Now, in the run-up to the awards next month, Pidgeon is straddling the line between dressing as herself and offering a sartorial wink to Emmy voters.

That leads us to Pidgeon’s latest look, which nods to some elements of CBK’s style without veering into straight-up homage territory. Today, Pidgeon wore a look from Khaite, a brand that CBK never knew in her lifetime, but whose house codes overlap with Bessette Kennedy’s minimalist tendencies.

For press in New York, Pidgeon opted for a draped charcoal mini dress and high-vamp heeled shoes that straddled the line between ballet flats and loafers. While neither is totally in line with CBK’s wardrobe (she favored longer silhouettes over minis), the emphasis on drapery and the simple, sleek shoe speak to both the ’90s and now.