'I'm not comfortable in anything ornate- I like clean, understated look'- Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, Glamour, Magazine, 1992, via 'CBK: A Life in Fashion' by Sunita Kumar Nair.

Private collection.
Carolyn Bessette Kennedy wears an identical skirt, paired with a crisp white shirt and accessorised with a similar vintage Whiting & Davis mesh bag, attending the Annual Fundraising Gala at the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York City, March 9th, 1999. To view click here
The ensemble is arguably one her most iconic and has become synonymous with American fashion. 

Please note that the vintage Whiting & Davis bag was later acquired by the collector and the white shirt is a contemporary edition to the ensemble. Only the skirt was acquired with the other pieces in the collection in 2017. 

Provenance: These items were acquired in 2017 by a private collector, purchased directly from one seller discovered on E-bay. The first two pieces acquired were the Prada camel skirt (Lot 8) and Prada camel coat (Lot 14). These items were presented 'as seen on Carolyn Bessette Kennedy'. The collector, intrigued as to how one person could have two rare vintage pieces, began messaging with the seller and only after some discourse did they discreetly disclose they had more items. The collector was told that these items had originally belonged to Carolyn Bessette Kennedy and that they had been acquired from a former George magazine staffer in 2011. For one person to have such an extensive collection of specific pieces is highly unusual, however these are ready-to-wear items and multiples would have been produced (albeit in small quantities). It has been confirmed that the two camel Prada coats Carolyn is most frequently photographed in were given to Rosemarie Terenzio during the 1990s directly by Carolyn, and these can be seen in Lot 2 and Lot 4 of this sale. The Fashion Auctioneer has not been able to make contact with the George staffer or original E-bay seller, and subsequently the provenance of this collection cannot be verified. We welcome anyone with information relating to these items to contact us directly, so we can ensure they are accurately documented and given the appropriate consideration.