Just days before her September 21, 1996, wedding to John F. Kennedy Jr., Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy reportedly asked her longtime colorist Brad Johns to dye her hair black. Johns refused—and instead brightened her blonde with lighter pieces around her face. He later recalled that those highlights helped create the look people came to recognize. The anecdote comes from Johns’s recollection reported by The Looker; it is not independently documented salon history.
The surprising story behind her wedding hair
Johns recalled that Bessette-Kennedy arrived nervous a few days before the wedding and said, “I have something very special coming up. Dye my hair black.” His answer was, “Absolutely not.” Instead, he added lighter pieces around her face. Johns later recalled telling her, “Thank God I left those pieces in the front because you look like a princess.”
In Johns’s account, the change helped define the warmer, chunkier blonde that became associated with her public image. He described his aim as “child-of-the-beach color.” These are Johns’s later recollections, not a verified record of the appointment or a universal formula for the look.
How the ‘Love Story’ team recreated the look
The series’ hair and color choices were made for Sarah Pidgeon’s portrayal, rather than being a claim that Bessette-Kennedy followed the same styling routine. In an interview with ELLE, republished by AOL UK, on-set hairstylist Barry Lee Moe and colorist Kari Hill described shaping Pidgeon’s look to signal different periods in the character’s life.
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| Screen-era impression | Color and texture | What the team reported |
|---|---|---|
| Earlier, more downtown look | Darker depth under chunkier blonde pieces; loose, soft waves | Hill called the color approach “foiled cashmere.” Moe said Pidgeon’s hair was straighter than the desired wave, so she slept in braids before filming. |
| Later, more polished public image | Brighter, more polished blonde and sleeker styling | Hill said color placement followed reference photos and the movement of Pidgeon’s hair flips. The team described removing extensions and starting a new color phase around episode 6. |
For pulled-back styles, Moe preferred to let Pidgeon begin arranging her own hair before he refined it for camera. “Ultimately, with any of those effortless, pulled-back looks, I always lean to Sarah to guide it because there’s nothing that looks more realistic than when a girl pulls her own hair back,” he told Who What Wear, surfaced at Yahoo Shopping. For the wedding episode’s bun, he used the same approach. The interview says the choice was informed by accounts that Bessette-Kennedy had done her own hair on her wedding day; it does not establish every detail of how the real wedding style was created.
Why viewers criticized the blonde
When behind-the-scenes images of Pidgeon appeared in 2025, some observers said the blonde looked too ashy. Johns, who had colored Bessette-Kennedy’s hair, also criticized the shade in those images. CNN quoted him saying, “No one would believe that Carolyn in the ’90s would ever have that color from me. It’s too 2024.” CNN reported the reaction on June 18, 2025.
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That is an attributed opinion, not an objective test of historical accuracy. Johns’s description of the warmer, beach-inspired blonde reflects his own work and recollection; the screen look is also a production interpretation shaped by references and the needs of a television character.
Headbands and the details that signal a later era
The series uses headbands as part of what Moe interpreted as the character’s protective “uniform.” The production interview reports that the show sourced black and tortoiseshell headbands from New York apothecary C.O. Bigelow, a shop from which Bessette-Kennedy reportedly bought hers. That connection does not establish that any current headband is identical to one she personally wore.
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What to borrow from the look
For a contemporary interpretation, focus on the visual principles rather than trying to reproduce a supposed historical formula:
- Keep some darker depth beneath warm blonde highlights for dimension.
- Ask a colorist whether a lighter face-framing placement suits your hair and starting color; the reporting does not give a universal formula or dosage.
- Use loose, soft waves for an earlier, less polished impression, or a sleeker finish and a black or tortoiseshell headband for a later silhouette.
The products named in the ELLE interview—Unite Hair 7Seconds Detangler, Unite Blonda Hair Oil, and Unite Texturiza Spray—were reported as choices for Pidgeon’s on-set styling, not as products Bessette-Kennedy used. The production account also mentions overnight braids and a Trademark Beauty “Babe Waves” iron for creating soft waves. Those details explain one team’s recreation, not a required routine.
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