Sarah Pidgeon’s Met Gala Dress May Have Been an Accidental Tribute to Jackie Kennedy
Jason Pham
It’s been more than a month since the end of Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette, but Sarah Pidgeon is still finding ways to pay tribute to the Kennedy family (whether intentional or not).
Pidgeon, best known for playing publicist and John F. Kennedy Jr.‘s wife Carolyn Bessette in the FX series, attended the 2026 Met Gala on Monday, March 4, in a Loewe chartreuse matte satin gown with a twisted bow-like bandeau top and a column skirt. The look was designed by Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez in order to fit the Met Gala’s theme, “Costume Art” and dress code, “Fashion Is Art.”
According to Vogue, Pidgeon was immediately drawn to the look when she attended the Loewe fall 2026 show in Paris in March, which saw a model walking down the runway in a plaid version of her top. “I ended up texting my stylist, ‘Oh, I really like this one,’” she said. “It just felt very whimsical but very powerful at the same time, and very architectural.”
Related: How to get invited to the Met Gala
Fans have also interpreted Pidgeon’s look as a modern interpretation of a satin chartreuse gown worn by Jackie Kennedy—the mother-in-law of Pidgeon’s Love Story character Carolyn Bessette—at a White House dinner in honor of the President Manuel Prado of Peru in September 1961. Jackie attended the event with her husband, President John F. Kennedy.
Her dress, which featured a black silk velvet top and a Chinese yellow silk satin skirt with a bow not too dissimilar from Pidgeon’s bandeau top, was designed by Chez Ninon. Coincidentally, the dress was put on display at the Met in 2001 in an exhibit titled “Jacqueline Kennedy: The White House Years.”
In an interview with People in February 2026, Pidgeon addressed criticism surrounding Love Story’s portrayal of the Kennedy family. “I don’t think it changed how I approached the role. It didn’t change my impression of who Carolyn was,” she said. “It reminded me of the weight of this responsibility and wanting to do these people justice.” She explained that the backlash only “reinforced and reminded me of just how beloved these people are, and people are protective of their story.”
Jack Schlossberg, the grandson of JFK and Jackie, slammed Love Story in an interview on CBS Sunday Morning in March. “If you want to know someone who’s never met anyone in my family, knows nothing about us, talk to Ryan Murphy,” Jack said when asked about the show. “The guy knows nothing about what he’s talking about, and he’s making a ton of money on a grotesque display of someone else’s life.”
He continued, “I would hope that Mr. Murphy would donate some of the millions of dollars of profits that he’s making to maybe some of the causes that John championed throughout his life. Maybe he would donate some of that money to the JFK library to help keep President Kennedy’s memory alive, but he’s not. He’s making money. This is not a documentary.”
