The JFK Jr. Lookalike Contest Was Rife with Hunks in Hats

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Credit: Elena Mudd

Ever wanted to be a fly on the wall at a NYFW party? Or wondered how street style trends take off? With On the Grid, InStyle documents the best-dressed crowds at runway shows, sold-out concerts, and beyond. Consider this your style scene report.

At the John F. Kennedy Jr. Lookalike contest in New York City’s Washington Square Park, I saw every John John archetype imaginable. Standing next to the park’s famous arch, a sporty JFK Jr. in short shorts and New Balance sneakers posed for a photo. On the grass, a quirky vest-wearing doppelganger mugged in a hat and drawn-on chest hair for dramatic effect. The contest winner—a very tall lookalike in roller skates—basked in attention from park-going singles and rubberneckers just outside the North entrance.

Born from a few viral flyers posted around town, the competition challenged the hunks of Manhattan to ask not what their city could do for them, but what they could do for their city. The answer, of course, was to put on their best ’90s ‘fit and head to the Greenwich Village turf of Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy wannabes on March 8 to win the honor of…looking the most like our favorite political nepo baby, I guess.

To delight Love Story fans, there were boxy suits, fixed-gear bikes, and more backwards Yankees hats than you could count. A few CBK acolytes showed up in the requisite trench coats, exuding cool-girl nonchalance in Calvin Klein–approved beige. Everywhere you looked, there was a nouveau riche prepster pretending to be an Old Money Hyannis Port goer. Some didn’t even know they were doing it.

Comparing the real thing to lookalike hopeful Enir Radoncic.Credit: Elena Mudd — Comparing the real thing to lookalike hopeful Enir Radoncic.
Credit: Elena Mudd

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“I didn’t even know this was happening,” one backwards hat and athleisure-wearing lookalike told me. I guess he’d found himself in the right place at the right time and decided to stick around for the compliments. Another told me this was the “scariest thing” he’d ever done. (If you saw the screeching throng of iPhone weilding onlookers, you’d understand.) Some wore vintage Hugo Boss, others their only suit. All sported a stellar head of hair.

Most of all, though, the contestants I spoke to had shown up at the women in their lives’ behest. Let’s give credit where it’s due: Quite a few wives, girlfriends, friends, and sisters styled, primped, and cajoled these (mostly) straight guys into jackets and out the door, according to my reporting.

Caress Lourdes and Eddie Klein attempting their best CBK and JFK Jr.Credit: Elena Mudd — Caress Lourdes and Eddie Klein attempting their best CBK and JFK Jr.
Credit: Elena Mudd

So who won? And what did the competition look like? Read on for the most JFK Jr.–looking guys (and a couple of Carolyn copycats) New York has to offer with the latest edition of InStyle‘s On the Grid.

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