Opinion / Has And Just Like That gone too far with the designer labels? Sex and the City offered major fashion inspiration in the 90s and noughties, but its films and spin-off are bloated with brands
Sex and the City turned 25 this month! But unlike most of us – who likely grimace at the clothes we wore a quarter of a century ago – the show felt infinitely more stylish in its infancy than it does now.
I’ve been rewatching it, and I’m reminded all over again why it became a de facto spiritual guru for multiple generations of women. Carrie, Charlotte, Samantha and Miranda, for their flaws, showed us a new mode of living – one where baby showers and weddings were anything but aspirational, and where all you really needed to be happy was your friends.
Who could forget some of Carrie’s iconic outfits? I’ve always loved the traffic-stopping LBD (OK technically, it’s dark grey) she wore in season two, episode 15, for an ill-fated date with writer Vaughn Wysel – and then for a far more successful post-break-up lunch with Miranda, Charlotte and Samantha – paired with gold aviators.
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Even more turbulent in terms of her love life (but thankfully not her clothes) was the white, bias-cut slip she wears when she sees Big leaving his engagement party with a pair of simple heels.
Then there was the strappy floral midi – from Richard Tyler’s Resort 2001 collection – that Carrie wears when she takes a surprise dip in Central Park’s boating pond with Big. Another one of my favourite outfits follows on from that impromptu swim when she buttons up an oversized white shirt of Big’s with heels and an Hermès belt.
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In many ways, Sex and the City became a victim of its own success, and this is as true in the fashion department as it was in the storylines. Whereas the first four (and arguably all six) series of the TV show were smart, snappy and very funny, while also saying something true about the reality of being female while ageing in a world that has set ideas about both, the films lost all of this freshness.
As for the other characters, I was relieved that in the first series of AJLT, Miranda (played by Cynthia Nixon) looks like herself, with her grey hair and simple dresses and trousers. It was a welcome departure from the films, where at times she was swamped by puffy sleeves and oversized collars that didn’t fit with her character.
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- SATC just turned 25, celebrating the legacy of 4 leading ladies Carrie, Charlotte, Samantha and Miranda played by Sarah Jessica Parker, Kristin Davis, Kim Cattrall and Cynthia Nixon, respectively
- While its spin-off series And Just Like That met with positive feedback, its excessive showcase of Dries Van Noten, Balenciaga and Chanel outfits bears little resemblance to real New York style