"STYLE ICON" Carrie Bradshaw on Sex and The City

1.The Mesh Pumps: “The '80s were always important to Pat,” said Weinberg. “She came from the nightlife and club scene and has always been influenced by that.” For Carrie, Field paired an edgy, punk belt with a simple pink shift and pearls, masterfully mixing downtown cool with uptown chic. "Carrie had the ability to switch," Weinberg explained. "That, to me, makes fashion."

2.Tutu Number 2!:The purple ballgown skirt Carrie wore when she ran into Aidan in the second movie started it's life as a slip, Field said. "It actually under gown, but it was so pretty. I was like, let's make this a skirt and put it with a t-shirt. It had that same quirkiness as that short tutu from the series’ intro scene.”

 

 3.The Famous Tutu!:Carrie Bradshaw changed the game of fashion: She made tutus work in Times Square and put Manolo Blahnik on the map. To celebrate the arrival of the much-anticipated sequel, we sat down with series' costume designers Patricia Field, Rebecca Weinberg and Eric Daman—as well as our very own fashion director Hal Rubenstein—to compile a list of Ms. Bradshaw’s greatest hits.

1. The Famous Tutu!
Field set the tone for Carrie’s always-unexpected style when she opted for a tutu and tank look she described as “quirky” for the series’ opening credits. “I remember I bought that tutu for $5!” said Weinberg. “[Our seamstress] had to duplicate it because we knew in the sequence it was going to get wet.” We saw the famed tutu again in the first film when Carrie did a closet clean out with the help of her best friends before she moved in with Big. The girls’ unanimous vote? A must-keep! 

 



 4.Pat Field’s All-Time Favorite:Asked to identify her favorite piece, Field didn’t hesitate to name the drop-dead gorgeous Versace gown Carrie wore while waiting (and waiting) for Petrovsky on her first night in Paris, towards the end of season 6. “It took you out of reality,” she said. Rubenstein agreed: “It’s acres and acres of tulle and chiffon, in this darkly romantic color—the perfect dress to be dumped in. There’s nothing more woeful than seeing a beautiful woman all dressed up with nowhere to go.”

 

 



5.The “He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not” Dress:“That was a moment in the show where it was like, ‘It’s happening or it’s not happening; he loves her or he doesn’t,’” Weinberg said of the time Carrie memorably fell into the lake with Big in Season 3 wearing this Richard Tyler dress. “Richard made two of those dresses for us in less than two weeks time!” She paired it with a Louis Vuitton handbag and vintage shoes. “Those clear vintage shoes were so beautiful with little rhinestones pressed into the plastic, and that bag was a total church lady bag!”

6.The High and Low Mix:"This is a fun combination of high and low," Rubenstein said, referring to Carrie’s season 5 ensemble, which included a sweater from mall staple Club Monaco, a dress by department store favorite Nanette Lepore and a Chanel jacket. Added Weinberg: "I love the color!"  

7.The Newsworthy Dress:Field didn’t mind revealing that Carrie will revisit past favorites, like this John Galliano for Christian Dior newsprint dress, in the new movie. “There’s a reason for it,” she hinted. “She has an experience that merits re-wearing it.” Is the original context—she donned this dress in season 3, when she apologized to Natasha for her affair with Big—a clue?

8.The Fresh-Off-The-Runway Vest:By the time Carrie was preparing to marry Mr. Big in the first movie, she (and the SATC costume designers) had no trouble securing super-current styles, like the Proenza Schouler military vest and studded strappy sandals from their Spring 2008 collection. “Everyone wanted their clothes on the show,” Weinberg said. “Boxes and boxes would arrive daily.”  

 

  9.Carrie’s Signature Flower:“SJP was really into the flowers. One day she said, ‘Lets do a big flower.’ They started small and got larger and larger and then it escalated into a comedy of flowers,” Weinberg told us. “This is Holly Golightly’s black sheath and pearls. It inspired real fashion to use flowers as accessories,” said Rubenstein. We loved the rest of the outfit too—hello, Dior saddle bag! “This is a beautiful Americana tailored look, it’s very Grace Kelly. Those pants were half-lined to the knee—I think I borrowed them a few times,” said Weinberg of the gorgeous Season 3 Tuleh trousers. 

10.Carrie’s Parisian Stripes:“There isn’t anyone more synonymous with Paris than Sonia Rykiel. [Carrie’s] in Paris, so she’s wearing a classic Parisian knitwear designer," said Rubenstein of Carrie’s all-striped ensemble in Season 6. "I wouldn’t love this in N.Y.C., but it’s so right for the scene. What could make more sense than being in the city of love with your love, wearing things that are soft and romantic—and with an interpretation of her signature flower, of course!”