The fashions sported by the four lead characters – Carrie, Samantha, Miranda and Charlotte – have proved a hit with viewers and set trends like no other show or magazine. Two years ago, Carrie’s taste in jewelry spawned the craze for nameplate necklaces. Last year, if you saw countless women wearing huge fake flowers pinned to their chests, blame Carrie for that as well. Even Harper’s Bazaar editor Katherine Betts has called Sex and the City "a new fashion authority." In the arched-eyebrow words of the show’s protagonist, New York sex columnist Carrie Bradshaw (played by Sarah Jessica Parker), "What makes Sex and the City such a flashpoint for modern fashion? And do people in New York really dress that way?"
One thing is for sure: fashion has been an integral part of the series from the start. "Clothes are like another character in the show," says Cynthia Nixon, who plays no-nonsense corporate attorney Miranda Hobbes. "They help make it real."
Creating the show’s edgy look–from Carrie’s very bohemian downtown apparel to Charlotte’s more conservative designer chic–is Sex’s secret weapon, costume designers Patricia Field and her daughter, Rebecca Weinberg. Denizens of downtown Manhattan have long been familiar with Pat Field, whose Greenwich Village boutique is a 35-year-old institution. Offering lesser known designers like Xuly Bet, Field specializes in–and what could lend itself more naturally to a show about sex?–sexy fetish and bondage gear. Since the ’60s, Field’s store has been a haunt of downtown artists, New York "it" girls and folks who love the nightlife, like rock stars, drag queens and club kids.
Nowhere is Field’s "Life is a party" motto more evident than in Sex and the City, for which she’s been nominated for an Emmy. For each show, she and Weinberg have to assemble up to 50 fun and fabulous outfits that express each character. Kim Cattrall, for instance, who plays Samantha Jones, a sexy playgirl who’s always ready and willing, says her clothes have "got to be comfortable and come off fast." For one season alone, the costumers created approximately 400 ensembles, including designer garb for the men, like Mr. Big’s Rene Lézard suits, Romeo Gigli shirts and showy gold Rolex.
The key to getting the Sex and the City look is doing what Field and Weinberg do best: mixing high and low, pairing designer couture with flea market and vintage finds. Designer labels that Field has chosen most often include Fendi (for baguette bags), Bulgari (jewelry and clutch bags), Gucci (clothing), Jimmy Choo (shoes) and Christian Dior (bags and sunglasses).
The duo say they find inspiration everywhere, from the runways to the streets. From high-end designers they co-opted and popularized oversize fabric flowers ("The flower is absolute," says Field), Manolo Blahnik stiletto heels and structured handbags.
Where do they get the moolah for such pricey designer duds? "We don’t have a huge budget," Parker admits, "so we depend a lot on the kindness of strangers: borrowing from showrooms, calling in favors and bringing stuff from home." Consequently, in the fourth season to be shown on HBO this year, Charlotte and Miranda will be toting sturdy yet stylish Hogan bags lent by J.P. Tod’s designer Diego della Valle, while Carrie will be wearing more edgy tailoring courtesy of Miguel Adrover. After she wore Adrover’s blue pinstripe knicker suit in a scene where Carrie walks her boyfriend’s dog, scores of viewers phoned in asking where to buy it.
Exposure on the show is valuable publicity for designers. In one episode, after Samantha treats herself to a fake Fendi bag, the real thing started flying off the shelves. The show did the same thing for nameplate necklaces, after the first season regularly showed Sarah Jessica Parker with a gold-and-diamond "Carrie" chain around her neck. "We saw it on the girls out from the boroughs and we put it on Sarah Jessica," recalls Weinberg about the popular trend they borrowed from the streets.
Sex star and producer Sarah Jessica Parker describes the atmosphere in the wardrobe department as "circus tent"-like and a "madhouse." Kristin Davis, who plays marriage-minded preppy Charlotte York, observes that unlike on other TV shows, their fittings are five hours long. "It’s a collaboration with Pat Field," notes Cattrall, who’s empowered women viewers with her liberated character Samantha. "She brings in these fabulous things and we say, ‘Oh, that feels right for this.’"
Field’s downtown roots also explain the more outrageous fashion on the show, like Carrie’s many see-through tops, or her fave combo of short shorts with stiletto pumps. "You put on some crazy stuff," admits Parker, but quickly adds, "I love every piece of clothing I put on because there’s a certain bravado about walking down the street in something that’s almost illegal."
Fashionistas out there can take their cues from the latest season and start dressing ahead of the trends now. This year Field plans to bring capes, corsets and the American red-white-and-blue color motif to the masses. Also expect more "bra exposure–colored bras underneath light tops, and bra straps with strapless dresses and tube tops," says Field. Count on the appearance of accessories like white shoes, clutches and the much-coveted Hermes Birkin bag. Plus, what would the show be without girlish, whimsical touches like pom-pom ponytail holders to go with the retro glam of oversized ’70s sunglasses and piles and piles of pearls? (Think Juliette Binoche at the Oscars times 10.)
The characters will also be wearing a lot of borrowed Givenchy and Prada this year, according to Parker, who, as executive producer, has inevitably woven part of herself into Carrie. The actress admits that her shoe habit has led her to wear Manolos for the past 17 years. (In return for the compliment, Blahnik has designed a special shoe called the "Sarah Jessica Parker," an ankle-strap stiletto that comes in multi-colored leather, suede and crepe de chine.) "I feel like there’s nothing that gives a lady better pitch than a pair of Manolo Blahnik shoes, and I defy a woman to prove differently," she says. Parker’s not afraid of poking fun at her addiction, even on the show. When, in one of the episodes’ many intimate moments, Carrie’s new boyfriend Aidan draws her attention to the "$8,000 bucks’ worth of shoes" in her bedroom, Carrie replies, in all innocence, "I needed those."