Glamour: And Just Like That…, the new Sex and the City series from HBO Max, has fans defending Steve and ogling Manhattan real estate like it’s 1999 all over again. And perhaps more important than the sex, the city, or the celebrity is the style. Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker), Miranda (Cynthia Nixon), and Charlotte (Kristin Davis) are older and wealthier. Their closets are bigger, and their hips more brittle. What would the gals wear 18 years after the original series’ final episode? Nancy Pelosi–esque monochrome coats? Tie-dyed sweatsuits? Eileen Fisher?
3 comments:
I think the usage of costumes is so important for shows that are meant to be light-hearted but cover some darker themes. The idea that the continuation of Sex in the City would become drama-filled with death and growing older is not an homage to the original work. What I like about the costuming is that it gives a little bit of fashionable spectacle and fantasy to the original script that allows the audience to feel in touch with the source material. I really loved the “I Heart Central Park” sweater for that because the mixed textures of that sweater and the dress that is under it provide a modern look that shows the same kind of comfortable glam in the source material. I also really like the color palettes for each scene because the lighter beachy colors contrasted with the neutrals really show a shift in mood for when the show covers something a little heavier. The mood of glamor is still there, but it is respectful to the topic at hand.
As I start to understand my preferences in design more, I am starting to love observing and learning about fashion. It also has become a sort of ritualistic practice that has given me energy and empowerment in my daily life. I think how you dress definitely has that innate ability, because you get to manipulate the perceptions people have about you, which is so important in our society. It can also be used to comment on anything that we choose to. So obviously, it makes sense that it can be so poignant and vital in entertainment and art. It obviously helps to establish facets of exposition, whether that's mood, tone, or simply who this character is. In SATC the character of Carrie Bradshaw is so well-known and distinct that they have to fit her style so well. I would argue that if they didn’t fit her pop up-beat quirky look there would be such dissonance between her character and her visual look.
I’m a big Sex and the City fan and have been keeping up with And Just Like That. Reading that Carrie’s funeral outfit was her “dressing for Big” makes complete sense and I love seeing her in a more classic shape to highlight Big’s old-fashioned taste. I also really loved her styling for the clubbing outfit; the slicked-back hair with the long earrings looked sophisticated but still modern. The blazers on top of dresses felt very accurate to what Carrie would wear. No matter what, I think an essential part of Carrie’s style is the pairing of unique pieces and always pushing just beyond conventional silhouettes. I wasn’t as much of a fan of Charlotte’s costumes, at times it felt excessively feminine and almost like a caricature of Charlotte. I think her tennis outfit especially could have been more athletic, the long skirt just felt strange; Charlotte is traditional and feminine, but not impractical.
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