Early this year And Just Like That has glued millions of women to the screens for its brand-new episodes full of fashion and style.
Well known for its spectacular fashion, Sex and the City has been a boundary breaking, revolutionary show that inspired styles of generations of women since its first release in 1998.
The new season, jam packed with famous, as well as undiscovered high end designer clothes has been extremely eye catching and certainly did not disappoint with its fashion, which has always been a DNA of this show. There are new sophisticated looks popping up in almost every scene which makes the show very exciting for fashion lovers… but a bit overdosed…
Speaking of Carrie in particular, I found her devotion to fashion unnecessarily exaggerated. When in previous Sex and the City series, her love for fashion was built into the stories organically and been more of a frame for her life, And Just Like That has brought fashion in the center of everything. While individual scenes seem to be in line with her character, watching them one after another feels too much at times. We see too much of Carrie inside her closet room, Carrie overdressing for occasions around her dearly loved husband’s death, Carrie using an umbrella as a walking stick to take the stairs due to a knee problem, but continuing to wear high heels, too many massive hats, like the scene where she is in the kitchen of her new apartment or when she is going through boxes of things from her and Big’s apartment and so many other scenes where she just looks bizarre…
Most surprising for me was Carrie’s fashion being inbuilt into Big’s death in scenes like where Carrie wears a fashionable hat and massive gold skirt for her husband’s funeral ; the story around Big’s ashes being stored next to her shoes in the closet, and how she proudly tells her husband’s brother that she is keeping them there; and of course the final scene where she spreads his ashes in Paris in a dramatic Valentino gown, opera gloves and a massive tall bun.
Should they have toned down the lavishness of the looks and made Carrie more relatable, it would be perfect transformation of her character to her 50s, with more mature and advanced wardrobe. We have seen Carrie discount shopping, and popping in to second hand stores in Sex and the City many times, which was an equivalent of the fast fashion of our days. We have not seen impulsive and realistic Carrie we have known in the new series.
Sarah Jessica’s Carrie’s looks in original Sex and the City show for Miranda’s mother’s funeral, Brady’s christening, funerals of friends in Season 2 and Season 6, still had that sense of fashion that is unique to her, but was much more appropriate to occasions compared to the latest season. Carrie in her 50s has transformed from fashion icon to a bit of a fashion freak and her character came across as shallow at times.
Nevertheless, we saw some versatile looks on Carrie: quite few minimalistic looks, such as, smart suits with low sleek buns, or accessories like tote bags or apple watch that underdressed her looks a bit and made her more relatable.
Few pure feminine looks have been introduced as well, which is one of the most loved alter egos of Carrie’s fashion. Versatility has always been one of the signatures of Carrie and it’s manifested in the show very well.
Changes in overall fashion of the show were to be expected, as costume designer of the show has changed from Patricia Field, who has been an indispensable part of the show throughout the years, to Molly Rogers.
Patricia was not able to participate due to her commitment to another HBO show, Emily in Paris. It might take some time for viewers to get used to the new fashion in the beloved sequel. Patricia has had the unique ability to mix high and low fashion, she could style a vintage designer piece with a 5$ belt, in order to mix it up and make characters livelier. This sense relatability has been missing in the fashion of this show in the latest series.
Despite some changes that made us feel the absence of Patricia Field, Molly Rogers has brought her own statement to the show’s fashion with a lot of beautiful looks in the series that will be covered separately. Transformation of the personal styles of the characters along with their new life circumstances and reflection of the latest fashion trends have been truly remarkable.
One of the things that makes this show’s fashion so successful is Sarah Jessica’s extraordinary sense of style. She takes active part in creating wardrobes for her character and her ability to pull of courageous looks and take risks certainly elevated Carrie’s style to highest level.
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