Source: Tracey Lomrantz for ELLE
They made caftans cool, established the re-emergence of the fanny pack, and turned Manolo Blahnik into a household name. They exposed midriffs while raising eyebrows. They dropped $3,000 on a single handbag. They punctuated their wardrobes with muskrat fur and cowboy hats the way most women use pearls and pumps. And they certainly never treated “risk” as a four-letter word. The sartorial feats achieved by costume designers Pat Field and Rebecca Weinberg, along with the cast members they dressed on Sex and the City during its highly influential six-season run were not only staggering, they spawned an unstoppable machine of economic, cultural, and social trends that still very much matter today. From nameplate necklaces to exposed bra straps, SATC had a hand in creating some of the biggest fashion statements of the past 10 years—and when the feature film is released on May 30, it’s impossible not to imagine a flock of Sex-ettes queued up to get their hands on the next generation of It Items it’s bound to ignite.The film circles back to many of the series’s common fashion themes (oversize flowers, menswear, status shoes and bags), reaffirming its sense of import in the current style landscape. “I had no idea from a wardrobe aspect what kind of influence it would have,” says costume designer Rebecca Weinberg, who worked on the show alongside Field from 1999-2001. “But in the ‘90s we were the first program where style really was a key element.”In reality, style was a “key element” to the series the way water is a “key element” to the Pacific Ocean. “In terms of the series, fashion didn’t just reflect the zeitgeist, it actually influenced it as well,” says Valerie Steele, fashion historian and director of the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology. “It really validated people’s love of fashion. Even people who weren’t going to spend $500 on a pair of shoes suddenly became very aware of Manolo and Choo and the whole concept of luxury.”
Luxury certainly had a prominent place on the show in the dot-com-rich early ‘00s (the Fendi baguette, the fur coat, the Oscar de la Renta dress), but one of SATC’s most enduring legacies is the so-called high-low mix that’s highly prized by the fashion community. “We would mix high end luxury stuff with literally thrift store finds,” Weinberg says of Carrie’s wardrobe in particular. “It’s just the way we dress in real life, relying on sample sales and vintage pieces and little finds here and there.” One of the most memorable looks from the show, the tulle skirt that Sarah Jessica Parker wears in the opening sequence, was a $5 vintage piece plucked from the starlet’s own closet (reportedly a move on HBO’s part to maintain an air of timelessness, as they knew the sequence wouldn’t change throughout the show’s lifetime).And while the women of SATC may change men and trends as frequently as their knickers, Steele says she thinks the style on both the series and the film will age rather well. “I think it will be a fabulous time capsule,” she says. “I’d like to imagine watching it again in 25 years and I think it will really hold up.” That’s good news for Parker—since her first day on set, her contract has stipulated that she has the privilege to keep every piece she’s ever worn during filming. Though some of the show’s trends may be rather regrettable (“Gloves always look so silly—they just remind me of trying too hard,” Weinberg says of the season six accessory fascination. “I got so sick of them!”), it could never be accused of being boring. With Carrie and company’s risks came some genuine mistakes, lending them an air not just of sophistication but of accessibility. Television shows have certainly left their imprint on the fashion climate over the years, but none will ever have the same allure as Sex.
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