The protagonist of “Sex and the City”, Sarah Jessica Parker (SJP), celebrated her 25th anniversary on Thursday by surprisingly opening an exhibition in the Big Apple, where she revealed that the series had to manage with little money in terms of fashion until it a borrowed bag opened the doors of luxury for her.
Fashion, as it already was in fiction, is one of the central elements of the exhibition that opened today in the Soho neighborhood and offers to delve into the apartment, the dressing room and the “dreams” of Carrie Bradshaw, that thirty-year-old who she wrote a column on sex and relationships inspired by her and her friends’ experiences.
Passing between display cases of bags and dresses, SJP, who shares Carrie’s bubbly personality, dressing style and obsession with shoes, sat down to chat and tell stories alongside two wardrobe managers who worked on the original series and its current sequel “And Just like that”, Molly Rogers and Danny Santiago.
“At first we didn’t have access to luxury brands and a lot of clothes came from thrift stores. (Discount department stores) Century 21 played a big role, (also) Bloomingdale’s… I don’t know how you did it at first: there was a lot of ingenuity and rudimentary instinct,” the interpreter told them.
Proof of this is one of the items on display, probably the most famous in the series: the tutu that Carrie wears in the opening sequence of each episode with a piano melody, and which, it is remembered, was rescued from a box of clothes. $5 for legendary stylist Patricia Field, the lead costume designer.
THE “BAGUETTE” CHANGED EVERYTHING
However, most of the garments that can be seen are products from large firms, from Valentino or Dolce & Gabanna dresses to fine-heeled “jewel” shoes by Christian Louboutin or the fetish shoemaker of the protagonist, and also of the actress: Manolo Blahnik. But all those names were slow in coming, she said.
“Manolo was integrated into the series, but it was not instantaneous. We could not afford it, at the beginning we had no budget, not even in the second season. That changed mainly when Fendi lent us the “Baguette” (bag): that was the door entry to other brands, he gave us a credential”, he recalled.
That Carrie Baguette bag -small, rectangular, purple and with sequins-, which is the subject of a comic mugging on the street in the third season, achieved such notoriety that it has been elevated to the category of “it bag” (iconic bag). and the Fendi brand dedicated an anniversary show to just that accessory last year.
In that regard, stylist Rogers summed up something fashionistas know well: “Anything Carrie touched became really important on the show, whether it was a bag, a lighter, a ring while having a (cocktail)” cosmos. “…and just amplified it,” he added.
That has been noted in her presence for years in fashion magazines and, more recently, in her shoe business -SJP brand-, all of which she thanks Carrie: “Definitely, I have learned from the character to be brave, daring and not apply nobody’s rules to the way you choose to walk out the door,” he said.
MODERN CARRIES
In the opening event of the exhibition, which can only be visited until Sunday, journalists could be seen above all, but also “influencers” who have clearly been followers of the protagonist for a long time and who seem to be the target of this experience, who Facilitates photo opportunities and uploads to social media.
One of those modern “Carries”, with a long tulle skirt and glitter heels for the occasion, posed before her video assistant in the apartment recreated in great detail -even with lipstick-stained cigarettes- and in the window where the protagonist began each episode, typing and thinking.
But there is no Carrie without her friends, nor 25 years later, and for this reason a display is dedicated to each of them with photos, phrases and videos of famous moments that invite each follower to identify themselves as “I am a Miranda”, a Charlotte or a Samantha.
While waiting for the second season of “And just like that” to premiere, SJP did not want to make any statements, but it has emerged that Carrie will meet one of the men in her life, Aiden, and Samantha, played by Kim Cattrall, will return. , which has had its disagreements with SJP for years.