And just like that… we find ourselves elated and/or appalled by the prospect of a second season of the Sex and The City reboot. Whether or not you were won over by the return of Carrie, Miranda and Charlotte as fifty-somethings, all fans of the original show likely appreciated the second coming for Bradshaw’s wardrobe.
Of course, her most famous outfits are still the original, occasionally controversial classics (mini skirt with a bustle, anyone?). But And Just Like That did throw up some sterling style moments – namely a rather fabulous Norma Kamali dress. Read on for a breakdown of Carrie’s most memorable looks, old and new.
Her tutu
Even those who can’t quote any Sex and the City episode verbatim will recognise this look. It’s officially Carrie’s first outfit – a tiered tutu teamed with a pale pink tank top and strappy sandals for the show’s opening sequence – and it very much set the tone for what was to come. Several years ago, costume designer Patricia Field revealed that she sourced the tutu from a showroom bin, and bought it for just $5.
That cowboy hat
For most people, a mention of the Hamptons might evoke manicured gardens, pristine white properties and turquoise swimming pools. But for Carrie, a visit to the millionaires’ beach retreat was apparently a prime opportunity for her ode to the Wild West. Season 2, episode 17 sees Ms Bradshaw encounter Mr Big and his twenty-something girlfriend Natasha while dressed in a python-print boob tube, striped sarong, a cowboy hat and her famous “Carrie” necklace. Following Alessandro Michele’s Love Parade Gucci show, her choice of chapeau looks current again.
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The newspaper dress
SJP became the unofficial poster girl for John Galliano’s famed newspaper dress, first worn by Angie Schmidt in his autumn/winter 2000 Christian Dior runway show. Carrie wears said SATC staple in season 3 episode 17, “What Goes Around Comes Around”, when she once again bumps into Natasha in a restaurant (and is relieved of her Manolos by a particularly enterprising mugger). Carrie later rewore the dress in the second (much-derided) Sex and the City movie, as seen above.
An LBD like no other
An uncharacteristically simple look, Carrie nonetheless pulled out her traffic-stopping LBD (okay technically, it’s charcoal) in season 2, episode 15, for a date with Vaughn Wysel – and then a post break-up download over lunch with Miranda, Charlotte and Samantha.
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The revenge dress
Considering her turbulent love life, plenty of Carrie’s looks could be classified as a “revenge dress”. But foremost among them is the white, bias-cut slip she wears when she sees Big leaving his engagement party (season 2, episode 18). After the fabulous four draw comparisons between Big and Carrie’s love story and the classic 1973 movie The Way We Were, a wistful Bradshaw takes it upon herself to quote lines from the film when she bumps into him. Iconic.
A Chanel shirt, worn backwards
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One of her wilder outfits. If the tie-dye capri pants and turquoise bandana weren’t enough to make the look off-kilter, then her decision to pair it with a colourful Chanel shirt – worn backwards and unbuttoned – surely did the trick.
A mini-skirt with a twist
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Carrie’s green satin mini skirt from Vivienne Westwood was the very definition of business at the front, party at the back – it featured a tulle bustle. Bizarre? Maybe, but Carrie made it work. She paired said mini with a crisp button-down shirt and cherry-red stilettos.
The bare waist and belt combo
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Because… why not? Here Carrie dons a patterned lime-green low-rise skirt, complete with a matching belt fastened around her bare torso and a knotted pink shirt. Note: the excess fabric of her top is tucked-into her bra for maximum exposure.
A floral midi that was made to get wet
Two versions of this floral midi dress – from Richard Tyler’s Resort 2001 collection – were sourced for episode 18, season 3, due to the fact that Carrie finds herself taking a surprise dip in Central Park’s boating pond with Big. One of the dresses was sold for charity in 2001 and the other – which previously took pride of place in SJP’s own archive – was subsequently donated to Australia’s Museums Victoria.
The ultimate boyfriend shirt
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Following that impromptu swim, Carrie makes the best of a bad situation and turns to her ex’s wardrobe for outfit inspo. The result? A boxy boyfriend shirt made glamorous, with a little help from an Hermès belt.
Goodbye Mr Big slip
This outfit – a négligée-esque black lace slip, gold-flock robe and ruffled Louboutin sandals – was central to an eventful episode. Carrie wears it for her last “Big night on the town” before he leaves New York for Napa (season 4, episode 18), only to find herself in the labour ward with Miranda.
The OG crop-top queen
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Emily Ratajkowski didn’t invent the ab flash. Carrie owned quite the collection of crop tops, boob tubes and bralettes, including the black long-sleeve top she wore with a striped skirt (both Prada spring/summer 2001), a Gucci belt bag and heels the night she encountered Aidan flirting with a bartender (season 4, episode 7).
The “naked dress”
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Easily Carrie’s ultimate first date look (season 1, episode 6). She wore the skimpy DKNY slip – dubbed the “naked dress” long before the Kardashian-Jenners were standing scantily-clad on the steps of the Met – for a photo shoot to promote her newspaper column, then deemed it fit for her first romantic rendezvous with Big. We all know what happened next.
The shirt that (nearly) got away…
Aidan wasn’t a fan of Carrie’s distressed Roberto Cavalli outfit, and she pledged to throw it out when he moved in to make room for his clothes. But in Bradshaw’s world, love conquers all… except fashion. She couldn’t bear to part with it, and the episode draws to a close with our heroine sauntering down the steps of her brownstone clad in her Cavalli.
The Carrie dress 2.0
A stand-out look from And Just Like That, in many ways this powder-blue Norma Kamali dress is textbook Bradshaw: bright, body-con, and by a New York designer. But its demure midi-hemline, and the addition of a longline blazer and sleek up-do, gave it the grown-up, sophisticated polish that defines Carrie’s still playful wardrobe in the 2020s.
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