Indulge your inner Carrie Bradshaw without the questionable life choices.
Fashion has always played a vital role in Sex and the City, spurring the plot of the show and reflecting the distinctive personalities of the four thirty-something best friends as they rove through New York City, have sex with men for pleasure, and break hearts — or get their own hearts broken. As early as the first season, Carrie Bradshaw ditched Mr. Big after a divorced friend of his crashes their sort-of date. “I decided to walk to clear my head,” Carrie reflected as she walked out of the restaurant, clad in a heavy fur coat over a clinging navy blue dress. “So I walked. I walked 48 blocks in $400 shoes.”
After hooking up with a guy she meets in the infrared haze of a nightclub, Carrie decides to replace her addiction to men with an even bigger addiction to shoes, which later drives her into $40,000 of debt and puts her on the verge of losing her apartment. And yet, it makes sense: “When I first moved to New York, and I was totally broke, sometimes I would buy Vogue instead of dinner,” Carrie says. “I felt it fed me more.” As such, fashion recurs as a prominent plot driver throughout the series. In season 4, Carrie wears a dark blue robe and sheer glittering underwear at a charity fashion show — before falling on the runway. “She’s fashion roadkill!” Stanford quips. In another iconic scene, Carrie’s Manolo Blahniks and Fendi baguette bag are stolen at gunpoint.
Sex and the City was significant in its canny mix of high and low culture, as well as for mainstreaming luxury brand names like Fendi, Manolo Blahnik, Dior, Hermès, and more in humorous, tongue-in-cheek ways. By satirizing the women’s love for brands, SATC made the idea of luxury designer items more accessible to the mass public. Most people probably learned about the Birkin bag when Samantha tried to use her influence as Lucy Liu’s publicist to bypass the five-year waiting time to purchase the $4000 handbag, and Alexander Petrovsky is deemed husband material after he buys Carrie an Oscar de la Renta dress she saw in Vogue.
Today, the fashion in SATC is immortalized on the internet in countless memes and Instagram accounts dedicated to archiving the best friends’ outfits, showing that authentic and entertaining style never really goes out of fashion. Read on and learn how to curate your wardrobe to reflect the sartorial sense of the best friends at the heart of the iconic HBO series.
Carrie Bradshaw
Carrie Bradshaw’s whimsical fashion sense defined her impulsive personality, what stylist Patricia Fields called “princess syndrome” in daring to stand out from the rest of the crowd — whether clad in a white vest over a taffy-pink shirt, the iconic tutu skirt with a pink body-tight top, or the sensual white slip dress in which she asks Big, “Why wasn’t it me?” Much of Carrie’s wardrobe was thrifted due to SATC being on a budget in its early days, but also because the (anti)heroine lived in Manhattan penning a sex column for a living, hence the iconic line: “I was looking for the perfect $7 vintage dress to go with my $300 shoes when. . .”
To channel Carrie’s bold, dramatic style, invest in...
...an overflowing rose tulle skirt from Anthropologie ($158).
...a satin slip dress from Aritzia ($128).
...or a white vest from Ralph Lauren ($175).
For shoes, opt for these strappy Manolo Blahnik heels ($825).
For an affordable nameplate necklace (remember when she loses then finds her “Carrie” necklace in Paris, as her then-boyfriend threatens to overtake her sense of self?), check out this MeMoShe Layered Necklace ($20).
And if you’re a curly-haired girl, buy Ouidad’s Heat & Humidity gel to scrunch bouncy curls in all kinds of weather ($26).
Samantha Jones
Samantha favored power dressing, accessories that made a statement, and touches of gold reminiscent of the 1980s (it’s often implied she’s older than the rest of the girls). A PR professional, Samantha understood the power of luxury, styling herself as the prize while being a maven of pleasure herself.
If you want to embrace Samantha’s bling and confidence, check out:
...Melody Ehsani’s Sade hoop earrings ($25).
...DKNY’s belted blazer ($189).
...or a versatile white trench coat from Aritzia ($208).
And, of course, as a party girl who once frequented Studio 54, Samantha loved sumptuous colors and glittering maximalism. For a night out, wear this Hervé Léger burgundy bandage dress ($252)...
...a pale blue sequined minidress from Paloma and Lira ($693)...
...or buy these shimmering pants from Meltem Ozbek ($301).
Miranda Hobbes
Before androgynous style was a thing, Miranda Hobbes wore svelte pantsuits that could have easily been bought in the menswear section of any department store. A lawyer by profession, Miranda’s wardrobe either reflected the formality of her work environment or relaxed into sportswear staples like denim and puffer jackets, or halter tops and breezy maxi dresses. Whether attired in a Jean Paul Gaultier pop art dress or a crisp white-collared shirt with a blazer and a skinny tie, Miranda exuded power in a way that confounded the male gaze.
To dress like the OG girlboss, invest in:
...this structured black blazer from Phoebe Philo ($4,500).
...and a white shirt from Banana Republic ($49).
For an off-duty look, try this sleeveless turtleneck sweater from Anthropologie ($38).
....and these overalls from Levi’s ($128).
As for the gorgeous Gaultier dress, it’s mostly sold out online—but you can bid for it on secondhand sites, or find similar dresses that make up for it.
Charlotte York
As a Park Avenue princess and an art dealer, Charlotte’s style drew from the prep of her upbringing, often wearing ultrafeminine clothes that epitomized her dream of a man sweeping her off her feet. And yet, even with her fixation on marriage, Charlotte knew when to dress to empower herself — the scene in which she dons dark-tinted sunglasses and a pink midi dress channeling Elizabeth Taylor in the wake of her miscarriage, transforming her grief, is forever imprinted on the minds of SATC viewers.
To embody Charlotte’s classy glam, opt for:
...a lingerie-like floral dress from Réalisation Par ($270).
...a classic Ralph Lauren sweater ($148).
...these dark pink tweed pumps from Kelly & Katie ($40).
....an Alaïa flared princess coat ($4,960).
....and these pearl studded Jimmy Choo cat-eye sunglasses ($75). 🌀
Iman Sultan is a writer, aesthete, and creative consultant. After residing in Karachi and Philadelphia, she now lives in New York City. Sultan writes on the intersection of politics, culture, and society, and the role fashion, beauty, and cities play in our everyday lives. Her work has appeared in National Geographic, Al Jazeera, W, i-D, LA Review of Books, Vogue Arabia and many other publications. Find her on @karachiiite, and read her newsletter, Shaharazad in the 21st Century.