A Loving Look Back On Carrie’s Most Unhinged Outfits On ‘Sex And The City’
Sex and the City and Carrie will soon be back on our screens, and while we’re excited to see the return of the crew (minus Samantha, of course), we’re more excited about the fashion.
The pandemic has got us longing for the ridiculousness of ’00s outfits. (Really – give me hipster jeans over a lockdown any day.)
Oh, it was a time. Bright colours, practical pants paired with highly impractical heels, bandanas as far as the eye could see. Then headbands! Statement socks! Pinstripes!
The economy was strong, bra straps were visible, and the outfits were a little unhinged. And with that, it’s time to take a look back on some of Carrie’s most unhinged looks.
They were creative, they were confusing, and they were also copied by fast fashion. OK, let’s go.
1. The Tie-Dye Project
It’s a lot. There’s rainbow, there’s a blue bandana, there are leggings being worn as pants. With heels. It’s a deeply confused look that kind of reminds me of a bad acid trip. May they both remain in the past.
2. The New Year’s Eve Look
Impracticality is a common theme with the Sex and The City outfits, and none is more confusing to me than the outfit Carrie wore in the first movie when running to join Miranda at a quiet New Year’s Eve. It sparks many a question. Why is she wearing heels? Is she not afraid of getting lodged in a snow-covered grate? If you’re going out in pyjama pants, why not wear a subtle ugg? A gumboot? Flip flops? Are you okay, babe?
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But perhaps she was pairing comfort and celebration in one chaotic look. Perhaps it’s a signal the chaos that is yet to come in the world. If only we had listened.
3. The Babydoll Dress With Jeans
A deeply complex look – the babydoll dress with the tiny, pointless cardigan and straight-legged jeans, another headband – that suffered from Too. Many. Layers. I had so many of these tiny cardigans thanks to many years working at Supré. They keep your biceps warm and that’s about it, but they were cuuuuute.
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For some reason, lashings of school uniform was popular at the time. As was the pinstripe. Why? Well, that remains a mystery.
4. The Avocado-ish Overalls
Is it an ode to housing affordability in a deeply unaffordable city? Is it a practical New York summer get-up? Is she ready to strip off in Central Park?
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5. The Knee-High Socks And Platform Heels
Again, we return to hints of school uniform (is anyone else a little creeped out that that was a trend?). I think she should have chosen the toe-socks, myself. The ones that were like gloves for your feet with each toe snuggly hugged by synthetic wool.
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Nonetheless, this look says to me, “Meet me at the skate park. Bring UDLs.”
6. The Socks, Again
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7. The Prom Dress And Scarf
Why the scarf? Please, why the scarf? The pink ’80s prom vibe could be forgiven if not for the scarf.
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8. The Fashion Week Bubble Skirt
Just a quick note on the movie – why didn’t it end on this scene? Big was out of the picture, Carrie had found her feet as a brunette… why couldn’t we just leave it there with a nice independent-woman kind of message?
Anyway, whatever. It’s fashion week. It’s winter. But we refuse to wear stockings because we have cast off Big and we don’t need to second guess anything. And here return the boots from New Year’s Eve. They have always reminded me of the gloves of Mickey and Mini Mouse. (Pause for childhood nostalgia.)
9. The Hair Poof
OK, OK. Not so unhinged. But definitely memorable: big hair pinned back tightly from your forehead, given volume with talcum powder because dry shampoo did not yet exist. I’m not afraid to admit I’ve started wearing my hair like this again. Bring on the butterfly clips