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Believe it or not, there are women out there who did not and do not watch Sex
and the City. Not during its six-season run from 1998 to 2004, nor in the
subsequent four years it has been available on DVD, HBO On Demand or in
syndication almost nightly on TBS. Still, here's betting that mor
e than a few of
those Sex-less women have donned a giant flower pin, flaunted Manolos or pined
for a Birkin bag in the past 10 years, after an "SATC"-fueled fad gripped the
masses. The HBO series was a fashion force that, thanks to Sarah Jessica
Parker's effervescent Carrie Bradshaw and her costumer, Patricia Field, exposed
a mainstream audience to flamboyant style extremes.
So, with the release of Sex and the City: The Movie, legions of loyalists
hope to learn more than the answer to obvious questions like: Will Carrie and
Big get married? Movie-goers want to see the clothes. And so, just after the
opening credits roll comes Parker's familiar girlish voice-over, declaring that
the female New York experience comes down to "the two L's: labels and love." In
the movie, those labels include Chanel, Prada, Vera Wang, Carolina Herrera,
Oscar de la Renta, Christian Lacroix, Vivienne Westwood and, of course, Manolo
Blahnik. That Carrie, in all seriousness, states that a Richard Prince Louis
Vuitton bag is "the best money I ever spent," says it all about the show's, and
now the movie's, priorities.
Style-wise, the supporting cast is, for the most part, as it was. Charlotte
is still prim in printed sundresses and generally perky, uptown attire. Samantha
is perhaps bigger and bolder than ever in over-the-top, often unsightly, getups,
including canary yellow and emerald green jackets belted over white pencil
skirts and topped off with door-knocker earrings. If anyone experienced a
transformation, albeit a mild one, it's Miranda. Whereas in the series, Cynthia
Nixon's cynical high-powered lawyer sometimes dressed as a quintessential
corporate stiff in stark suits and boring basics, here she is fully, believably
chic in tweeds, earth tones and graphic prints, often accessorized with
demonstrative geometric jewelry.
Of course, the fashion story was and always will be about Carrie, a
character, who, thanks to Field, holds dual titles as television's best and
worst dressed. To the well-trained, high-fashion eye, Carrie's 81 costume
changes make up perhaps the most metaphorical wardrobe in cinematic history. For
half of the film she comes off as a polished, uberfashionable grown-up; the
other half, she's the quirky, experimental fashion trailblazer/victim. Polished
Carrie is done up head-to-toe in resort and spring 2008 trends: florals, like a
gem-studded YSL sack dress, and full-skirted frocks made a little edgy with a
studded black leather belt.
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