I couldn't help but wonder...what do the SATC wardrobes tell us?
A character style analysis of the Sex and the City leading girls
Sex and the City is fondly remembered as the hit show for the fashionistas of the 2000s. With content that was *at the time* forward thinking and risqué, the story of four female friends living life in NYC was a cultural ‘femininomenon’ (thank you Chappel Roan).
Fashion was crafted to be at the forefront of the show, with some style choices impacting real life trends. Patricia Fields; the shows predominant costume designer, collaborated with a multitude of designers over the series, allowing her to become credited for being one of fashions most influential voices of the era.
The show has recently resurfaced for a new generation of viewers in their 20s, myself included. Now on my third re-watch of the series, it’s become a certified favourite for comfort viewing and a reminder that fashion will always be a fun communicator on screen.
The success of SATC is also credited to the standalone personas of all main characters, each with their own strengths and imperfections. No matter who your favourite is, we can all relate to each of them in one way or another. Parallel to their nature, each character’s signature style became synonymous with their identity and informed the viewer of the trials and tribulations they experience throughout the show.
In order to explore the wardrobes of SATC, we’ll take a look at each of the ensemble’s supposed archetype and discuss the connections between their style and character development across the course of the show.
Carrie Bradshaw
You might love her, you might hate her. Carrie is set up as the main protagonist of the show, being the narrator and eyes through which we see the series’ major plot points. Carrie is fitting to the character archetypes of the Innocent and the Lover, as she repeatedly represents a sense of wonder and naivety, however with narcissistic tendencies she often leaves herself vulnerable to exploitation and manipulation.
Side note, if you’re wondering who my archetype villain is, yes, it’s Mr Big.
Carrie further represents these archetypes through her complex personality, she’s chaotic, witty and flirty, just as much as she is imperfect and rather infuriating. And she remains to be throughout the series just as she starts, if anything slightly more unravelled. This is perfectly portrayed through her personal style and (sometimes questionable) fashion choices. Carrie is at heart a lover of fashion; she experiments with fashion risks, never sticks to a particular silhouette or colour palette for longer than two episodes, and plays with a maximalist, eclectic and chaotic wardrobe. After seeing Carrie in every colour and shade, it’s easy to say her most complimenting looks are often part of a lighter colour palette, such as pinks, blues and yellows. A staple of hers is of course a pair of Manolo Blahniks to accompany any look, who costume designer Fields collaborated with across the span of the series, sky rocketing the popularity of Blahnik’s craftsmanship to become a household name.
In terms of analysing her style development from Season 1 to 6, Carrie remains steadfast in the chaos in and out of her wardrobe. The only evident costume alteration is aligned with the actual era of filming. Carrie, being a lover of the fashion world, ensures to keep up to date with designer collections and trends, reflecting this contemporary taste through her clothes. From beginning to end Carrie isn’t shy in her styling, and it is continuously used as a divisive method of visual storytelling.
Miranda Hobbes
Miranda has got to be the most severely underappreciated and over hated character of the show. She started off as a headstrong character with determination to reach her personal goals, only moulding herself into someone softer in later seasons for the benefit of her partners. Miranda often aligns to character archetypes such as the Guardian and also the Overachiever. She repeatedly tests the main character’s intentions (here being Carrie) and is a perfectionist eager to please high standards that even she sets upon herself. Miranda is represented as an ambitious and capable woman, although oftentimes slightly snarky or cynical, this further portrays how she is not malleable or so easily pressured out of her own views.
Fields crafted Miranda’s costumes to communicate her ambitious and corporate persona, with frequent uses of power suits and oversized, androgynous silhouettes. Her outfits often resided under muted colourways like black, grey and navy, however Miranda’s underappreciated fashion knowledge often popped out with the uses of complimentary accent colours: green, red and blue that perfectly matched her hair and skin tone. Whilst I will admit that some of the most outrageous looks also came from Miranda, I am not shy to say that her wardrobe is one of my favourites. She knew what suited her, and perfectly represented her no-bullshit persona through her outfits and masculine styling. I personally love androgynous-chic fashion, and like Miranda, I draw confidence from what I’m wearing when in a particular setting. Her work place double breasted blazers will always have a special place in my heart, just maybe not her hat-over-hood getup…
Over time we see Miranda’s taste develop into more feminine silhouettes, not coincidentally around the same time she lets go of her ‘man-hating’ personality as she softens into her relationships. She dives into deep V-necks, skirts, revealing tops and form fitting pieces. This contrast to her initial style indicates her character development over the series, Miranda has let go of her more conservative past and opened up to her feminine side as she takes on new challenges of motherhood and partnership. Whilst we still love Miranda, we mourn her power suits.
Charlotte York
We now move onto SATC’s sweetheart, Charlotte York. Whilst I sometimes struggle to keep up with Charlotte’s shifting morals and opinions, I LOVE her wardrobe. Charlotte knew how to style herself, and she looked good doing it! Considering archetypes, Charlotte came across as a Romantic and self-proclaimed Damsel. In constant need of male validation, Charlotte was often motivated by her need for human connection, devotion and intimacy. If she couldn’t find it with a man, she found it with her friends. Simultaneously, Charlotte was resourceful, courageous and the ultimate queen of manifestation.
Her hopeless romantic, all American, preppy personality was utilised in her wardrobe. Charlotte’s clothes are refined and graceful, full of traditional femininity and encapsulating a timeless arsenal of looks. She often indulged in designers that validated her identity such as Ralph Lauren and Prada, finished off with Tiffany & Co accessories. Her silhouettes were classy and feminine, featuring figure hugging dresses, 90s minimalist strapless looks and country club tennis attire. They all promoted a soft colour palette to enhance her timeless and feminine taste in clothing. Now and then Charlotte would play around with more sultry looks to express her sexuality, such as the stunning backless dress she wore to a friend’s wedding in Season 2 and the red sheer lingerie/nightgown in Season 3.
Over the series Charlotte’s style slightly develops along with the times. This is mirrored in her personality as she becomes less rigid and more accepting in personal affairs and ethics. As time progresses, it’s less often that Charlotte brings out a risqué look, and she settles into the preppy genre that she knows works for her, but nonetheless, she remains to be one of the most fashionable members of the group with her timeless collection of looks.
Samantha Jones
Last but certainly not least, let’s look at the wardrobe of the legendary Samantha. Unapologetically genuine, Samantha is the Rebel and Explorer of the group, and also sometimes the Mentor. She is our girl who challenges stereotypes and rejects conformity by going against the status quo. She is driven for adventure and new experiences (“I’m a trisexual, I’ll try anything once!”) and brings life into the series with her confident and striking ensembles.
Matching her personality to her style, Samantha consistently struts along the streets of Manhattan in a wardrobe full of self-assured, ambitious and unconventional outfits. Alongside Miranda, Samantha is a believer in the power suit. With a version in multiple bold colours, Samantha often exhibits a suit silhouette in her workplace or when out for food with the girls. Known to be the character exuding confidence everywhere she goes, Samantha displays femme fatale styles with usage of animal print and tight, figure hugging and revealing garments. Her core colour palette often includes shades of red and purple along with other vibrant colours and eye-catching patterns. She is also one of two girls, accompanied by Miss Bradshaw, who isn’t afraid about playing around with texture in her looks! From a fur coat to metallic belt chain, Samantha exudes her maximalist personality through her styling.
By the end of the show, Samantha’s confidence in clothing hasn’t budged, she is just as unconventional and playful as ever, if anything experimenting with more colour and bolder silhouettes as we entered later series nearer the 2010s. Connecting this to her personal identity and character development in the show, Samantha develops some emotional vulnerability as she enters a long-term relationship with Smith and experiences personal health struggles. This only proceeds to fortify her strength shown through her fashion and communication in her relationships.
To summarise the connections to the fashion in SATC and the development of character identities, its easy to assimilate each persona to their taste in fashion. We can identify a character’s nature through their unique styling and analyse their journey through connotations of particular pieces.
SATC truly mastered the costume goal of identifying character through silhouette, and has given the viewer an opportunity to channel the traits of each beloved character through the means of fashion! Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte and Samantha truly all have wonderful sense of style and *almost* always provide stunning looks that steal a scene.
On a side note, I have a group outfit theory which I’d love to see if anyone else agrees with; if one character looks stunning, the other always has on a questionable outfit to balance it out, and if it’s all the girls together, there’s always one sticking out in something that just doesn’t look quite right…
And just like that…I’m going to re-watch it again!
