Carrie's Best Looks Ever (part 1 - The top Ten)

Carrie Bradshaw changed the game of fashion: She made tutus work in Times Square and put Manolo Blahnik on the map. To celebrate the arrival of the much-anticipated sequel, we sat down with series' costume designers Patricia Field, Rebecca Weinberg and Eric Daman—to compile a list of Ms. Bradshaw’s greatest hits.

1. The Famous Tutu!

Field set the tone for Carrie’s always-unexpected style when she opted for a tutu and tank look she described as “quirky” for the series’ opening credits. “I remember I bought that tutu for $5!” said Weinberg. “[Our seamstress] had to duplicate it because we knew in the sequence it was going to get wet.” We saw the famed tutu again in the first film when Carrie did a closet clean out with the help of her best friends before she moved in with Big. The girls’ unanimous vote? A must-keep!

2. Pat Field’s All-Time Favorite

Asked to identify her favorite piece, Field didn’t hesitate to name the drop-dead gorgeous Versace gown Carrie wore while waiting (and waiting) for Petrovsky on her first night in Paris, towards the end of season 6. “It took you out of reality,” she said. Rubenstein agreed: “It’s acres and acres of tulle and chiffon, in this darkly romantic color—the perfect dress to be dumped in. There’s nothing more woeful than seeing a beautiful woman all dressed up with nowhere to go.”

3. The “He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not” Dress

“That was a moment in the show where it was like, ‘It’s happening or it’s not happening; he loves her or he doesn’t,’” Weinberg said of the time Carrie memorably fell into the lake with Big in Season 3 wearing this Richard Tyler dress. “Richard made two of those dresses for us in less than two weeks time!” She paired it with a Louis Vuitton handbag and vintage shoes. “Those clear vintage shoes were so beautiful with little rhinestones pressed into the plastic, and that bag was a total church lady bag!”

4. The “Carrie” Necklace

“One day my car broke down so I had to take the train and I saw all these great Italian girls with their nameplate necklaces,” said Weinberg of the inspiration behind the iconic necklace. “For Christmas I went down to Canal Street and made Pat one that said 'Patricia' that she just loved. So then I went down and made SJP’s there too!” Leave it to Carrie to pair such a downtown accessory with the most uptown of dresses. “I remember that beautiful vintage dress. It was from the ‘50s. I want to say it came from Twice in Miami,” Weinberg recalled. “Pat and I would spend a lot of time in Miami. We’d get in her Oldsmobile and drive around to all our favorite vintage and thrift stores.”

5. The High and Low Mix

"This is a fun combination of high and low," Rubenstein said, referring to Carrie’s season 5 ensemble, which included a sweater from mall staple Club Monaco, a dress by department store favorite Nanette Lepore and a Chanel jacket. Added Weinberg: "I love the color!"

6. The Newsworthy Dress

Field didn’t mind revealing that Carrie will revisit past favorites, like this John Galliano for Christian Dior newsprint dress, in the new movie. “There’s a reason for it,” she hinted. “She has an experience that merits re-wearing it.” Is the original context—she donned this dress in season 3, when she apologized to Natasha for her affair with Big—a clue?

7. The Fresh-Off-The-Runway Vest

By the time Carrie was preparing to marry Mr. Big in the first movie, she (and the SATC costume designers) had no trouble securing super-current styles, like the Proenza Schouler military vest and studded strappy sandals from their Spring 2008 collection. “Everyone wanted their clothes on the show,” Weinberg said. “Boxes and boxes would arrive daily.”

8. Carrie’s Signature Flower

“There isn’t anyone more synonymous with Paris than Sonia Rykiel. [Carrie’s] in Paris, so she’s wearing a classic Parisian knitwear designer," said Rubenstein of Carrie’s all-striped ensemble in Season 6. "I wouldn’t love this in N.Y.C., but it’s so right for the scene. What could make more sense than being in the city of love with your love, wearing things that are soft and romantic—and with an interpretation of her signature flower, of course!”

9. Carrie’s Parisian Stripes

“There isn’t anyone more synonymous with Paris than Sonia Rykiel. [Carrie’s] in Paris, so she’s wearing a classic Parisian knitwear designer," said Rubenstein of Carrie’s all-striped ensemble in Season 6. "I wouldn’t love this in N.Y.C., but it’s so right for the scene. What could make more sense than being in the city of love with your love, wearing things that are soft and romantic—and with an interpretation of her signature flower, of course!”

10. Carrie’s “Goodbye to Big” Louboutins

The ruffled, rose Louboutins that Carrie chose for her goodbye to Big at the end of season 4 were only one pair in a long line of truly stunning stilettos (good thing, too, as they were wrecked when Miranda’s water broke all over them). Carrie spent, by her own reckoning, tens of thousands of dollars on shoes over the course of the series, but Weinberg insisted that it was writer/director Michael Patrick King who turned many a shoe designer into household names. “He was the one who said, ‘Let’s talk about Manolo.'”

To be continue ...
source: http://www.instyle.com