The SATC Carrie Flower Dress

Greetings everyone, and apologies for the long pause in posting - I was away for a bit and like many of you have been quite busy, but all the same I'd like to welcome you to this, my official Patricia Field / Sex and the City (SATC) 50 year-old fangirl post. Yeah, I turned 50 this past August. I didn't make a big deal about it, because really...who gives a s**t? With the exception of a particularly diva-like right hamstring, nothing has really changed all that much for me at 50, and while I thought about trying to do something with it for the blog, it felt kind of disingenuous to try and make some sort of celebratory event out of something that basically felt like any other Tuesday. I guess I don't really talk a lot about the age stuff on the blog any more because there are plenty of people doing it better than I would. I prefer to just stick with the sartorial inspo that brought us all here in the first place. Besides, If one sees a photo of a woman with a head full of silver floofy hair, it an be safely assumed she's not 25. No need to state the obvious.

Anyhoo, back to why we're here. I've been sitting on this SATC "Carrie" flower dress for quite a while now (not literally), nearly two years, to be exact, waiting for my moment. But I figured since the new SATC spinoff series is out now, the time was right to dust it off and take it for a spin. I readily admit, since the pandemic hit, I miss having an occasion to get dressed all fancy. Thankfully I have you guys to bounce this stuff off of, and of course the vintage clothing shop to run, so I do get my fix...but still.

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The SATC Carrie Flower Dress Origin Story

Back in 2008, inimitable stylist, clothing and costume designer Patricia Field did a Sex and the City inspired capsule collection in partnership with the British landmark department store Marks & Spencer. I did not know this at the time - I was busy completing graduate school in upstate New York and trying to fit my life into boxes so that I could move to Scotland, but years later when I eventually learned how I had missed out on it, being the fan that I am I was pretty bummed-out. Especially when I saw that she had done a black version of the original white Eugene Alexander big flower dress that Sarah Jessica Parker wore (and Whitney Houston before her in the 80s). To this day, I swear would consider trading one of my kidneys for that white dress, such is the extent of my lust.

Fast forward to about two years ago. I was fiddling about on Ebay, treasure hunting as I am inclined to do, and boom! There it was. The black SATC Carrie dress from the Patricia Field + M&S capsule collection - in my size! I can honestly say that pulling the trigger on that "buy it now" auction was the fastest I've ever moved in my life. I'm certain I set some sort of global speed record, the likes of which would make Usain Bolt hang his head in shame. And it was worth it, because I seriously love this dress, although sadly if you love it too it may be a bit hard to find by now. But you never know - keep your eyes peeled, because guys...seriously. This thing is lit.

SATC in a Post Me Too World

I make no apologies for my love of SATC. Sure, when you re-watch some of the older episodes, there are moments when it is a bit out of step with our modern sensibilities, but that can be said for most episodic television programs whose currency is pop culture. When I hear women maligning SATC from a feminist perspective, I always remind them to look back at what was on television at that time from a female role representation perspective. When SATC started in 1998, the TV industry was only just starting to pull itself out from under the ""older sitcom dad with a hot younger wife" days. Hell - it still has one foot firmly planted in that sinkhole. Granted, there were also a fair amount of "teenaged" shows at the time, like Dawsons Creek and Charmed, but it was really just the beginning of the evolution of our era of TV into what we know in 2021. While we're on the subject, I will say that Will & Grace is another show of that time that certainly should get a shout out for representation, but I digress. Looking specifically at the representation of women in TV, in the Y2K era, female-centric TV ensemble casts were only still emerging from the Lifetime TV for Women days when the industry thought anything written about women needed to be either about some type of victimhood, or...if they were really pushing the boat out, a "crazy lady" storyline where a female rival is trying to insert herself into another woman's life and steal her man/baby/identity. You know, fighting over a man. That old nugget.

But, at the end of the day, if you're not a fan, hey - we're all different. But if you're here, you probably like clothes. We all will have that in common, so even if you're not a fan of the show, seriously...turn the sound off if you must and enjoy the clothes! So many iconic looks - so many things I'm still trying to reproduce, even all these years later. Sometimes, ya just gotta let your fangirl freak flag fly! Sorry not sorry.

Patricia Fields + M&S dress (2008) | Donald J. Pliner shoes (2010) | pebbled leather gold clutch from my Etsy shop | see below for similar pieces to create the look