Serious Trivia

As I was driving my delightful new car to work this morning (I have free parking close to town for the next 2 wks = bus-free bliss), my happy mood was somewhat jolted by a ridiculous conversation on morning radio (I hate morning radio more than pumpkin - it is such drivel, so dull and so freakin dumbed down it makes me made. The sooner I get an iPod jack, the better) about how much bullshit Sex and the City is. These conversations are so redundant! If they would bother to listen to the producers, writers, actors and fashion stylists for the show, they would hear the words "the fantasy" repeated over and over. This is the joy of SATC - it's a beautiful escape for us to run away to: where our friendships are perfect and not marred by drama, where the wardrobes are insanely designer, the cocktails are free-flowing (and somehow they don't get you stumbling drunk), and you live in a gorgeous apartment in New York city. I mean for heaven's sake - this is not being peddled as reality! So, as an act of rebellion, I am giving you a little bit of trivia re SATC: 2, and I will pretend that all of this information is life or death information that must be memorised as it may assist in the event of apocalyptical upheavals.

The Newspaper Gets Re-Read
Look familiar? Well, it is.

As Patricia Field, stylist for pretty much everything SATC-related, notes:
"The newspaper dress! Carrie’s worn this before, of course, in season three when she was going to apologize to Natasha for sleeping with Big. It was intentional on my part; the choice of the newspaper dress was motivated by the plot. It was a very iconic dress from the series. It’s not something I generally do, but sometimes — like in the last movie, I dug out her old fur coat. It was New Year’s Eve, Carrie was alone, Miranda was alone, so she grabbed her coat and went to Miranda’s house. The Dior dress is more directly plot related, and this Dior connection goes even deeper. The first season, the last outfit of the last episode, when she was in front of the Plaza and she realized that Big was gone, going with Natasha, she wore a white Dior dress. That was the first time that I used Dior, and when she goes to apologize to Natasha, there’s that underlying thing that there’s Dior there. There’s something symbolic about that brand."

That is so deep.

Like Other Films, Some Scenes - And Outfits - Get Cut
This outfit ended up on the cutting room floor. Sad. I like it.

No Amount Is Too Much (fantasy, remember?)
Carrie's outfit in this scene cost $50,000. If morning radio thinks that women viewers actually think people wear $50,000 worth of threads to sing karaoke, they need their heads read! Lighten up! Nay-sayers, you bug me today.

They Are As Respectful of Other Cultures As Fashion Will Allow
See?

Patricia Field weighs in:
"Here they’re arriving in the Middle East. Once we got there, I went crazy with headwear, because it’s a requirement of the area. Of course, I did it in my own way, as you can see. Usually in cinema they hate headwear; the lighting, the camera, the shadows, and we’re always fighting for the right to use it, so this was delivered to me on a silver platter. Charlotte uses a classic sun hat, with a big brim, which is very Charlotte. The secret is that I wanted her to wear a different scarf in that, but she felt that Charlotte wouldn’t do that, so she won the argument. It was red and white, that Palestinian pattern that comes in checkered black and white. It’s become as run-of-the-mill as leopard print, but she thought that Charlotte, being married to a Jew, wouldn’t wear that. So in the end she wore a simple white one. Carrie’s wearing this Halston piece — it was a bit daring because it covered one shoulder but showed the other, so it was my compromise. Samantha’s wearing these sequin pants from Ralph Lauren, like a cargo type of pant, like a harem pant. It was Samantha’s way of dressing Arabian."

I love that the actresses got a say in their outfits.

Cultural Sensitivities Will Not Prevent the Sipping of Champagne
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"This is in the Middle Eastern desert in a tent. In the course of this desert jaunt that they do, they have three changes, which is really funny. This, to me, is giving you Sex and the City: the hysterical. Miranda’s dress is gorgeous, by the way — that dress is an antique. When I first met Cynthia Nixon at the beginning of the series, she said to me, 'Pat, you're the expert, I'm not into fashion, just dress me, I trust you.' That was a compliment, but in a way it posed a problem, because anyone with any opinions gave them, and Miranda’s style became a muddle. But after the series was over, Cynthia's lifestyle took an abrupt, personal change, and I think it really impacted her. A few months before we started to prep for the first movie, I saw a small picture of her in a magazine, and she looked so gorgeous. She had let her hair grow, and that picture gave me all the inspiration for the Miranda of the movies. She looked 100 percent better."

See, morning radio morons? The hysterical. Gracious me.

Even Though We Know It's Not Real, It's Nice to Dream
I'm pretty sure most women would love to own this Halston dress. The image has been plastered everywhere.