If there’s two things that “Sex and the City” endlessly immersed viewers in (besides sex), it’s undoubtedly fashion and friendship. Within the sartorial sphere of the show, few items held space in Carrie Bradshaw‘s heart quite like a pair of beautiful new shoes — and few of her most famous style moments were complete without Miranda, Samantha and Charlotte close by.
On its 20-year anniversary, take a walk down memory lane and reflect on five of the show’s best lessons on shoes and sisterhood.
Falling down happens, but getting back up is what matters most. Good friends will help see you through it all.
Can anyone forget that cringeworthy scene in season 4, episode 2 when Carrie made her catwalk debut only to clumsily trip and fall? It’s unlikely. To make matters worse, supermodel Heidi Klum stepped right over her like she was “fashion roadkill” (as detailed by Carrie’s GBF Stanford). But after a reassuring exchange with Samantha and a right-foot stiletto in hand, the shoe aficionado finished gracefully.
In the words of Carrie:
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“I had a choice. I could leave the runway and let my inner model die of shame or I could pick myself up, flaws and all, and finish. And that’s just what I did. When real people fall down in life, they get right back up and keep on walking.”
Never let your Manolos (or other favorite shoes) out of sight at a house party (even your close friend’s).
Remember that time Carrie had to take off her precious Manolo Blahniks at her friend’s party, and by the end of the night, they were stolen? How painful. Not only did she never find the culprit (or her beloved heels) but her friend shoe-shamed her in the process for the Manolos’ $485 price tag. It just goes to show that in “public” settings, especially in New York, certain valuables should never be left alone. Plus, if they can fit in your bag, just squeeze them in there to save the anxiety. If they can’t fit, wearing a less coveted pair of shoes to a party is always a safer option.
Then again, if the shoes make the outfit, you can always try a page out of Carrie’s book and register yourself at Manolo Blahnik. She finally managed to get her shoes replaced from her friend that way, at least.
Shoes are good. But having a group of girlfriends to wear them out with (or help give birth in) is better.
“Hello, lover!” Carrie exclaimed this instantly quotable line to a pair of hot-pink Christian Louboutin heels that caught her eye from a boutique window. Naturally, she just had to have them, and for her big date with Mr. Big before he left New York, no less. Never did she expect that they would end up drenched when Miranda’s water broke all over them, turning what Cardi B would deem “bloody shoes” into “birthing shoes.” Still, Carrie remained a trooper and slowly but surely brushed off the incident in order to support her friend. After all, Louboutins are great, but if you don’t have friends around to convince you to buy them, does it really matter?
The perfect wedding needs the perfect heels — especially for running in if your groom is a no-show. But your friends will still carry you back to the limo when it’s time to cry.
Out of all of Mr. Big’s prickish ways, he really outdid himself with this one. Leaving Carrie Bradshaw at the altar? Enough said.
At the end of the day, shoes and clothes are just material things. But a good (and financially fruitful) friend will bail you out nonetheless.
Somehow, Carrie was surprised to learn that the $400+ that she’d spent on each of approximately 100 pairs of shoes over the years would have equaled the $40,000 down payment needed to secure her apartment. “I will literally be the old woman who lived in her shoes,” she said. Luckily for Carrie, art dealer Charlotte swooped in with a loan, but for the rest of us, that lack such beneficial friends? It’s OK to simply admire the shoes from afar every now and then. Your livelihood just may depend on it.
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