Fashion's starring role

Over the top? Sometimes. But 'Sex and the City' gave women a new lease on style.

(AP Photo/Craig Blankenhorn, New Line Cinema)

Women would not necessarily take relationship advice or dating tips from "Sex and the City" heroine Carrie Bradshaw - and that would probably be a wise move - but over the past 10 years the character has been acting as another kind of mentor for the masses: fashion icon.

Since the show premiered on HBO at the height of the dot-com boom, "Sex and the City" has exposed American women to an unprecedented level of luxury couture. It's difficult to recall now, but there was a time in the mid-1990s when Manolo Blahnik and Jimmy Choo were not household names and a grown woman sporting a tutu or a giant flower blossom on the streets of Manhattan would be considered as emotionally stable as Britney Spears. But it's not only the brands that matter both in the series and the new film. "Sex" costume designer Patricia Field helped to teach American women not to be afraid of innovation.

"What was very funny is that you'd see people all over New York City dressing like they just came out of an episode of 'Sex and the City' at the height of the show's popularity," says Glamour executive fashion editor at large Suze Yalof Schwartz. "Even right now on Facebook, you can play a game that tells you if you're Carrie, Samantha, Miranda, or Charlotte based on wardrobe choices."

Look no further than a preview screening of "Sex" in Boston Tuesday night for proof of the series' sartorial power over women. Scattered throughout the rain-soaked crowd were ladies who made sure they were dressed in their "SATC" best.

"I'm wearing my Jimmy Choos especially for the movie tonight," said a very excited Elaine Warner of Somerville. "I completely relate to Carrie, and I love the way that she dresses, so I've definitely taken some cues from her style."

Fashion is the unspoken costar of the new movie. In the opening scene, Parker talks about women coming to New York in search of "labels and love," and Field takes her cues from that quest. Parker's character has 81 costume changes in the film, and the four stars have a combined 300 wardrobe changes. At times, it is a Dionysian orgy of dresses, blouses, and, of course, stilettos.

"When you think about it, this movie is really the Super Bowl for women," says Mary Alice Stephenson, celebrity stylist and contributing fashion editor at Harper's Bazaar. "There has been so much anticipation, and much of that anticipation revolves around the fashion. This was fashion's calling card to the masses. Before 'Sex and the City,' the only way that women got to see this level of fashion was pictures of runway shows or red carpet events."

In addition to bringing a new awareness of high-end designers to American women, the show also taught those same women how to wear the clothes.

"The series was liberating in the way that it showed women that not everyone has to wear the same look, or the same designer," says Pamela Parmal, curator of textile and fashion arts at the Museum of Fine Arts. "It was suddenly OK to be mixing new and vintage, or low-end and high-end designers."

"Sex and the City" also told women that it was OK to get dressed up for the most mundane moments in life.

"In the tech age, people work from home in sweats and anything else that's comfortable," says Sondra Grace, professor of fashion design at Massachusetts College of Art and Design. "None of that happens on 'Sex and the City.' Even when they're at home, they're dressed up. They go to bed in the best bras. That's an important message. It's saying that you can really enjoy clothes. There's nothing wrong with being over the top."