“[Fashion is] another character to the show.”
On December 9, the Sex and the City reboot titled And Just Like That is releasing on HBO GO. With it being nearly a decade since SATC’s last installment, Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker), Miranda Hobbes (Cynthia Nixon), and Charlotte York (Kristin Davis) are back, minus Miranda Jones (Kim Cattrall).
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The show will revolve around the leading ladies, now in their 50s, as they navigate change and embrace a new stage in their lives. However, despite the group getting smaller on the show’s revival, in contrast, its fashion statements are going larger—but aligning with today.
To keep the wardrobe as exciting as it’s been since the show’s premiere in 1998, Molly Rogers and Danny Santiago serve as the reboot’s costume designers. Both designers have a long history with the show’s original series and movies—Rogers served as a co-costume designer alongside Patricia Field, while Santiago is returning after taking on the same post from films Sex and the City (2008) and Sex and the City 2 (2010).
Style development
“Sex and the City always kind of been something that the girls had a very specific look for and was created by Patricia [Field] and Molly [Rogers] for that time,” explains Santiago on merging the character’s original styles to the new stages in their lives. “So keeping in mind the style of what the girls wore and just bringing them up to a modern time is what we focused on. And it had a lot to do with designers we pulled in, making it more modern, more updated.”
He adds that the wardrobe team’s task to source pieces became more diversified as they found designers from across the globe through Instagram.
“For us, that’s really been the change. To have more access and bring more to the table than when the TV shows were around, they just didn’t have the volume of such a widespread amount of [fashion pieces] to bring in.”
In fact, some items served as “easter eggs,” as pieces from the original show are incorporated, thanks to Sarah Jessica Parker.
“We are so fortunate that Sarah Jessica archived a lot of pieces from the TV show and the movies as well. So when we first talked about it with her, she made it open to us to pull whatever we wanted to pull from her archive collection,” Santiago shares. “And we placed them in [particular] places—we wanted surprises for the fans to see.”
Given that beyond the romance troupes, comedic dialogue, and displaying the importance of friendship, fashion has served as the defining factor of the show.
Rogers shares that fashion has been the legacy of SATC, and if she let the pressure of that stuck her, it would have limited the wardrobe team and cast to its full potential.
Staying creative
“If we might have been judgemental or maybe timid to develop some of the ideas, but we really kept ourselves contained.,” Rogers reflects. “[So, we just let ourselves] be free to do what we liked and what the girls liked, and what we wanted to show.”
Santiago described that not limiting themselves meant being open to pieces everywhere—from low to high end and designer to vintage.
“So when we’re editing and putting things together, it’s really organic on how the pieces come together, we’re not purposely saying we’ve got to use this designer, we have to use this brand,” he adds. “We just really play. We just have so many things to choose from, and mixing it all is really where the fun and creativity comes from.” Santiago believes that “[fashion is] another character to the show.”
Behind the scenes
While the cast and crew were shooting in New York, paparazzi and anyone with a smartphone took photos and posted them on the internet. With this, many Instagram accounts sprouted to reveal characters’ looks before the series’ release.
“That was really difficult to come to terms with because for me, the moment they stepped out of the camper and were doing an exterior scene—it was burnt. It felt like within five minutes it was all over the internet,” Rogers says. She continues sharing that the “wonderful thing” about the original show was the element of mystery—you won’t see what Carrie’s wearing until it’s on television.
Despite the show’s wardrobe spoilers, Rogers and Santiago put up a joint Instagram account through @andjustlikethatcostumes. The costume designers share behind-the-scenes content without “giving anything away,” instead, they share experiences, and as the show advances, they’ll talk about interesting stories on finding pieces.
Ultimately, the styling for the show helps tell its story. Underneath all the luxury designer, vintage, and archived pieces, Roger aims to communicate that “life should be celebrated.”
“And life is truly about the friends that you have. So I hope that the clothes, subliminally, show hope,” Rogers says, which is more important than ever after going through a pandemic.
Filipinos can stream or download And Just Like That…, from December 9 or catch-up on all six seasons of Sex And The Cityas well as the two Sex And The City movies now availableon HBO GO. Subscribe to HBO GO online at http://www.hbogoasia.ph/ or the mobile app via the App Store or Play Store for as low as ₱99.70/month. Or access HBO GO via Cignal, Globe and Skycable. HBO GO is also available on Android TV, Apple TV, LG TV and Samsung Smart TV – and comes with AirPlay and Google Cast functionality.
Banner photo from @sarahjessicaparker on Instagram
