Fashion has always been at the heart of the Sex and the City franchise—from the six seasons of the beloved show to the divisive films and the even more divisive spin-off, And Just Like That—so it should come as no surprise that the second installment of the latter had fans obsessively dissecting the wildest looks worn by Carrie and co. as soon as cameras started rolling…and long before the reboot returned to screens.
There was hysteria over the return of Aidan (and his comparatively polished new look); speculation that Carrie, who was seen wearing a plaid shirt and corduroy jacket in one scene, was borrowing from the wardrobe of her on-again-off-again love interest; outrage over her latest purchase (an eerily realistic-looking pigeon clutch by JW Anderson); confusion over images of her re-wearing her iconic Vivienne Westwood wedding dress; and pandemonium when it emerged that Kim Cattrall would in fact be returning for a cameo as Samantha, for which she’d be dressed by the series’s legendary original costume designer, Patricia Field.
Watching gleefully from afar as the internet frenzy continued were Molly Rogers and Danny Santiago, the costuming duo behind And Just Like That. Having acted as co-designers on both Sex and the City films—and in Rogers’s case, having also worked with Field on the original show—both were unfazed, and well practiced when it came to teasing viewers with glimpses of show-stopping looks while also keeping them guessing.
Now, as the show’s second season continues to air, the pair answer all of our burning questions about Carrie’s increasingly outlandish accessories, Aidan’s glow-up, Miranda’s transformation into a beach-cleaning, sensory-deprivation-tank-using Californian, and the viral vintage piece they wish had made it into the series.
Vogue: Firstly, tell me about those Met Gala looks. Was Carrie always going to rewear her wedding dress?
Danny Santiago: Yes! It was scripted, actually. Michael Patrick King had written that in the script when we first read it, so we knew we had to get that. We reached out to Vivienne Westwood to see what condition the dress was in and, you know, if it was still around and where it’d been [laughs]. It had been quite some time since we had it. It took a little time to hear back but then they finally said yes. They had to pull it out and see what condition it was in—they needed to repair it a little and then they sent it along.
Molly Rogers: We had to get the blue bird again, which is very fragile. It’s 100 years old. There’s a vintage dealer who had that, who we got it from originally and, luckily, she’s been saving it so we got that back. She won’t sell it—not even to Sarah Jessica. And then when it came to the other looks—Charlotte’s equestrian look was scripted, too. And for Lisa Todd Wexley’s outfit, we went straight to Valentino because we knew she’d be crossing Park Avenue and so she needed something red and dramatic to stop traffic, and you just can’t top Valentino red.
DS: Then with Seema, we found a Balmain dress that was a runway show piece from a couple seasons ago at the Balmain outlet in Sawgrass Mills in Florida. That was a surprise. We then reached out to Balmain, and they sent us the actual runway piece.
MR: It was such a great Seema color—that palette of browns and bronzes. And then we added the hood and that beautiful Lisa Eisner amethyst necklace. It’s just gorgeous.
Speaking of great accessories, we see Carrie with lots of incredible pieces this season, from the JW Anderson pigeon clutch to the Loewe balloon sandals. Which have been your favorites, and what else can we look forward to seeing?
DS: That was such a fun shoe, the balloon one—Molly pulled that. The great thing about it is that it’s something that you wouldn’t think that Carrie would have necessarily shopped for herself. But, maybe the salesperson convinced her to take it, just to try it on and see? Or maybe she questioned it herself and thought, Can I wear that? Where would I wear that to? Because you already kind of know what a Carrie shoe is, so we wanted to throw something new in there just to make it feel different. And the way that it was filmed was great because she’s on the phone and wondering, Is this something I like or not?
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MR: And for me, I feel like I’m going deep into a rabbit hole with jewelry this season. I’ve been pointing out pieces on Instagram—there’s this ring Carrie wears when they’re having lunch that you don’t really see, and I posted about that. We’ve worked so hard to borrow these pieces from Fred Leighton or Lisa Eisner or whoever, and we want to draw attention to them. We love the audience of And Just Like That, though, because they look very closely and they usually see just about everything.
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We also see her Carrie necklace, of course. How many more pieces and looks from the original series can we expect to see?
DS: We brought back some accessories—you’ll see some familiar shoes, and that studded “Roger” belt which we used last season also makes a comeback. We definitely don’t want to overuse things like that, but it’s nice to bring them back for the fans. And there will always, of course, be those pieces that Carrie loves that hang in her closet which she’ll pull out from time to time.
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MR: They’re such treasures. And you don’t want to just hang those pieces in the closet as eye candy that you just see a little sliver of—you want them to be precious and valued, and there has to be a scene that’s perfect for it. Like, “Oh, this Versace gown would be great for when she’s eating popcorn.”
I also need to ask you about the Californification of Miranda—she’s wearing bucket hats and all this color. What’s going on with her this season?
MR: She’s searching, you know? She started with a different hair color in Season 1. Now, she’s looking for her identity, for her true self, and to feel more comfortable in her skin. She’s searching sexually, too. There’s a lot of things happening within her story arc. And, I mean, Pat has put Cynthia in bucket hats before [laughs]. I feel like that’s a real Pat move—she loves a bucket hat. And I don’t know, it just felt right for that scene out on the beach.
DS: With a cowboy boot out on the beach [laughs].
And with Charlotte, she seems to be a heightened version of herself. How do her clothes reflect her arc?
DS: She’s always our uptown girl—she has this very prim and proper look to her in the way that she dresses and in her styling. One thing we had a lot of fun with was, in the kitchen scene, doing that Burberry apron she wears with the printed shoe and that whole look. That was actually a Burberry skirt and we transformed it into an apron, because I don’t think Burberry makes aprons [laughs].
MR: Overall, I’d say, Charlotte’s also going to go through a big change this season. I don’t want to spoil anything, but she is similarly searching, changing, and trying to figure out her life.
And we know that Pat came back to style Samantha for her cameo. What can you tell us about that look?
DS: You just have to wait and see. There’s not much that we can say yet, but I will say that it’s Samantha, so you never know—she might just be in a bathtub [laughs].
And Aidan is back this season, too. From the stills we’ve seen him in, though, it looks like he’s come a long way from his turquoise ring days. Talk to me about his style evolution.
MR: Well, it’s funny because he [John Corbett] came into our room and said, “I’ve [as Aidan] been successful in life.” So, he wanted to look relaxed, cozy, and comfortable, but of course he’s a little more elevated than he was when he was younger.
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DS: He actually brought us the idea of this Belstaff jacket that you’ve been seeing him wear, and it worked with what we were thinking in terms of him having this sort of like… a little bit of an elevated, luxury look? And there’s something cool about that jacket on him and the way he wears it. That sort of tailoring works really well with his physique.
MR: He’s a bit stealthy, when everyone else on this show is bonkers, clothing-wise—or heightened, at least.
And is there any truth to the idea that Carrie is influenced by his style or borrowing from his wardrobe?
DS: I don’t think so. Carrie dresses for herself; she doesn’t really dress for other people. She feels good in what she puts together, and I don’t think she’s looking to impress anyone else.
MR: Hmm… yeah, I almost said a spoiler [laughs].
I’m excited to see where that plotline goes. For Carrie or the other characters, was there one look that was the trickiest to pull off for you both this season?
MR: The gown that didn’t make it to the Met Ball, made for Carrie by the young designer, for sure. That could have been so many things, and we had so many things in the room for that scene. At one point, we were going to combine these two cream wedding dresses and make that into something. But then it just started becoming more focused on the color of the bird on her head. Also, a concern for Michael Patrick King was that it needed to be, like…unwearable. Otherwise, she would have just thrown the cape over it and gone, you know? It had to have real issues, and that took a long time to figure out.
DS: We ran through lots of different ideas. Michael Patrick King came into the office and said he wanted to see Carrie with her arms up in the air, to show that there was just no way this thing was ever going to fit her. But at the same time, Smoke is a designer whose clothes Carrie is really excited to wear, and you see her skills in that cape. It’s gorgeous.
The level of detail in that final Met Ball look is extraordinary. Throughout the show so far, are there any tiny details you wish more viewers had noticed?
MR: Well, on that look specifically, Smoke was wearing this pin cushion on her arm while trying to fix this unfixable gown, and we put that on Carrie’s wrist like a bracelet as she leaves the apartment. You can see it as she comes down the stoop. We looked for them online and found these beautiful ones from Japan. That’s something I don’t think many people noticed.
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What are your favorite looks from this season, including those we maybe haven’t seen yet?
DS: There’s a snow scene that’s coming up which is a favorite of mine, and there’s another girls’ lunch further down the line, and I love the outfits that everyone wore for that. There’s so much great stuff that’s still to come.
MR: There’s a big dinner party scene that has a lot of my favorite pieces in it. In this season, there are a lot more gatherings than last season, and you’ll see the girls together having lunch or dinner or going places, and you’ll see lots of different types of looks together.
And finally, are there any pieces that you really loved which didn’t make it into this season?
MR: Oh yeah, Danny’s heart is broken over this one thing that we just couldn’t get in.
DS: We could never place it [laughs]. It was a handbag—Yves Saint Laurent from the ’80s, and it’s in the shape of a straw boater hat. Then, there’s also an actual boater hat that’s attached to it, so you can take that off and wear it. It’s a hat on a hat, and it’s become this long-running joke in our office. It was the perfect thing, but there wasn’t a place for it.
MR: It’s so fabulous. I’m going to post a picture of it. Of course, Danny had to try it on [laughs]. It’s a head-turner, and it could’ve been a pigeon moment.
