7 Ways Sex and the City Shaped Us ...

Though it may look like Sex and the City was all about men, sex and shoes, the real reason we loved it so much was for the friendships on the show. Each woman was completely unique in their own way, much like our friends are in real life. They each brought something different to the table and were able to stand alone while remaining uniting. We learned that having fights and making up was normal and that forgiveness was imperative and that pooping your pants was something to point and laugh at.

I have one thing to say to you… Mr. Big and Carrie. Though this may not have been the perfect relationship, it let us recognize in our relationships with our own Mr. Big - and we’ve all had a Mr. Big at one time in our lives - the course of love does not always run smoothly. The push pull between Big and Carrie obviously wasn’t good at times but it kept the relationship at a sizzle. While I’m still a little meh on the way the show ended with their love affair, it was never the less, one of the most relatable relationships for some of us on air.

While I’m not a shoe girl myself I definitely became schooled in designer shoe knowledge and am forever tainted to love a great Jimmy Choo stiletto. The image of Carrie running down the street in bright red patent leather stilettos while chasing Aiden’s dog will forever be burned into my brain as one of the bravest things any women has ever done - in heels. Ouch!

Besides learning about shoes, we learned about fashion and what fashion should be. Thanks to designer genius Patricia Fields, who has since gone on to design for huge shows and movies (you’ll recognize her style by a flash of neon and leopard print) she taught us how to put stripes and plaid together, how to pair vintage Channel with Forever 21 faux gold hoop earrings and how to choose the right fanny pack and still look cool. Carrie wore one for a couple of episodes in Aiden’s season. Because of her, I still continue to always wear a black bra under a white top to add a little edge.

I still refer to some of Carrie’s looks, along with the rest of the girls, for makeup inspiration. Give me some dewy skin and some cream blush on the cheeks and lips and I’m good to go. Their makeup team knew how to create realistic makeup for four completely different women that looked believable.

I think one of the underlying ideas on the show was that each woman was to show us how to have it all. While their lives definitely were charmed (no one can live in New York with that kind of wardrobe as a freelance writer, Carrie!) they showed us what it could look like and gave us something to aspire to. Even if we’re not all gracing the streets of Manhattan in Prada, we’re working to get to our goals, fashion related or not, just the same.

The producer of Sex and the City has said that New York City was actually the fifth main character on the show along with the girls. When watching the show if you had never been to New York you now felt transported to it. You learned what restaurants were trendy, what seasons looked like (for all of you who live in Los Angeles where we don’t have seasons), but mainly you learned about the energy that this city has and why these four women loved it so much. It made them who they were on the show and it made us love them even more because of it.

Sex and the City will forever be one of my favorites, if not my favorite show, ever created. Just like I know it is for so many of you who watched in through out the years. I always love hearing from someone who’s just started watching it for the first time and how even all of these years later it resonates with them today. How did Sex and the City shape your life? Leave a comment below!