The enduring appeal of the ‘Sex and the City’ tutu

A tutu worn by Sarah Jessica Parker within the hit HBO TV collection Intercourse and the Metropolis has offered at public sale for $52,000 — over 4 instances greater than anticipated.

Made out of layers of white tulle and a satin waistband, the tutu turned well-known after Parker wore it with a pink tank prime and strappy heels within the opening credit for the present, which initially ran from 1998 to 2004.

The public sale home Julien’s Auctions had anticipated the ethereal ballet skirt would fetch simply $12,000. The sale this month got here as a part of the public sale home’s Unstoppable: Signature Types of Iconic Ladies in Vogue Hits the Public sale Runway sale.

Within the Intercourse and the Metropolis opening sequence, the digicam pulls again to disclose the skirt simply as a bus splashes Parker’s character, girl-about-town Carrie Bradshaw, with puddle water. “It was so good for that pie-in-the-face,” Parker mentioned in a 2018 interview for Folks of the distinction between the picture-pretty pastel outfit and the sudden, embarrassing dousing of its beforehand happy-go-lucky wearer.

In line with the auctioneer’s web site, costume designer Patricia Subject discovered the skirt within the $5 bin in a New York Garment District retailer.

“Parker’s character was initially going to put on a spring 1998 Marc Jacobs runway costume within the opening credit, however Subject wished to fashion her in one thing that wasn’t particular to the time so it would not date fashion-wise. She confirmed the skirt to Parker who cherished the thought,” the web site mentioned.

“We talked quite a bit about what this needs to be — thrilled that was the choice we made,” Parker mentioned within the Folks interview. “I’d by no means put on it myself personally. Nevertheless it’s spot on.”

The tutu did not fetch almost as a lot cash as different outfits introduced on the public sale. A black velvet Catherine Walker cocktail costume worn by Princess Diana and Princess Grace’s 1961 Givenchy ensemble worn to the White Home to fulfill President John F. Kennedy each offered for $325,000.

But Intercourse and the Metropolis was identified for its fashions, making 20-somethings absolutely conversant within the language of Manolo Blahnik, Prada and Fendi. And like most of the outfits Parker wore on the present, the tutu has gone on to develop fairly an afterlife.

“Whereas Sarah Jessica Parker had her handful of iconic outfits whereas taking part in Carrie Bradshaw throughout Intercourse and the Metropolis (learn: Manolo Blahnik pumps, newspaper clothes, purple Fendi baguette luggage), her primary, unforgettable, quintessential look was undoubtably her tiered white tulle skirt,” wrote Samantha Holender in an article concerning the present’s fashions for Us.

Articles have chronicled the in-depth historical past of the tutu, whereas it is impressed the runway tendencies of main trend homes.

“After utilizing it typically at Valentino, Maria Grazia Chiuri introduced tulle again in a giant means in her first assortment for Dior – and the frocks went on to be worn by a few of the world’s most well-known red-carpet stars, together with Jennifer Lawrence and Bella Hadid,” wrote Harper’s Bazaar’s Amy de Klerk in a 2018 article about Intercourse and the Metropolis’s key types.

Knock-off variations of the skirt — in addition to outfits impressed by it — might be present in abundance on clothes web sites for costs starting from lower than $100 to greater than $2,000. Replicas have been auctioned off for charity. And the tutu has additionally outfitted drag queens and myriad Halloween costumes.

The skirt reappeared within the 2008 Intercourse and the Metropolis film — when Bradshaw pulled the merchandise from her closet and determined to not throw it out — in addition to within the 2021 TV present reboot, And Simply Like That, albeit in an extended, billowier model.

Parker reinvented the fashion in black as a part of her debut LBD (Little Black Costume) trend assortment in 2016. And she or he donned a Carolina Herrera tutu costume value greater than $4,000 to a efficiency final yr on the New York Metropolis Ballet.

“She channeled her internal Carrie Bradshaw,” wrote Ruby McAuliffe in InStyle of Parker’s look that evening.