Field returned to Sex and the City with many of her same staff

On the heels of a failed marriage, Charlotte had an unlikely flirtation with her uncouth yet decent divorce lawyer Harry Goldenblatt, which developed into something more. Evan Handler returns in the role of Harry, who King describes as “the opposite of the preppy dream. Evan is so important because Harry to me had to be literally all heart, and all acceptance. He’s like a peasant king, an easygoing, supportive husband.

Handler also describes Harry as someone with “not all the social graces that Charlotte York was used to,” but was “someone whose spirit and soul she couldn’t resist.”

Meanwhile, Kim Cattrall’s Samantha Jones took great pride in her liberated attitude toward sex, bedding as many men as suited her. However, she is now in a monogamous committed relationship with Smith Jerrod, played by Jason Lewis.

According Lewis, Smith accepts Samantha for who she is. “What defines him is his openness, his willingness to accept somebody for who they are without judgment.” Smith’s devotion to Samantha was tireless; their sex life was robust, but he also cared for her during her bout with cancer.

Another man in the girls’ lives is Anthony Marentino, played by Mario Cantone, who originally joined the Sex and the City family as Charlotte’s wedding planner. Cantone, who has known Michael Patrick King ever since they both performed as stand-ups at the Improv in the 1980s, credits Sex and the City for dealing with sexual mores in a new and groundbreaking way. “It was never like, ‘oh, he’s gay,’ or ‘she likes to have sex with a lot of men,’ or ‘she’s kind of prudish and neurotic.’ It was all just accepted and presented to the audience so you see it clearly and without judgment. And on top of that, it’s hilarious. You can break through things that are taboo with humor.”

One man who has been constantly at Carrie’s side is Stanford Blatch, a gay talent agent played by Willie Garson. Full of his own romantic dramas with men and offering support as Carrie experiences hers, Stanford is perhaps most memorable for his sartorial style, which includes pointy shoes, shiny suits and bow ties. “Stanford, as a character, was very much created by (costume designer) Pat Field,” says Garson. “It’s the only character where she had carte blanche, whatever she wanted to do. So Pat’s a big personality, Stanford is a big personality.”

“Just your typical day. Breakfast with Balenciaga. Mid-morning coffee with Vivienne Westwood. Lunch with Lacroix…and de la Renta. And for dessert – Karl Lagerfeld” -- Carrie Bradshaw

While the stories of Carrie and her friends’ lives kept audiences laughing and in love with Sex and the City, the characters’ unique sense of style also kept viewers tuning in week after week to have their eyes dazzled by the girls’ wardrobe, as created by costume designer Patricia Field. Throughout the show’s six year run, the downtown fashion icon dressed Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte, and Miranda in everything from designer couture to thrift store finds – always in something unexpected, fresh and sometimes even outrageous.

“Pat Field is indispensable,” states Sarah Jessica Parker. “We could not continue to tell the story without her, period. Her ideas, the breaking of the rules, is infectious.”

“Pat Field is an artist,” says Michael Patrick King. “She’s also incredibly fun to work with because she’s impulsive and collaborative.”

Field returned to Sex and the City with many of her same staff, including co-designer Molly Rogers. “When you work with a crew for so many years, it’s family,” says Field. “So it was great getting back together again.”

However, Field was aware that designing the wardrobe for such familiar characters, celebrated for their style, would not be an easy task. “I had to come up with some kind of action, by which I could follow some philosophy about the movie,” she explains. “And basically, the time that I was concerned about was this four year gap. I think Michael Patrick trusted me to do what was right. And for me, it just had to be intelligent, it had to have a reason. There had to be a logic behind the way they looked, because those girls are a part of everyone’s living room, and they will check it out, detail for detail. So there has to be a real truth there.”

To begin, Field envisioned Carrie as having matured in many ways. “I saw Carrie a little more sexy, a little more evolved, a little more calm with herself as a woman,” says the designer. “She was still going through her eclectic things, and she was gaining in her profession.”

“I think the fashion is really different,” adds Sarah Jessica Parker. “But Carrie is definitely a person that’s older and different, whose tastes have changed, whose palette has changed. And that’s what happens when you grow up. It’s been really exciting.”