Sarah Jessica Parker’s Sex and the City admission

Sarah Jessica Parker has conceded that while Sex and the City has hordes of fans, some have very mixed feelings about the iconic show.

Sarah Jessica Parker speaks at the And Just Like That … It’s Been 25 Years, a Sex and the City Experience on June 8 in New York City.

Sex and the City star Sarah Jessica Parker has made a brutal admission about the hit show, which this year celebrates its quarter century, conceding that while it has a legion of adoring fans many have “some not so good feelings” about the iconic series.

“And that’s all right, we just wanted to do good work,” Parker said at an event in New York celebrating the show’s thrift shop to catwalk looks.

Parker also revealed how initially fashion houses were unwilling to lend SATC any luxury clothes; that she has hoarded a stack of the program’s iconic costumes herself and the look she knew wouldn’t work.  

The comments come ahead of the debut of the second season of Sex and the City spin off And Just Like That, which hits screens this month on BINGE.

Parker, who played the show’s doyenne Carrie Bradshaw – the only freelance writer in New York who could afford their own Manhattan apartment – was joined by Molly Rogers and Danny Santiago, two of the show’s costume designers, at the event.

Sarah Jessica Parker speaks at the And Just Like That … It’s Been 25 Years, a Sex and the City Experience on June 8 in New York City.

The two designers have curated an immersive exhibition in the Manhattan district of Soho, close to where much of SATC as well as And Just Like That was filmed, highlighting the glad rags, handbags and stacks of shoes worn by the shows’ stars.

CalledAnd Just Like That … It’s Been 25 Years, a Sex and the City Experience, tickets have already sold out for the pop-up event.

Stream And Just Like That on BINGE. New BINGE customers get a 14-day free trial. Sign up at binge.com.au

Sex and the City reboot And Just Like That is back from a second season this month. Picture: Binge

‘Some not so good feelings’

It was an “enormous privilege” to be part of SATC, Parker said, which first aired in 1998 and spawned six series, two films and now two seasons of And Just Like That.

But like US sitcom powerhouse Friends, from a similar era, some episodes have not aged well.

While lauded for its portrayal of independent, confident women, it’s lately been lambasted too.

There’s the episode where Carrie dates a bisexual boyfriend but, unable to cope, ghosts him and tells Miranda, Charlotte and Samantha that he’s probably on the way to “gay town” anyway. Or the one where Samantha uses derogatory slurs against trans sex workers.

And the original SATC was surprisingly white for a show set in diverse New York City. In contrast, the reboot features a number of characters of colour.

The Sex and the City 25th anniversary exhibition includes a recreation of Carrie Bradshaw’s flat – right down to the lipstick stained ciggies. Picture: Benedict Brook/news.com.au.

“It’s an experience that has connected with so many people and that people have such strong feelings about,” said Parker.

“Some good; some not so good sometimes; but that’s all right too.

“I think looking back we were just wanting to do good work and all of it felt exciting and felt fresh,” she said.

A notable absence form season one of And Just Like That was Kim Cattrall and her adored Samantha Jones character. But makers HBO have revealed Cattrall will make an appearance in season two.

Kim Cattrall, who played Samantha in the original SATC, is back for a brief cameo in And Just Like That. (Photo by LISA O'CONNOR / AFP)

‘We couldn’t get luxury brands’

At the installation visitors begin their journey beside a recreation of Carrie’s famous stoop. They then head into her bedroom complete with Carrie’s now ageing Mac where she penned her columns and lipstick stained Marlboro Lights by the bed.

Narnia like, Carrie’s walk through wardrobe leads to an SATC wonderland of Manolo Blahnik shoes, Gucci clutches, and haute couture Valentino.

But, said Parker, when the series began, they couldn’t get hold of fancy togs for love and certainly not for money as the show began with a tiny budget.

“Nobody wanted us to borrow, buy or steal anything. We just didn’t have access to luxury brands”.

Which led costume designers like Ms Rogers and Mr Santiago to be creative – they rifled through op shops and even discount department stores to create the looks in the first and second seasons.

“There was a hesitancy as (designers) hadn’t seen this show called ‘Sex’ … and the City. They thought ‘what was Sarah Jessica Parker doing?’” said Ms Rogers.

And Just Like That and Sex and the City writer and director Michael Patrick King and costume designers Molly Rogers and Danny Santiago. (Photo by Cindy Ord/Getty Images)

Then came a breakthrough. Italian fashion house Fendi allowed SATC to borrow one of its famous “baguette” handbags.

“It was our bona fides; it was our gateway drug to other brands,” said Parker.

SATC and And Just Like That are known for dressing their heroines in some arresting, and perhaps not always practical, looks. Yet Parker said she never said never, she would always try a piece on no matter how sceptical she was of it.

“Last year, for And Just Like That, there was this ugly brown suit – it looked like a Girl Scout uniform except it was trousers with an orange tie.

“And I said ‘what is this, it’s hideous beautiful and it’s going to look awful on.’”

Yet she put it on “and it was indisputably an incredible piece”.

Sarah Jessica Parker with Willie Garson, who played Sanford Blatch, and died during the filming of the first season of And Just Like That. (Photo by Gotham/GC Images)

Not so much one particular jumpsuit though.

“It was so late; it could have been two or three or four in the morning.

“I was told to put it on and I was like “for what reason, to abuse us?” she said.

“And we have so many pictures of us doubled over laughing at this ridiculous thing.

“But you’ve got to try it on. I think we all agree when it doesn’t work – but you can’t know until you try it on.”

Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker’s marriage of 26 years began before Sex and the City aired. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)

‘I just want the clothes’

Parker, who has been married to fellow actor Matthew Broderick for 26 years, said she now has quite the collection of SATC pieces.

“If it’s not borrowed or rented, it always comes to be in my possession.

“I don’t know whose idea that was. I don’t demand white M&Ms, white candles or flowers or Diet Cokes or anything.

“I just want the clothes,” she laughed.

“I want to keep them together. I want to keep them documented. So it’s sentimental”.

Cynthia Nixon at the Sex and the City event. (Photo by Cindy Ord/Getty Images)

Kristin Davis was also in attendance. (Photo by Cindy Ord/Getty Images)

But also practical, she insisted, as she’s been able to bring back classic costumes for later episodes.

With 25 years of Carrie under her expensive designer belt, Parker said she owed a lot to her character.

“I’ve learned from (Carrie) about being brave and courageous and not applying anybody else’s rules to the way you choose to walk out the door.”

Season 2 of And Just Like That debuts of Binge, Foxtel Showcase and Foxtel on Demand at 8:30pm on Thursday, June 22

Originally published as Sarah Jessica Parker’s Sex and the City admission