Finally, a Real Fashion Emergency

While many things have changed from the original Sex and the City days — Carrie’s natural curls are out, blowouts are in; Big was out, then in, then out, then in, and finally very, extremely out — one element of And Just Like That … remains the same: These women will turn a look if it’s the last thing they do. Luckily for you, you no longer need to hate or gawk at or gush over the costuming all by your lonesome. We’ll do it together right here. Every. Single. Week.

Have you felt so spiteful, so full of pettiness, that you put your own well-being on the line in the name of proving a point? Don’t lie to me — I know you have.

That’s exactly what Carrie’s potential lawsuit turned potential romantic fling bike guy does in episode five of And Just Like That ... For the life of me, I couldn’t quite figure out what would compel a man to see a woman so plainly and wrongly standing in the bike lane wearing an outfit of mismatched patterns and simply yell “Bike lane!” over and over without even feigning to press the brakes until the last second. As a Citi-Biking pro myself, it is my personal mantra to assume everyone around me has the sensibilities of a gnat, pedestrians and drivers alike, and in order to keep myself safe (as they always say, arrive alive!), I have no choice but to put my deep-seated, internal well of pettiness on pause. Sometimes it’s better to pump the brakes in the name of self-preservation.

So it leads me to believe that Carrie’s handsome tech bro either wanted her, fedora and all, or wanted to prove a point. After all, it was nearly impossible to miss her billowing flannel coat, paired with a candy-cane-striped dress and turquoise eyelet heels. That man intended to hit her! Or at least hit on her!

Photo: Craig Blankenhorn

I Couldn’t Help But Stare …

Surprisingly, neither Carrie’s cacophony of prints nor her fedora is stealing this episode’s pinnacle fashion moment for me. Instead, that comes from our fashion underdog, Charlotte. Charlotte’s sense of style has evolved into a walking J.Crew/Macy’s/Banana Republic vision board, but she has leaned into it in a delicious way. I loved her little red puffed-sleeve sweater moment, paired with a crisp white collar and patterned, yet neutral, apron. But then Rock’s resistance to modeling for Ralph Lauren, something they would presumably staunchly tell their mom would be too capitalist, is met by Charlotte in her scene-stealing style, who comes up with a “compromise” of sorts. Rock and Charlotte’s “solution,” and method of putting good into the world in exchange for Rock’s participation in a Ralph Lauren photo shoot, is to plant a tree in a state where some humans are not even given the decency of an equal right to life. I wanted to believe the writers wrote this line for its unmissable irony (writing a white liberal family as truly liberal until it comes to this could be the writers adding in a dash of satire), but after a full season and a half of AJLT, I have little faith in anything being as intentionally subversive as we’d hope it to be. Maybe the tree is supposed to make up for all of the olive trees burned on stolen land?

After this moment, I became a living embodiment of Taylor Swift’s song “Right Where You Left Me,” and I was stuck there. I noticed Charlotte’s impeccable, vintage Ralph Lauren blazer and blouse when she and Rock actually made it on set, but it was difficult for me to let its timelessness truly sink in. Just goes to show you, some allies will always stop short when a crisp white polo is on the line!