 Sioban Feliciano helps Lauren Moretti try on Christian Louboutin shoes at CoCo Pari in Red Bank, N.J. The shop didn't stock shoes until customers asked for styles seen on the TV hit 'Sex and the City.' (Photo by Mark Dye) |
|
Posted on 05/30/2008 10:17:52 AM PDT by Incorrigible
By VICKI HYMAN
Sioban Feliciano helps Lauren Moretti try on Christian Louboutin shoes at CoCo Pari in Red Bank, N.J. The shop didn't stock shoes until customers asked for styles seen on the TV hit 'Sex and the City.' (Photo by Mark Dye) |
|
Red Bank, NJ -- Late in the big-screen version of "Sex and the City," the gang is enjoying a round of fruity pink Cosmopolitans, prompting one of them to wonder, "Why did we stop drinking these?" Retorts Carrie: "Because everyone else started."
From the cocktail craze to catch phrases ("frenemies," "modelizer") to relationship philosophies ("He's just not that into you"), "Sex and the City" has had, for better or worse, an outsized impact on pop culture. The show's talent for launching a fashion trend is still unrivaled, and the movie, redolent of Dior, LaCroix and, of course Manolo, may spawn more — expect a run on studded leather belts, and should the missus come to bed pairing pajamas with Grandma's pearls, you now know why.
But "Sex and the City" did more than turn niche luxury brands into household names — it normalized the pursuit of luxury for many women.
"Sometimes they need permission — implied permission — to go out and splurge and buy," said luxury marketing expert Pam Danziger. "Something like 'Sex and the City' sort of gave them the justification, the permission to go out and buy these designer brands."
Sharon Zukin, a Brooklyn College sociology professor and the author of "Point of Purchase," a book about shopping and America, is a bit more blunt: "Everybody who has ever seen 'Sex and the City' thinks of it just as a giant conscience salve for shopping."
The show, and even more so the movie, does often read like a Neiman Marcus catalog penned by Noel Coward. (HBO's "Sex and the City" Web site helpfully credits each and every outfit: "Carrie — Ext. Chinatown Street (19): Top: Chanel silk chiffon pleated sleeveless; Skirt: White Prada cotton pleated; Shoe: Bronze Louboutin mule; Bag: Deep purple Valentino feather.")
Sure, there was the episode where a rich pal refused to reimburse Carrie after our heroine's $485 Manolo Blahniks disappeared during a party ("She shoe-shamed me!"). And Carrie's splurges caught up with her when she couldn't afford the down payment on her Upper East Side apartment because she'd spent $40,000 on shoes. (Advises an unsympathetic rental agent: Consider Weehawken.)
The only thing more credulity-straining than Carrie's ability to afford the four-figure frocks and designer shoes on her writer's salary is her ability to fit into them, given little evidence of exercise (and no, shopping doesn't count).
At the height of the show's popularity, Joanne Chiu was a working college student, so, she said, "it was only in dreamy-land that I was making big purchases like that." Now a beauty industry executive, she will occasionally splurge, and she admits the girls are in the back of her mind. "Four hundred dollars is a lot to spend on shoes in any situation — but if I love it, then it's worth it."
You'll find Jimmy Choo, Christian Louboutin, and handmade, Swarovski-studded Rene Caovilla stilettos that start at $895 at CoCo Pari, a high-end boutique in Red Bank, N.J., that opened in 1998, the same year Carrie & Co. had its debut. But owner Kimberly Landau said she didn't start selling shoes until customers came in asking about pairs they'd seen on the show.
The ultra-wealthy, she said, are a small part of her clientele. "Our customers are people who do make sacrifices to make a purchase like that," she said. "Even women who don't have money to buy a wardrobe and they can't believe a dress is $1,200, that same person will buy that one shoe that they fall in love with."
"Sex and the City" can't take all the credit for the rush to consume luxury goods, which accounted for approximately $321.9 billion in consumer spending last year. There's always been status bags, from the monogrammed Louis Vuitton luggage, which dates to the 19th century, to the Hermes Kelly bags, popularized by Princess Grace in the 1950s, but luxury designers really started to expand their brands in the booming late '90s, and some, like Marc Jacobs, found huge success for his handbags and other accessories.
"It gives people a lot more accessibility," said Katie Christopher, a saleswoman at the boutique Zoe, which offers Prada, Stella McCartney and Marni designs. "They could afford a pair of shoes or a big bracelet, that's their way of feeling like they can wear that brand, even if they couldn't wear one of the dresses."
Whether the movie will spur marathon sprees in this economic climate is unclear.
Landau is hopeful: "It's almost like when you're on a diet and you don't eat anything for so long, and when you go off it, you eat for like a week straight," she said. "When they see a movie like that again, they realize how they've been depriving themselves."
But Zukin likened the film to those Depression-era comedies featuring heiresses falling for their butlers. "'Sex and the City' might be just that kind of fantasy comedy that Americans go to see when they can't even afford those things in the movies. As escape entertainment rather than aspirational entertainment, the movie will be really popular."
(Vicki Hyman is a staff writer for The Star-Ledger of Newark, N.J. She can be contacted at vhyman(at)starledger.com.)
Not for commercial use. For educational and discussion purposes only.
Caught my wife reading this article in the paper this week.
To hear some on FR tell it, the show didn’t influence any behavior. Like all those single women ordering Cosmos.
Hollywood liberals claim that drug use and free sex in movies doesn’t influence behavior. But they do want all cigarette smoking removed because it makes it look glamorous.
I always thought Sex and the City was a show that tried to do to much and never quite did any of the things it set out to. It tried to copy the Seinfeld genre of sitting around analysing the minutae of life over food or drink. At least Seinfeld was unpretentious enough to be doing it in a diner. It tried to be a comedy but was not that funny.
It tried to be dramatic but was lacking there. And it tried to be semi pornographic but never quite did that either. I know they managed to be quite successful without my support but that is my opinion. I sort of agree with Anne Coulter that it looked like it was written by gay men for gay men.
i don’t know anyone who watches the show. I tried watching it once, I don’t think i got through the hour.
As for the article, why is it that some people think the only way one can remain a size 0 or 3 is through excercise? As for paying $400 for a pair of shoes with heels that would send me running to take them off after wearing them for 15 minutes, no thanks.
This is just plain dumb over-analyzing. I’ve enjoyed SATC. I’m also a Stargate and Star Trek fan, but I have never expected to live in those fantasy universes, either. Fiction is fiction. Entertainment for most, the basis of policy for Liberals.
Hollywood say their shows don’t influence behaviour, but they sure do try to use their shows to influence behaviour regarding gays, aids, etc., etc.
And all of the court dramas and fantasy shows about women presidents and evil Republicans...
If I took out my all-purpose, Funeral-going, wedding attending, Interviewing suit...you'd be hard-pressed to find $400 worth of clothes in my closet. In total.
I just bought some $250 cowboy boots. Does that count?
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
I saw some of the shows. My immediate reaction...it was a show about the definition of “TRAMPS” - pure and simple!
Anything that gets more young women in heels [rather than pantsuits] can’t be all bad!
Manolo Blahniks or Christian Loubutins
My wife’s best friends.
I thought only homosexuals watched this show?
I suspect there are not any FReeper women who watch this kind of garbage.
I'm a female and I never watched it.
Several years ago I was sitting in the lunchroom at work. A group of male employees were seated across from me and turned Sex in the City on. Since my back was to the TV, I only heard what was being said by the actresses. I couldn't believe that they actually paid someone to write crap like that. Thankfully I had a good book to read.
If ALL the clientele was similar to the one in the picture, I think I need to change careers.....I could help them try on shoes all day long.......ggrrrruuuuuuffff......
21st Century feminism: Defending a woman’s right to shoes.
You want some shoes? You can have your stinkin' shoes under one..... condition.
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzip!
Okay.. so I'm easy. So what?!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.