A series enduring in popularity with plenty of evocative fashion moments, it’s no wonder that Molly Rogers and Danny Santiago, costume designers of the Sex and the City reboot And Just Like That, propelled themselves to social media fame in a short space of time. Their Instagram account @andjustlikethatcostumes boasts a 187k following and counting, with the show’s loyal viewers and fashion enthusiasts hanging on to every picture and word.
We talk to the duo about their time on the And Just Like That set, dealing with critique from fans, and so much more.
Frenzied fans
As self-confessed newbies to Instagram, Rogers and Santiago prefer honest and spontaneous posting on social media. While fans want to know the details of every single item the characters wear, because there are so many other Instagram accounts doing just this, Rogers and Santiago wanted @andjustlikethatcostumes to go beyond the clothing credits.
“We want to make it fun”, explains Santiago. And the account certainly feels lively and personal, whether it’s a snap of crystal-encrusted Judith Leiber pillboxes for Carrie post-surgery, impromptu selfies, or weekly live streams every Thursday at 7pm EST where fans tune in to ask the duo questions.
As with any fashion-centric television show, it brings out the good and bad, from healthy debate and tongue and cheek comments to the downright nasty. “The original show has such rabid fans, and they’re so into it, but I find the viciousness so distasteful, I really do”, says Rogers. “I was thinking yesterday, some of those outfits that people absolutely love from the original show — I wonder how they would’ve ripped them apart if there had been social media, and they could have judged it.”
While Rogers and Santiago try not to pay attention to what people are saying, pressure inevitably comes with the territory. “So many things were being photographed while we were still shooting, the actors were coming out of their trailers. Things were being shot instantaneously by the paparazzi. And within minutes, they were going up online on Instagram. People weren’t seeing outfits in their entirety, they didn’t really know how they played out in the script, and they also didn’t see them completely put together. We knew they weren’t going to see the same thing when they were actually viewing it on the show”, says Santiago.
An exemplary occurrence of this is the infamous ‘blue dress’ incident. A fan incorrectly attributed a dress snapped on leading actress Sarah Jessica Parker as being from Forever 21, causing a great uproar over whether or not Carrie should wear fast fashion.
Santiago explains of the debacle, the dress in question was thrifted five years ago, coming from his archive. “We wanted something that kind of flowed a little bit, and it worked out perfect for what we wanted it to be. And we had no idea where it came from. Now, from what we found out, it seems like more recently is when Forever 21 had the dress. And it was something that was knocked off from the original designer from India that had made the dress. I’m pretty sure that the one that I bought was the original one, and the Forever 21 came out more recently.”
Carrie’s closet
While some fans think Carrie should boycott fast fashion in 2022, as Santiago pinpoints, Carrie’s looks have a broad appeal because of the way she mixes high and low brands, which is integral to the character’s brand.
“You never could exactly pinpoint what she was wearing. She always mixed high and low. She always mixed vintage. It was always individually styled and put together in her own way. That’s what made it Carrie. And I think that’s what drew so many people to the styling of it because it was very unique. It showed how people can have individual style.”
Working with Sarah Jessica Parker’s costume archive from the original series was a once-in-a-lifetime dream for the duo. We’ve already seen Carrie in the iconic studded ‘Roger’ belt in the HBO reboot, alongside her purple Fendi bag, Manolo Blahnik wedding heels, and more.
“So anything she has kept in her storage, we were able to go through it and choose whatever we wanted to reintroduce. And that was really amazing. When are you in that kind of show?” says Rogers.
Santiago adds, “We have the original pieces that we can bring back out, and the fans just love it. They feel so connected to it because they remember everything about it. They remember the scene, they remember the moment. It’s fun to bring those pieces back out.
Dressing the cast
As Carrie, Charlotte, and Miranda have grown older, so have their styles, although as Santiago reiterates, “Age is just a number. The progression of their style might have developed in a certain way, but honestly, like anybody else who ages, you still hold on to certain things that are always going to be your favourites. It’s really who you are as an individual and what you feel good in. And that’s really what it comes down to. I think all of these characters don’t dress for other people, they dress for themselves. And I think that’s what’s made their identity so strong.”
While Miranda’s look has softened in the present day, Santiago explains that it’s still put together, just more relaxed — whether she’s wearing a slouchier jacket or comfortable dress. And Charlotte is still an uptown girl, “she’s carried that through and that’s just who she is. She has these beautiful things that she still wears in her way with the bows, the cinch waist, this sort of almost fifties perfection silhouette”.
There’s also newcomer Seema, whose power-dressing outfits were inspired by the character’s chocolate Mercedes. Think beautiful creams, neutral tones, and rich metallics, described by Santiago as a Bianca Jagger or Studio 54-esque look.
“When she came in for her fitting and the entire room was mochas and bronze and matched her skin, she was like, I’m in shock. I’m always the one that they want to put crazy colours on. And she was like, this is amazing that I’m going to dress in chocolate when I get out of my chocolate Mercedes. She loved it”, says Rogers.
And Seema’s luxe look fits perfectly with the character as a top luxury real estate agent in Manhattan. “Those people are barracudas. They carry statement bags, and they’re in head-to-toe Valentino”, says Rogers.
That Diwali episode
I ask Rogers and Santiago about the now-infamous lehenga scene, where Carrie points to a lehenga, incorrectly calling it a sari. This caused much debate, with Vogue India concluding that it was done “simply so as not to overwhelm their audience with too much Indian-ness”.
Rogers focuses on the positive, saying, “aren’t you glad that the writers got Carrie to Diwali?”. Turning to the dialogue, she questions whether the scene is like Carrie and Seema looking at blazers but coming out of the store with a dress. Was it that Carrie did try lots of saris on, but the audience just didn’t get to see any?
Another hotly debated topic in the Diwali episode was Carrie’s hair, described as an over-the-top mohawk that wasn’t exactly traditional Indian dress. I ask Rogers and Santiago where the inspiration for this look came from.
“Of course Carrie would try something out of the box. We could have put jewellery down her part, there’s a million things you could do that you’ve seen before. I don’t think that’s what the show is about”, says Rogers.
I’m inclined to agree with Vogue India’s take on the lehenga, yet I’m impressed by Carrie’s out-there hair, imagining myself rocking up to my next family gathering with the look in tow, perhaps shocking a few old-fashioned aunties in the process. Yet joking aside, the entire Diwali episode exemplifies the ongoing battle between fashion and cultural appropriation in film and television and the need for better cultural consultation to appeal to a wider audience.
A sad goodbye
After Willie Garson’s passing, there were an outpouring of tributes from fans and castmates. Rogers and Santiago fitted him for every outfit he would need through episode 10, yet sadly, he only appeared in three episodes.
They speak fondly of their time with Garson who played the character Stanford Blatch, “we put him in neon day-glo when he’s supposed to be hiding in Carrie’s apartment when Charlotte comes over, and he was like, thank you so much for putting me in day-glo. Who’s going to be able to hide in something neon”, says Rogers.
“Because the clothes were there all through, up until we wrapped, we still had everything intact on his line with all his different outfit changes there. So we had it there all the time to see and look and remember, it was sad”, says Santiago. Rogers adds, “I miss him so much. I could barely walk past his rack of clothes without wincing. People would go over there and say, I’m going to steal this Stanford tie and put it on somebody. I was like, ‘don’t you dare, don’t you dare touch it’.”
I ask Rogers and Santiago for sartorial advice for Kiwi women this year. “Have a beautiful year and wear crazy glasses and do things that you didn’t get to do because you were in quarantine. Wear a flower hat. Wear a ball gown to the grocery store in New Zealand. See what happens.”, says Rogers. “Put something sparkly on”, adds Santiago.
And Just Like That is available to view on Neon and Sky Go in New Zealand.
