Carrie Bradshaw: Dress Big, Dream Bigger...Or Just Compromise...Whatever

Admittedly, I was far too young to appreciate Sex And The City when it was first catapulted into people’s unsuspecting living rooms during the late 90s x Hell, let’s face it, at the tender age of 11, I realistically wouldn’t have been allowed...even if I had wanted to put down my Spice Girls CD and Premier League football sticker collection for 30 minutes x and anyway... the sex, cocktails, glamour and general fabulosity would have been entirely lost on my Minnie mouse legging, patent green bomber jacket wearing self x That was after all, long before the days of myself and my friends spending a ludicrous amount of educational minutes obsessing over drawing pictures of oh-so-trendy outfits for each other, that we would attempt to deceive many a bouncer in during the weekends (Please Note: We Failed.... sneaking into MacDonald’s to change coats/stealing older siblings car keys does NOT work) x

Anyway...I am older now, and every day I pray that I am slightly less embarrassing x One thing that I can safely say HAS changed is my SATC fancies x it is a programme that I now relish, the characters, the scenarios, the drama and especially, the fashion x Carrie Bradshaw in particular (along with Mario Testino) has given me faith in glamorous layering and eccentric style that burst with enviable personality....even a penchant for cutsie ankle socks that I could arguably have preserved from my pre SATC days x As a character, she is everything about fashion that I love, girly yet edgy, statementy, passionate and fantastical x Everything about the way she threw on a fur coat, sequin beret and pair of Jimmy Choo’s to hop, skip and jump across a snowy New Years infested New York City to get to her faltering friend in need, exudes the type of care free whimsical frippery that many long to have x

Here’s the catch though – I am almost entirely and absolutely EXCEEDINGLY vexed by the style queen herself, Carrie Bradshaw x there x I have said it x my name is Charlotte, and I am vexed be Carrie Bradshaw x Obvs – she is fabulous x but what I cannot and will not get passed is the fact that this is a woman who is part of a quartet of empowered females who taught us to dress big and dream bigger...but in Carries case...just compromise...whatever x Big is of course the operable word for Carrie x A man who waltzed into her life and wrapped her up in a frenzy of emotions, from love to sadness to love again over nearly a decade x Fine, relationships aren’t perfect and fairytales always have little holes in somewhere... x but the fact is, she compromised where no compromise was needed x THAT dress, THAT location and THOSE bridesmaids could not have been any more perfect...yes it is ultimately about being with the one you love...but this was HER day x Ok, so no one would have blamed Big for perhaps being confused or even slightly frightened by what appeared to be an exotic bird on her face, but jilting your bride at the alter??!!!!HELLO??!!WAS NO ONE ELSE WATCHING??! That is absolutely mortifying and in my mind the most cardinal of all sackable offences x The fact is, we ask for one day to become a real live princess and after that, we will become wives, mothers and grandmothers, working hard and loving harder to turn our lives and relationships into the happily ever after that we hope they will be x

So bah and humbug to you Carrie Bradshaw, for giving into the hapless male who pushed you from pillar to post to utter bewilderment, flaking and faltering until he finally pulled your dream out from under you and you just well....compromised x I do not doubt her magnitude as a style legend... she is certainly someone who I will continue to gain fashion inspiration from, but when it comes to lifestyle inspiration, I think I’ll just stick to my guns thanks x