Sex & The City Inspired Wedding Looks- Get Carrie-D Away With Couture…
With the brand-new series of ‘And just like that…’ any Sex and the City fans will know that Couture is the element at the forefront of these famous city living friends, each an icon in their own right- Samantha, Charlotte, Miranda and of course Carrie.
When you hear the name Carrie Bradshaw, which iconic look do you think of first? The 80’s Madonna inspired, fresh to the Big Apple look? The Dior newspaper dress she wore in the first movie when ‘Big’ picks her up for a romantic dinner? Or the pretty tulle ballgown she wore in Paris with ‘The Russian’ when she realised he wasn’t ‘The One?’ There are so many, but only one iconic look springs to our mind when we think of Carrie, and that’s “A dress so special, it could bring a wedding tear from even the most unbelieving of women…”
We are talking of course about the Vivienne Westwood duchess satin gown she wore for her famous wedding to ‘Big’, but also at the end of ‘The last single girl’ Vogue photoshoot with some of the world’s fashion greats.
Inspired by this iconic gown, we look into our own collection of wedding dresses by Kay Heeley and the dresses similar to those Carrie modelled in that famous scene, and their similarities.
1. Everybody Loves Vera
The beautifully feminine, tulle ruffle design of the Vera Wang gown was the ultimate statement piece with the classic bodice and metres and metres of gathered tulle. A design that springs to mind is our amazing ‘Annabelle’ gown which has a real feminine vibe with soft A-line skirt and metres of tulle over a pretty floral lace fabric to soften the look. Annabelle’s bodice is simple and elegant, with or without sleeves. This gown would suit any fashion forward bride who also has a romantic side for her wedding day.
2. Heavenly Herrera
A self-proclaimed lover of the Sex and the City films, the Caroline Herrera gown was one of Kay’s favourites in the movie! The strapless corset with the asymmetric design and striking feature detail immediately makes us think of our ‘Isla’ gown- a brand new addition to the 2023 collection.
For a very fashion forward bride this dress has a sassy split, which would have suited Carrie perfectly! It’s also made from sumptuous Mikado satin and has an asymmetric neckline and cluster of handmade lace flowers as the feature detail. The Isla dress can also be bought plain and any Carrie inspired brides could add their own bespoke detail to the bodice.
3. All Things Parisian With Lacroix
Now this dress really was a statement piece which only someone like Carrie could pull off, with its folds and tucks, strings of pearls and soft blush colour. Kay’s ‘Willow’ gown in nude is something a little more traditional but with an edge with amazing detachable straps and over the shoulder bow detail.
The soft tulle skirt falls in folds with the full godets giving the dress fishtail vibes without being too fitted. Style it up with pearls and add some sparkle to the straps and voila- we have Parisian inspired bride all ready to go!
4. Layering With Lanvin
Shorter hemlines are a huge trend at the moment, and the cute little baby doll dress Carrie wore by power house Lanvin was a real fashion statement. One of the most dramatic designs in our collection is the ‘Marianna’ which, like the Lanvin dress has sumptuous layers of tulle and lace to make a real couture bridal entrance.
Marianna has effective detachable sleeve options that take this dress from day to night with a few clicks of poppers on the bodice. And even though it isn’t a short dress, it’s still got Carrie vibes written all over it!
5. Doing It Like Dior
If you have read our previous blogs you will know that Dior is our designer Kay’s ultimate inspiration when it comes to gowns, so Carrie’s modern day Dior ‘New Look’ style wedding ensemble was another firm favourite of ours.
When we were choosing a similar look from our collection, we looked no further than the stunning ‘Grace’ gown, with her dramatic, sumptuous detachable train, full tulle skirt and the swathes of twisted satin for the sleeve detail. Grace’s fitted corseted bodice replicates the feminine figure that Dior encapsulates in every one of their dresses, so we just love this look!
6. Romantic De La Renta
This elegant gown was probably the most typical wedding look that a bride would find in her local bridal boutique, with its romantic lace fabric. Compared to the flamboyance of all Carrie’s other looks, this dress is the one we would say was the most classic.
One of the most romantic styles with its delicate lace bodice is the ‘Madeline’ gown from our dress collection, and like Oscar De La Renta’s dress it has a high illusion lace back. This more classic look would suit a bride of any age- one of the reasons Madeline is one of our best sellers. The soft chiffon skirt means its as light as a feather just like the dress Carrie wore up a ladder changing a light bulb…everyone does that in a wedding gown right?
7. Vivienne, The Best Of British
Like Vivienne, our designer Kay is flying the flag for British design and, taking huge inspiration from Westwood’s corsetry, Kay loves this huge duchess satin creation from one of couture’s greatest talents.
A dress so special…with metres and metres of pleated Mikado satin, even down to the similar pleated bust detail and the corseted waist. Our stunning ‘Sarah’ gown was the ultimate choice for the final dress in this blog. A huge sensation at London Bridal week, our Sarah dress is just exquisite, with its understated elegance and sheer volume of the skirt, making it the perfect Carrie inspired dress.
So there we have it- if you love Carrie Bradshaw’s style as much as we do you can create any of the seven looks from the film and get totally Carrie-d away!
The Perfect Bridal Collection is an exclusive bridal collection combining classic elegance with high end drama, designed by Kay Heeley. The collection is sold uniquely in specialist bridal boutiques- for more information click here to contact us via the website.