Style DNA and Sex and the City

What is your DNA when it comes to style? We are all familiar with the term DNA (Deoxyribonucleic acid) as it relates to medicine, paternity and solving crimes. When it comes to style, fashion and DNA we are not concerned with the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms and some viruses as defined by Wikipedia. Instead, style DNA relates to our socialization, personalities, preferences, likes and dislikes, education, career choices which influences and shapes the way we dress.

The four major fashion personalities are classic, romantic, dramatic and natural. I would also include artistic here to cover the hippy or Bohemian dresser for whom there seems to be no fashion rules. Better yet, let's label this artistic personality an innovator of fashion as anything goes. How are these fashion persoanlities represented in our four main female characters in Sex and the City - Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte and Miranda?

Miranda is your classic dresser, she does not need "must have" designer fashion like Carrie and Samantha but goes for smart investment clothing that will stand the test of time. Some may argue that Miranda's wardrobe is in keeping with her profession of being a lawyer and her choice of clothing is as practical as she is - inkeeping with her personality. This is true. Thus, her wardrobe as may be the case for most of us, is an extension of who we are as a person, our belief systems our values etc.

Traditionally, the classic personality likes clean lines and smart, well tailored suits of the highest quality. Classic styles like shift dresses and wrap dresses is preferred by this personality over ephemeral fashion trends that becomes dated over time. Basically, the classic personality invests in a timeless wardrobe. As I am sure you have observed, Miranda when not dressed in dark, well tailored work suits, opts for neutral colours like in her living room below, which is characteristic of the classical fashion personality.

In the later seasons of the show we do see Miranda in more vibrant colours to accentuate her red hair. But again the choice of clothing is timeless styles. With a classical wardrobe no one can say, "oh that's so 90's" because the classic wardrobe never goes out of fashion. The key to a classic wardrobe is quality, classical shaped clothing and neutral colours including navy.

Charlotte on the other hand is your romantic fashion personality. She is your rich park avenue type girl who can afford to indulge in the arts and thus manages an art gallery while she awaits her betrothed.

For her everything must be pretty and matching from head to toe. She likes bows and frills and prefers skirts and dresses over trousers. Gored skirts and dresses cut on the bias are favorites while low plunging necklines like sweetheart necklines and V-necklines is a staple. Gingham trimming and floral designs are always in season for this personality who adores pastel colours. She is ultra feminine, dainty, needy in personality and in need of rescue by a knight on a white horse.





With all these fashion personalities their sense of dress transcends their abodes and so we see that Charlotte is the homemaker, your regular Martha Stewart with dining etiquette and napkin placement down to a science. Her apartment pictured above is immaculately decorated with attention to detail. While Charlotte's wardrobe can be classified as classic, I think the scale is tipped towards the romantic fashion personality.

Samantha is your dramatic dresser. She craves attention and always wants to be turning heads in her direction. She goes for bold, flashy, architectural designs in her clothes, bags and jewellery as it is all about impact. Her jewellery is always statement jewellery and she likes her bold colours. She is not conservative like Miranda the lawyer - with the classic wardrobe, but prefers bold colours in keeping with her high visibility public relations profession. The more alluring the cut and style of clothing, the better for Samantha. Even her apartment has the alluring touch with bright red cushions.




Carrie is your artistic fashion personality or Miss Originator herself. She likes her designer fashion and is a slave to fashion especially when it comes to shoes. She shops at PRADA and designer sale outlets and opts for a designer wedding dress by Vivienne Westwood. I mean who wouldn't if given the opportunity.



But Carrie also represents your bohemian, luxury bohemian, folk fashion tribes who love the eclectic look. With Carrie anything goes. She mixes and matches everything designer and non designer to create her own look. She has more than a double personality when it comes to fashion and her style DNA is as fluid as her writing constantly moving between fashion personalities.



She is your miss vintage fashion, miss bargainista and shoewawa all wrapped up into one. Not to mention she has her classic wardrobe days, her dramatic wardrobe days and romantic wardrobe days.

Her living space is as eclectic as she is with mismatched furniture. Carrie is a free spirit who cannot be pinned down and this is reflected in her style of dress.

Pictures used are from http://www.hbo.com/ and http://www.sexandthecitymovie.com/

Organizing Carrie Bradshaw’s wardrobe

Does your wardrobe look like this?
This wardrobe if you have not recognized it by now is the wardrobe of Carrie Bradshaw from Sex and the City. Carrie as you may remember was not the most orderly person when it came to housekeeping as you can see from her wardrobe. But then I'm no Martha Stewart either though I can share a few tips in organizing your wardrobe that have worked for me.

Seasonal Cleanout
If like most people you do not have enough space to keep your entire wardrobe out at the same time then you must do a seasonal cleanout at least twice a year and store your out of season clothes in suitcases, vacuum pack bags, boxes etc. A wardrobe cleanout is also a good time to give unwanted clothes to charity, friends or siblings. Items of clothing that may be horribly wrong for your body shape or was just a bad buy may be ideal for someone else. Not to mention one woman's rubbish may be another woman's treasure.

Year round essentials by Munique featuring J Crew sweaters

Pick out year round wardrobe essentials
The first step is to select your year round wardrobe essentials like jeans, crisp white shirt, tee shirts, vests, tops, blouses, dresses and this list could go on and on depending on the style, make and fabric of these must haves.

A good guideline to use in determining your year round wardrobe essentials is to bear in mind that there are some clothes which you can layer up or layer down depending on the season. These are thus your essentials for your year round wardrobe which you can keep in your wardrobe at all times. To this you can then add your seasonal must haves. Other clothing that is winter or summer wear only can be stored away.

As summer approaches you can put away all your heavy winter coats, thick woollen jumpers, boots etc. It is a good idea to first clean clothes for storage so that they do not retain bad odours and are ready for use next winter.


Carrie's approach to layering is a little more ecletic. No doubt her year round wardrobe essentials may look more like this.

Carrie's Eclectic Wardrobe by Munique featuring Stella McCartney t-shirts

Select clothes for hanging and folding
If you have the space it is nice to have all your clothes on hangers so you can see exactly what you have. In the interest of space, fold wrinkle free clothes and store them on shelving in your wardrobe. You can either shelve them according to colour or garment for instance all browns together or all skirts together.

Do the same for the clothes with the privilege of hanging space in your wardrobe. In my view it is better to hang your clothes according to colour and patterns as this visual is invaluable when it comes to teaming up colours and patterns and coordinating outfits. I like to open my wardrobe and just stand back and look at it when determining what to wear. You will suddenly see matches of clothes that you had not thought of wearing together before. It is also a good idea to rearrange your colours from time to time putting different colour clothing and patterns next to each other. This again helps you to visualize new outfit combinations.

Shoe storage
If you are a designer shoe lover like Carrie then shoe boxes are a must to preserve them and keep them in prestine condition. Pack your shoes in individual shoe boxes so that they retain their shape and most importantly they can be stacked one on top of the other especially if you are cramped for space. If you are using under your bed as shoe storage then you do not want to be storing them unboxed as it can get quite dusty under there.



These are Carrie's brand new Manolos costing US$485 which is stolen when she is asked to leave them at the door when attending a Baby Shower. Check out the episode A Woman's Right to Shoes if you wish to refresh your memory.

Clear Shoe Boxes
Better yet go for clear boxes so that you can see exactly which shoe is in your shoe boxes. Have you ever had to search through all your boxes before finding that elusive pair you are looking for in the very last box? Well clear shoe boxes will save you that trouble. Plus when you stack them at the bottom of your wardrobe in clear shoe boxes then you can easily visualize them with your outfits. Ensure that you go for sturdy clear shoe boxes that can stack as some of them depending on the make can bend permanently out of shape when stacked.


Here are a pair of my shoes in a clear box. These transparent boxes really stack well and look almost as precious as Cinderella's glass slipper.

As it is now spring/summer stack your winter shoes/boots at the bottom or furthest to reach places since you would not be needing them in a hurry. Remember to invest in some boot boxes for easy storage.