'Sex and the City' and Carrie’s Curls
Does Carrie Bradshaw’s hairstory mirror the show’s storytelling?
If you’re like me, you’ve watched Sex and the City countless times. Not just one-off episodes, but also the entire series. When SATC became available on Netflix this past spring, I told myself I’d resist this time around, since I had just done a late season rewatch last year. 1
But to have the entire series come to Netflix made rewatching so easy, I was powerless to resist the siren call of the marimba-cha-cha theme song. And I thought if I was going to rewatch (again), let me at least start from Season 1, Episode 1, which I hadn’t seen in ages.
Since I nearly have the plotlines, dialogue, fashion choices and even facial expressions memorized, this time I found myself drawn in by the progression of Carrie Bradshaw’s curls.
And I was fascinated by how the state of Carrie’s locks mirrored her storylines, especially her relationships with Big and Aidan.
It’s not clear whether this was intentional on the writers’ part, or simply due to the styling requirements for tending to Sarah Jessica Parker’s iconic mane, but a part of Carrie’s enduring appeal has been her signature curls. So why not go deep and see how much of Carrie’s curls reflected her state of mind?
(I’m focusing specifically on the first four seasons, prior to the Vogue-era haircut that saw the curls shift into a staid glossiness, paralleling Carrie’s wardrobe upgrade to full-on fashionista.)
Without further ado, let’s walk down memory lane and revisit arguably the most iconic curly hair in pop culture history.2
Subscribe now to see the evolution of Carrie’s hair throughout the seasons of Sex and the City.