Every 'Sex and the City' Girl, Ranked by Fashion Sense

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Sex and the City

It wouldn't be an overstatement to call Sex and the City one of the most influential shows in television history. Sarah Jessica Parker stars as Carrie Bradshaw, a single, thirty-something writer living in New York City. Through her weekly column, Carrie chronicles the struggles of the modern woman to find love and passion, using her experiences as well as those of her three best friends: independent and ambitious lawyer Miranda Hobbes (Cynthia Nixon), sexually liberated PR executive Samantha Jones (Kim Cattrall). and romantic and conservative art gallery manager Charlotte York (Kristin Davis).

Sex and the City redefined standards and challenged conventions with its progressive views on female sexuality. However, another crucial part of the show that played a key role in its success was the fashion. Sex and the City was a runway for prestigious designers, making a household name out of Manolo Blahnik and painting a glamorous, unattainable lifestyle that turned New York into the mecha of the fashion industry during the early 2000s. Each of the four main Sex and the City girls had a defined style and aesthetic, and while they were all dressed head-to-toe in couture, some did a better job at it. Ranking these gals' fashion sense will always be daunting, but this list will attempt to do it. Factors to consider will be the girls' approach to fashion, how important it was in their everyday lives, how their choices reflected their characterization, and how much they contributed to millennial fashion ideas and perceptions.

Release Date June 6, 1998

Seasons 6

4 Miranda Hobbes

The most unadventurous and clean-cut of the four

People can sometimes be quite unfair to Miranda Hobbes. It's true that she was the least fashion-centric of the four main Sex and the City girls, and her outfits can very easily go unnoticed. However, in many ways, Miranda is the most realistic and grounded of the four main characters, and that translates into her fashion sense. This driven lawyer emphasized comfort and practicality in her wardrobe; unlike her best friends, Miranda didn't strut down the NYC streets but rather walked at a fast pace, wanting to get to her next commitment.

However, that shouldn't suggest Miranda was a bad dresser; she was just much more conventional than her friends. Miranda favored pantsuits and traditional outfits one might find in an everyday office. Still, she did her part, especially in the early seasons of the show. Miranda was a pioneer of menswear outfits, wearing many pantsuits with ties in Season 1 and favoring baggy clothes throughout the show's six-season run. Yes, she can seem rather dull next to the other girls, especially if Carrie is standing beside her wearing a crown or Samantha is on her side with a neon-yellow coat. However, Miranda balances the group and makes it more relatable. She is also

3 Samantha Jones

As daring in her fashion choices as she was in her sex life

Samantha Jones is arguably the funniest character in Sex and the City. This liberated, progressive, self-described try-sexual is the beating heart of the show, providing the wildest and most memorable escapades and giving it most of its edge. Samantha is the "Sex" in "the City," an unabashedly confident and successful woman of the 21st century and the main desire of most of the men in the show. Logically, Samantha's outfits reflect her self-assured behavior, to the point where she was often more eye-popping than even Carrie herself.

Out of the four main characters, Samantha is the one with the boldest fashion sense, and that's saying something. She could wear a hot pink pantsuit and a neon-blue purse and make it work; she wore fish-shaped earrings, wild prints, unconventional heels, leather pants, or golden, knee-high boots, and all that was just a day at the office. Samantha's outfits entered a room 10 minutes before she did; they were as loud and demanding as she was. It takes a very confident and comfortable-in-her-skin character to pull off some of Samantha's most famous outfits; luckily, if there's one thing Miss Jones had to spare, it is ego. Samantha was the most experienced character of the four in pretty much every way that counts, and her fashion sense perfectly reflected her worldly, take-no-nonsense outlook on life.

2 Charlotte York

The ultimate Upper East Side princess

Unlike her three friends, Charlotte York was certain of what she wanted — a traditional love story — and she would do anything to get it: move apartments, change her name, become a Jew; nothing was out of the question. Charlotte is the most traditional of the four Sex and the City main characters, a Connecticut princess turned Park Avenue queen whose idealized view of life very much made its way into her closet. Charlotte often looked straight out of a Ralph Lauren catalog; she wore headbands, for crying out loud.

Charlotte is the Audrey Hepburn of the group, a classic beauty who can effortlessly project old-money elegance: she is more concerned with projecting an idea of confidence and poise than with making an impression. Her outfits always favored demure but form-fitting dresses, blazers, heels, and a great strand of pearls. If one were to close one's eyes and imagine an Upper East Side woman, Charlotte York would come to mind. Thus, Charlotte's style is very easy to define, but not many of her outfits are immediately striking, at least not compared to Carrie or Samantha. However, Charlotte is the most consistent and stylish of the four; she never missed, not once, and was always dressed for the occasion.

1 Carrie Bradshaw

The godmother of fashion

Love her or hate her, no one can deny Carrie Bradshaw had a unique, daring, ahead-of-her-time fashion style, and she was never afraid to flaunt it. The ultimate fashionista, Carrie lived an extravagant lifestyle filled with designer clothing — how this love-obsessed writer could afford them on a columnist salary remains a mystery to this day. Alas, Carrie always served; she was always more than a little extra, and we loved her for that. Carrie always did the most with her clothes; when she walked into a room, everyone could tell.

Carrie Bradshaw represented a true before-and-after for the fashion business on television. Never before had fashion played such a crucial role in a character's identity. Every episode brought a new and wacky outfit to the screen; sometimes, they were absurd (the belt over her bare waist still haunts our dreams), and she wasn't always a hit with audiences. However, when Carrie got it right, she got it right. Miss Bradshaw revolutionized the fashion industry on the small screen and almost single-handedly turned Manolo Blahnik into a household name. Carrie was often surprisingly insightful, messy, frustrating, and self-sabotaging — all those qualities already make her a fascinating figure. However, her unique, trend-setting fashion sense turned her into a small-screen icon that remains influential twenty-six years after her debut.

NEXT: 10 Movies To Watch if You Like 'Sex and the City'

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