217: On Sex and the City: A ‘Vogue’ Idea

Summary

Podcast Summary: Every Outfit Episode 217: On Sex and the City: A ‘Vogue’ Idea

Release Date: April 18, 2025

In Episode 217 of the Every Outfit podcast, hosts Chelsea Fairless and Lauren Garrone delve deep into the Sex and the City episode titled "A ‘Vogue’ Idea." This detailed rewatch not only dissects the intricate plotlines and character developments but also intertwines insightful commentary on fashion, cultural references, and personal anecdotes from the hosts.

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1. Episode Introduction and Context

Chelsea and Lauren kick off the episode by highlighting that "A ‘Vogue’ Idea" had previously been overlooked in their podcast archives. They express excitement about finally addressing it, especially in light of personal milestones such as Chelsea’s recent baby shower, which parallels themes from the episode.

Notable Quote:

• Chelsea Fairless [00:27]: "And welcome back to another episode of the Every Outfit podcast."

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2. Revisiting the Season Three Trailer

The hosts shift focus to the trailer for Sex and the City: Just Like That Season Three, discussing its reception and the shift away from the traditional binge-release model to a weekly drop schedule.

Key Points:

• Trailer Reception: Chelsea mentions, “I saw endless variations of this is the worst television show on earth.”
• Episode Count: Lauren notes the increase to 12 episodes from previous seasons' 10.
• Streaming Strategy: They discuss the impact of spaced-out episode releases versus simultaneous drops.

Notable Quote:

• Lauren Garrone [02:05]: "Season one and season two of end just like that just had 10 episodes. They have given them 12 episodes this time."

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3. Deep Dive into "A ‘Vogue’ Idea"

Chelsea and Lauren provide a comprehensive analysis of the episode's plot, highlighting Carrie Bradshaw’s professional challenges at Vogue and the personal dynamics among the characters.

Subsections:

a. Carrie at Vogue

• Plot Overview: Carrie attempts to submit a 500-word article to Vogue but faces harsh criticism from her editor, Enid.
• Character Interactions: The tension between Carrie and Enid showcases Carrie’s struggle to fit into the high-fashion editorial world.

Notable Quote:

• Enid [27:08]: "You're a writer. You should be writing this down."

b. Rat Infestation Subplot

• Narrative Significance: The exaggerated CGI rat infestation serves as a metaphor for the chaos in Carrie’s life and her professional turmoil.

Notable Quote:

• Chelsea Fairless [05:55]: "The insane rat infestation in the backyard of her Gramercy townhouse."

c. Character Relationships and Development

• Miranda and Charlotte: The episode explores Miranda’s struggles with impending motherhood and her friendship with Charlotte, who offers support through a baby shower.
• Julian’s Role: Julian, portrayed by Ron Rifkin, acts as a mentor figure, though his interactions hint at underlying issues related to sexual harassment.

Notable Quote:

• Julian [44:15]: "How about Enid is no longer your editor and I'm just your editor now?"

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4. Themes and Symbolism

a. Daddy Issues and Relationship Patterns

• Psychological Insights: The discussion touches on how Miranda and Carrie’s past relationships influence their current behaviors and interactions.

Notable Quote:

• Chelsea Fairless [46:06]: "Do women with emotionally unavailable fathers seek out emotionally unavailable men?"

b. Parenting and Baby Shower Dynamics

• Miranda’s Baby Shower: The hosts analyze the baby shower planning, emphasizing the blend of practicality and emotional stress Miranda experiences.
• Personal Anecdotes: Chelsea shares her own experience planning a baby shower, drawing parallels to the show's portrayal.

Notable Quote:

• Nobody [49:56]: “That is what the stork is saying.”

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5. Fashion Analysis

A significant portion of the episode is dedicated to scrutinizing the characters' outfits, emphasizing designer pieces and fashion statements that align with the show's legacy.

Key Points:

• Carrie's Vivian Westwood Suit: Both hosts praise Carrie’s pinstripe Vivienne Westwood suit, noting its timeless elegance.
• Accessories and Footwear: The discussion includes Carrie’s Manolo Blahnik patent leather Mary Janes and the symbolic use of fashion in character development.

Notable Quote:

• Lauren Garrone [73:09]: "Carrie is wearing the most major Prada top. Or is it a dress?"

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6. Personal Reflections and Host Interactions

Throughout the episode, Chelsea and Lauren interweave personal anecdotes, reflecting on their own lives in relation to the show's themes. This adds a relatable and engaging layer to their analysis.

Key Points:

• Chelsea's Maternity Leave: She humorously contemplates how a live episode might interfere with her due date.
• Lauren’s Baby Shower Planning: Lauren recounts organizing her baby shower, drawing inspiration from the characters’ experiences.

Notable Quote:

• Chelsea Fairless [37:37]: "What I'm going to have to do is accept the show for what it is."

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7. Critique of Specific Scenes and Dialogues

The hosts meticulously critique pivotal scenes, such as Carrie’s confrontation with Julian at Vogue and the subsequent fallout, highlighting the nuances in dialogue and character motivations.

Notable Quote:

• Carrie Bradshaw [31:00]: "I can't go out there. I'm drunk. I'm drunk in Vogue."

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8. Overall Impressions and Ratings

Chelsea and Lauren conclude with their personal ratings and reflections on the episode's impact on the Sex and the City universe.

Key Points:

• MVP Recognition: They commend the ensemble cast, particularly praising the chemistry between Cynthia Nixon (Miranda) and Sarah Jessica Parker (Carrie).
• Fashion Ratings: A humorous segment where they rate the episode based on featured accessories, especially Manolo shoes.

Notable Quote:

• Lauren Garrone [73:36]: "It's one of the most incredible pieces of clothing in the entire series."

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9. Conclusion and Forward Look

In wrapping up, the hosts speculate on future developments in the series' third season and reaffirm their commitment to covering every episode, regardless of their personal schedules.

Notable Quote:

• Chelsea Fairless [76:17]: "But we will be back next week to talk about all of the fashion and pop culture news that we've missed."

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Final Thoughts: Episode 217 of Every Outfit offers a thorough and engaging exploration of Sex and the City’s "A ‘Vogue’ Idea." Chelsea Fairless and Lauren Garrone expertly balance plot analysis with fashion critique, enriched by personal stories and sharp commentary. Their insightful breakdown not only serves long-time fans but also provides a comprehensive overview for new listeners interested in the intersection of fashion and popular culture.

Transcript

[Carrie Bradshaw]

I spent $40,000 on shoes.

[Chelsea Fairless]

What's the matter, Morty? Coral the spank. Time to buy on a little dress. Floral the spank. Great gowns. Beautiful gowns. Fashion has changed. No, it hasn't. Hi, I'm Lauren Garrone.

[Lauren Garrone]

And I'm Chelsea Fairless.

[Carrie Bradshaw]

And.

[Chelsea Fairless]

And welcome back to another episode of the Every Outfit podcast. Today we are doing our monthly Sex and the City rewatch episode. We are doing a Vogue idea, an episode we were convinced we had to have done already. Because I feel like we've talked around a lot of things that have happened in this episode.

[Lauren Garrone]

I did google it and I couldn't find anything, but I still think that we have done it.

[Chelsea Fairless]

A Lost Every Outfit episode.

[Lauren Garrone]

I don't know. You guys tell me. I feel like the second this goes live, we are going to get comments like.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Like, guys, I do have a document that lists every episode that we've done on this podcast with the dates I did go into our archive. We somehow have not done this episode. We are doing it this week because like Miranda, I too just had my baby shower so it felt appropriate.

[Lauren Garrone]

And like Miranda's baby shower, I had a mental breakdown in the middle of it and caused a scene.

[Chelsea Fairless]

But before we get into that, I know you are dying for us to get into the and just like that season three trailer. Chelsea and I have not spoken since this trailer debuted, so we are going to be getting each other's thoughts in real time. Chelsea, what did you think?

[Lauren Garrone]

I can't figure out if we have a lot to unpack or nothing to unpack.

[Chelsea Fairless]

What is there to add? Because it seems like at this point everyone is in on the joke, but because online I saw endless variations of this is the worst television show on earth. Can't wait for it to come back. Give me five more seasons.

[Lauren Garrone]

Yeah, it's so true. One thing we did learn is that we are getting 12 episodes this time. Season one and season two of end just like that just had 10 episodes. They have given them 12 episodes this time. It is premiering on May 29 and according to the Hollywood Reporter, it is concluding on August 14th. Which means they won't be releasing the first two episodes simultaneously as has been the case with the past two seasons.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Yeah, I think even streamers have learned that the micro bingeing doesn't work anymore and that oh g, HBO had the right idea and just once a week, let's drop an episode.

[Lauren Garrone]

I think it works. If it's been a really long time since the show has been on the air. Like, the Handmaid's Tale just came back and I'm like, oh, I don't even remember who I was. The last time the show had a.

[Chelsea Fairless]

New season, I thought that that had fully ended. Nope, it's back.

[Lauren Garrone]

Gilead is still thriving and never more relevant.

[Chelsea Fairless]

For those who are curious about my maternity leave, I feel like it's worth noting that my due date is very early on in the run of. And just like that. Like, it is conceivable that this premiere episode makes me so angry it puts me into labor.

[Lauren Garrone]

See, I'm excited for it to come back. Although I'm scared with your hormones.

[Chelsea Fairless]

You know, we previously spoken about my fear of seeing women online. Talk about, like, having a baby and being like, I'm not the same person I was before. What if I become a different person? But that person loves him just like that.

[Lauren Garrone]

Yeah, you'll be softer and less of a cunt.

[Chelsea Fairless]

I'm like, whatever happens to the Addams Family values, baby.

[Lauren Garrone]

I'm here for that. Okay, so where do we start? The CGI rats.

[Chelsea Fairless]

I wanna know your thoughts about the little intro before the trailer. As if it's like a blockbuster Marvel trailer where it's like, I couldn't help but wonder what's going on this season.

[Lauren Garrone]

I know. What are they us doing ads for absolute vodka on Instagram?

[Chelsea Fairless]

So it would seem that Carrie's voiceover is back.

[Lauren Garrone]

Well, to be fair, the voiceover has been in the trailers in the past, right?

[Chelsea Fairless]

Yes, and I think she got it back somewhere in season two. We did vow that we were going to do a VIP episode where we unpack what happened in season two so the Fuckettes don't have to.

[Lauren Garrone]

It's not so much of an unpacking as a remember what happened kind of thing. Because it has been a long time.

[Chelsea Fairless]

2023.

[Lauren Garrone]

Yeah. So crazy.

[Chelsea Fairless]

So I did take notes as the trailer was happening. This is what I've gleaned from it. Miranda is gay dating.

[Lauren Garrone]

Yeah. She clearly has a thing for the chick that she's working with. Which we KN because Dolly Wells is a series regular, so they are probably endgame. But she was also kind of flirting across the bar with a much younger woman.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Is it going to be revealed that she sleeps with someone who's going to college with Brady?

[Lauren Garrone]

I'm not mad at that.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Well, you love an age gap relationship.

[Lauren Garrone]

I do.

[Chelsea Fairless]

It's funny. Since Big has passed away, Carrie's work ethic has never been better because she's not only writing a new book, she's writing a novel. She's getting into fiction, you guys.

[Lauren Garrone]

Well, that's what Candace Bushnell did, so it makes sense that we would get here eventually. Although her agent is saying that Romantasy is huge right now and that she should write a book called Sex and the Cauldron, which again, is sort of reinforcing the idea that Carrie has maybe fallen on hard times. Like, they're not saying that to Zadie Smith.

[Chelsea Fairless]

I felt like when I heard Sex and the Cauldron, could that be a reference to Hocus Pocus?

[Lauren Garrone]

I thought that as well, but I kind of think it isn't.

[Chelsea Fairless]

The more important thing from that scene is the insane rat infestation in the backyard of her Gramercy townhouse.

[Lauren Garrone]

Well, if you have a backyard or a garden in New York City, you have rats straight up.

[Chelsea Fairless]

But the amount of rats, which are so clearly CGI'd.

[Lauren Garrone]

I know. Her squealing at the CGI rats took me out.

[Chelsea Fairless]

And that really establishes the tone. And you know what? At this point, I give up, guys. This is just what the show is. Is it related to Sex and the City in so much that all of these characters have the same names? But this is clearly a lifetime ified version of a Sex and the City style show.

[Lauren Garrone]

If you haven't figured that out by now, I don't know how to help you. I've said this before. I think you should accept the show for what it is.

[Chelsea Fairless]

I am.

[Lauren Garrone]

That's great.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Or when the show went off the air in 2023 and they said it was coming back for a season three, have I spent every moment since then elaborately planning getting pregnant? First getting married, then getting pregnant just in time that my maternity leave coincides with season three, so I don't have to talk about it? Not. No.

[Lauren Garrone]

Everybody wins.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Aiden is back in a way that I was not expecting. I. We saw way more of him than I thought we were going to.

[Lauren Garrone]

This is not shocking. We've seen the paparazzi photos of John Corbett filming these scenes, but it is a little surprising because it immediately invalidates the cliffhanger of season two.

[Chelsea Fairless]

I do want to get into a comment that I saw not on the Max Instagram post of this trailer, but Vogue, I guess, did an article about the trailer and there was a comment there and I think it speaks to a minority who is watching the show and they genuinely love it and like you said, are meeting it on its own terms. Just want to read this to you, Chelsea. I'm so sick of y'all. A lot of us are. Samantha is gone. Get over it. That's in all caps. If you don't like in just like that, were you aware that you don't have to watch it? It's true. And this new iteration is brilliant and necessary. What happens to your life when, quote, the one is gone? Are you done with love? Is sex over? How does life go after the love of your life dies? How is life for a woman who still wants a life over 50? Over 55? Lots of us want to know and we want to see. I'm not going to make fun of her comment. Everything she is saying is true.

[Lauren Garrone]

Is that a bot that's over 50?

[Chelsea Fairless]

I think that person is real and not a bot. But my response to that is she's absolutely correct. And on its surface, that is what and just like that should be. But to your point about Aiden immediately being back in season three after that season two cliffhanger, that's not what the show is. It's not really about restarting your life after 50. Like, I continue to think it's very bizarre and in bizarre messaging to women who are in their 50s to be like, oh, you can still find love as long as you reconnect with that love that you had when you were in your 30s.

[Lauren Garrone]

Yeah, I hear you. I do.

[Chelsea Fairless]

But we see, as Miranda says, Carrie was catching a vibe with her neighbor. Did not like hearing those words out of Miranda's mouth.

[Lauren Garrone]

Okay. Also, why are they in matching silver outfits?

[Chelsea Fairless]

Why is it that like four out of the six times we see LTW.

[Lauren Garrone]

In this trailer, she's in the, like, Palm Beach McDonald's uniform in so many different ways?

[Chelsea Fairless]

It's like she's wearing it when she's talking to Charlotte. Then you see her in a hot tub and she's wearing. She's taken off the outfit, but she still has the bandana or, like, head.

[Lauren Garrone]

The visor.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Yeah. Then she's glamping with her family again in that outfit.

[Lauren Garrone]

I was trying to think, like, why could she be wearing this? Like, what occasion could possibly call for an outfit like this? And then I realized, like, and just like that, being in just like that, her and Charlotte are probably playing pickleball. Like, why else? I don't know why she had to wear it for the rest of the day.

[Chelsea Fairless]

To impress her work crush, I guess. That's LTW's storyline for the season.

[Lauren Garrone]

LTW has a work crush. Seema is still dating.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Is she dating? I also forgot that, like Carrie, she has a bizarre long term, long distance, low commitment situationship.

[Lauren Garrone]

Seema also looked really good in that one scene in the trailer where she's wearing some like long cream fringy caftan kind of thing. Incredibly chic.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Yeah. It was unfortunate that they showed that immediately after the Charlotte and Gingham and ltw's Ronald McDonald Palm beach look. It's like I would have flipped the order of those shots, but okay.

[Unknown Speaker]

Hey guys, I'm back doing ad reads. Today's episode is sponsored by Olive and June. I remember Olive and June from the days when they had a brick and mortar nail shop which Chell and I used to get our nails done there. Then in the Pandemic, they revolutionized the at home gel manicure game to give you truly salon worthy nails at home. See, I've always been trash at doing my own nails and a gel manicure, forget about it. But I got curious about Olive and June's home system since I'm having a baby soon and won't be able to go to the salon for a minute. They give you everything you would need in one box. I'm not just talking about a nail file or cuticle cream. They give you their own patent pending five finger LED gel lamp which cures your gel manicure in minutes. And my favorite object in this kit is the poppy, which helps you paint neatly with your non dominant hand, which has always been my Achilles heel. These manicures don't chip and last seven days or more. They have a range of amazing shades. I personally went for their magnetic gel polishes because I've been very curious about those magnetic manicures. And let me tell you, it looks amazing. And I was thinking, guys, while I'm.

[Chelsea Fairless]

On my maternity leave, maybe I can.

[Unknown Speaker]

Get Chelsea to come over and we can do these Olive and June gel manicures together. Perhaps maybe even when we're watching in just like that. And if you'd like to join us, visit oliveandjune.com outfit for 20% off your first system.

[Chelsea Fairless]

That is a great deal, guys.

[Unknown Speaker]

That's O L I V E a n d J-U-N-E.com o u t f I t for 20 off your first system.

[Lauren Garrone]

We also got to see Carrie in the amazing Simone Rocha outfit. There was a close up of Carrie wearing some pretty fab metallic snakeskin Terry de Havilland platform heels. I liked that as well.

[Chelsea Fairless]

That opened the trailer. I think we're really dancing around the fact that it is very clear that like with Che in season two, they're not just doubling, but they're tripling down on the children's Storylines. Daddy NPK was like, ooh, you dislike that part of the show the most in season two, Guess what? You're getting the rest of Aiden's kids as well, plus a lily love storyline.

[Lauren Garrone]

Plus LTW's kids are in this trailer as well.

[Chelsea Fairless]

And rocks at a talent show.

[Lauren Garrone]

So much kid stuff. I was hoping that Lily would just, like, go to college and that would be the end of it. Like, that's a natural way to write her off. Especially because oftentimes kids that grow up in Manhattan actually do want to leave New York to go to college.

[Chelsea Fairless]

That's what I was gonna say. Go to Oberlin like most New York City kids do.

[Lauren Garrone]

Go to Brown. Go to RISD like a civilized New Yorker.

[Chelsea Fairless]

I also didn't care for the scene where Carrie is shocked that Aiden is in her townhouse. Their townhouse. It's ill defined, but that classic Carrie. I just saw a squirrel or a rat scream. And then John Corbin as Aiden makes the choice to like, do the same kind of very campy scream.

[Lauren Garrone]

Yeah, I feel like we've seen this before. It's kind of Home Alone again.

[Chelsea Fairless]

It doesn't exactly belong in Sex and the City, but it's not Sex and the City. It's in just like that. And I gotta get that through my thick little skull.

[Lauren Garrone]

Exactly. It's more like Screwball Rom com, You know, like a Jennifer Aniston movie from the early 2000s where someone would catch her, like, getting out of the shower naked or something.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Do you think Daddy MPK was subtweeting us with the Carrie voiceover line? That is from the trailer. And when the plot twists, we can choose to embrace a new chapter.

[Lauren Garrone]

Yes, someone pointed that out in the comments section on our Instagram. And I absolutely believe that we can choose to embrace a new chapter. Also, it appears that the gals are attending a bridal fashion show. Who's getting married?

[Chelsea Fairless]

I would say Seema. But then Charlotte very emotionally puts her hands on LTW's hands.

[Lauren Garrone]

Maybe they're getting their vows renewed. That seems like something they would do on the show.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Oh, my God, absolutely.

[Lauren Garrone]

Also, why does the venue kind of vaguely give Big's funeral like it's stark white with just these chairs, like, spaced out in that way.

[Chelsea Fairless]

I also imagine the shot towards the end of the trailer where Aiden smashes Carrie's townhouse window with a rock is referencing that time back in season four when Carrie is trying to get Aiden's attention by throwing the pebbles at his window.

[Lauren Garrone]

Oh, yeah, I didn't even think about that.

[Chelsea Fairless]

But of course, because it's in just like that. It goes horribly wrong and an entire window gets smashed. And I bet the cops get called.

[Lauren Garrone]

Okay, we haven't yet talked about the most. And just like that moment of the trailer, which is when Rock says, believe women and not in the like, me too way.

[Chelsea Fairless]

What way was she referring to it as?

[Lauren Garrone]

Well, it was like a punny way. It was a reference to the me too of it all. But she was talking about believing the fact that Lily was, like, in a relationship with this guy that she goes.

[Chelsea Fairless]

To school with with a ballerina.

[Lauren Garrone]

A ballerina? Is that what male ballerinas are called?

[Chelsea Fairless]

They're not. But that's how Natalie Portman refers to her husband in one of those SNL raps. I married a ballerina and now she's.

[Lauren Garrone]

Divorced a ballerina as well.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Yet she's still Miss Dior.

[Lauren Garrone]

She's getting her knees replaced. Yet she's still Miss Dior.

[Chelsea Fairless]

We'll be there. Well, one of us will be there.

[Lauren Garrone]

I'll be there at the very least. But you'll be there for the beginning because you will likely have a few episodes of it.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Just like that, before this baby comes. Yeah.

[Lauren Garrone]

Human comes barreling out of your body.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Okay, thank you. I really don't know what my maternity leave looks like as someone who's self employed, but also their job, and I'll put that in quotes, is to talk about an episode event just like that. So we're going to play it by ear.

[Lauren Garrone]

Okay. There are a couple of crucial things that we still haven't talked about. I'm now realizing, okay, one, the western style shirt that Cynthia Nixon is wearing in the intro, which is clearly referencing the Palestinian flag, but we found out it's basically like it's a Calvin Klein color block western shirt. But either someone copied it and changed the colors to make it look like this or. Or someone modified an existing shirt to make it look like the Palestinian flag. And I'm just completely shocked that, like, she managed to slip this in there and no one said anything or noticed.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Yeah, I don't think anyone clocked it until it was. Already people were watching the trailer, but I think there's nothing cooler than Cynthia Nixon, which is like, yeah, I'm going to collect $10 million a year and I'm still going to do all of the activist shit I love to do, like, come at me.

[Lauren Garrone]

Yeah, it's incredibly cool because this kind of stuff could very easily jeopardize her career. Although I love the fact that HBO isn't Punishing her for speaking her truth. I mean, they probably could kill her off the Gilded Age. Like her spinster character could die of some old timey disease that like was cured by penicillin or whatever. And just like that cannot survive without Miranda. Imagine. And just like that. But it's just Charlotte, Carrie, Seema and ltw.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Although I do like the idea of the show went on for five more years, but they slowly just are killing off the main cast.

[Lauren Garrone]

Also, we haven't talked about the poster. The reaction to the poster has been pretty extreme from what I've gathered from Instagram. Also from the end, Just like that subreddit, which I've recently gotten very into. I don't think it's that bad. It's definitely AI. It's giving Mid Journey Abbey Road. But is it that bad? Kind of. You're right, it is kind of bad.

[Chelsea Fairless]

I'm just staring at Chelsea as she justifies this poster. I mean, here's what I'll say. I hope it was created by AI. I hope these women did not have to stand there and pose if they really took this photograph. And then this is what the poster turned out to be.

[Lauren Garrone]

Babe, there's no way that was shot on a Manhattan street. There's no way in hell. I question if the girls were even photographed at the same time. Maybe.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Do you think Sarah Jessica Parker was like, when you put me into this Mid Journey, can I have a hat?

[Lauren Garrone]

Another thing I think we should accept at this point, that we all need to accept is that this character is going to wear like very unfortunate hats. And maybe that is canon for Carrie at this point.

[Chelsea Fairless]

And maybe Burger had a point when he bullied a nice hat.

[Lauren Garrone]

This hat is hard to put your finger on. Like it looks like it might be a fedora, but with the sort of indented part pushed out. Although the brim kind of curls up like a fisherman hat. And it's kind of more the sort of shape of a top hat, but not completely. It's a little bit of everything all rolled into one. As Meredith Brooks once said.

[Chelsea Fairless]

It's also giving several late in life Johnny Depp character roles mushed into one.

[Lauren Garrone]

It's very like Hollywood Boulevard. Johnny Depp impersonator.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Oh my God. What was that band he was in?

[Lauren Garrone]

It was something about grunts.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Hollywood Vampires.

[Lauren Garrone]

Oh wait, no, that was The Russell.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Crowe 1.10odd foot of grunts was Russell Crowe. How dare you. No, Hollywood Vampires is Johnny Depp's band with Alice Cooper and Joe Perry of Aerosmith. And they are listed as a Super group.

[Lauren Garrone]

What this poster is really saying is that Che and Naya are no longer with us.

[Chelsea Fairless]

I did click on the and just like that subreddit. I like that the top comment is, I hope Naya married that fine ass Michelin chef.

[Lauren Garrone]

I hope she did too.

[Chelsea Fairless]

All right, have we said it all?

[Lauren Garrone]

I think so.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Let us get into a Vogue idea.

[Lauren Garrone]

So for the first time ever, I had to watch Sex and the City illegally because I just got back from Greece and there's no Max in Greece. And Sex and the City is not on Netflix in Greece either. So I had to watch Sex and the City on, like, watch sexinthecity.net or something. So the episode starts with a Carrie voiceover. As always, she's entering the Vogue magazine offices.

[Chelsea Fairless]

I remember watching this episode when it originally aired and watching it again. I got that same, like, contact high of watching it for the first time where, like, the momentum and excitement of like, okay, Carrie and Aiden have broken up because the previous episode is ring a ding ding. So this is where Aiden kind of gives her the ultimatum to buy her apartment and she bullies Charlotte into giving her money to buy back her apartment. But I don't know, this episode just has an energy to it where it's like, yeah, sure, Carrie and Eden aren't together anymore, but like, she figured out her apartment shit, and now she's got a short sassy bob. And now we're at Vogue shooting this.

[Lauren Garrone]

In the actual Vogue offices, which at the time were in Times Square. Really, really validated this show. And specifically Carrie as a fashion insider, as a fashion icon. It's cool that they allowed them to write an episode where Carrie does some not totally Voguey things. Let's just say some inappropriate things happen at Vogue. But it also, to me, kind of has the tone at times of like a sort of 50s screwball comedy, kind of like a gentleman prefer blondes kind of vibe. And I think that's evident here in the first scene where we get this score. That is very kind of funny. Face coded.

[Chelsea Fairless]

This episode has a buoyancy to it because the previous episode is dark. I mean, it is Carrie at possibly her lowest. Losing her home, losing the love, one of the loves of her life. But it's all worked out.

[Lauren Garrone]

It's all worked out because she has just submitted her first freelance article for one of the most relevant and provocative magazines on the newsstands today.

[Chelsea Fairless]

2000 Era Vogue.

[Lauren Garrone]

Possibly you could do worse than 2000 Era Vogue.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Look, it was no George magazine. But she is correct in her voiceover. This would be Carrie's mecca and it is where she belongs.

[Lauren Garrone]

And she looks like she belongs because she's wearing this very beautiful pinstripe Vivienne Westwood suit with the cameo. Her hair is short, but it's the best the short hair ever looked, I think on Carrie.

[Chelsea Fairless]

I was thinking about this. I was like, why do I hate her sassy bob in season five? And yet it looks so good towards the end of season four.

[Lauren Garrone]

It looks so good in season four. Yeah. I don't know. Something happened. I think it got shorter. Maybe the next season. Like, this was the perfect length.

[Chelsea Fairless]

It got poofier too.

[Lauren Garrone]

So she has a meeting with Enid, played by the wonderful Candice Bergen. This is where her character is introduced and who is the bootleg Stanley Tucci from Devil Wears Prada.

[Chelsea Fairless]

This is the actor Ron Rifkin, who plays Julian. I know Ron Rifkin beyond this episode. At the same time he was on Alias, he was running the shadowy agency that Sidney Bristow, played by Jennifer Garner, was a part of.

[Lauren Garrone]

Yeah, see, I never watched that.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Fair enough. It is odd casting, I'm gonna guess. I didn't google this. I'm sure people will correct us. I'm sure Ron Rifkin does a lot of stage work as that is often where they pull from with actors.

[Lauren Garrone]

So it's very special that Candice Bergen is in this episode because she has a long history with Vogue herself. She was on the COVID of Vogue several times in the 60s and 70s. And she likely worked with the sort of people that this iconic caricature of a fashion editor is based on. Right. Which we've seen in Funny Face, we've seen in other movies, but she actually knows these bitches.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Candice Bergen, as Enid seems of this world. We'll get into it as we speak further into this episode of like, what exactly is going on with Julian? Is this a realistic character? I'll just ask. Now, are we meant to initially think that he's a gay man?

[Lauren Garrone]

Maybe. I think it's a realistic character. If this episode took place in the.

[Chelsea Fairless]

60S, were there a lot of straight male editors?

[Lauren Garrone]

Well, they were probably closeted, so I imagine. I don't know if, like the male editors at Vogue were always out and proud necessarily, but it's more the drinking martinis in the morning thing that also gives it that mid century feel.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Absolutely. So anyway, Carrie is there, I think she believes to be fetid for her amazing 500 word article. And instead she sees that it is bleeding.

[Lauren Garrone]

She gets red to filth.

[Enid]

Ms. Bradshaw, what you've handed us here is essentially just your newspaper column with the word style jammed in where the word sex used to be. We're not looking for Vogue according to your agenda. No one cares about your agenda.

[Chelsea Fairless]

That's not true.

[Enid]

Oh, forgive me. I don't care about your agenda. I care about designers. Oscar de la Renta, Chanel, Dior. I want less Carrie Bradshaw and more carry this bag with these shoes. Do you see what I mean? You're a writer. You should be writing this down.

[Chelsea Fairless]

That last line, you're a writer. You should be writing this down, always sends a chill down my spine because I feel like we've all been in meetings where we were utterly unprepared to be criticized. Just me.

[Lauren Garrone]

Well, also, you should always take notes. But Carrie didn't even think about that.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Well, a notepad and a pencil clearly wouldn't go with her outfit. Does she even have a purse?

[Lauren Garrone]

Yeah, I don't know. We didn't see one.

[Chelsea Fairless]

So my question is, is Enid's criticism valid or is she just being a hater? Do we think a line like a Prada dress should always be worn with an investment banker? I don't think that's beneath Vogue, but.

[Lauren Garrone]

I love how Carrie breaks her own rules. Like, you wore a Prada dress with a struggling fiction writer.

[Chelsea Fairless]

That's where you wear a Prada dress.

[Lauren Garrone]

You've worn Prada dresses with all of your boyfriends at this point, and thankfully, none of them were investment bankers. Look, if you look at the screenshot of the article, it is really bad.

[Chelsea Fairless]

I don't know if writing 500 words should be this difficult for Kerry. I'll just say the notes I took for this episode, I looked at the word count. 2,000 words.

[Lauren Garrone]

But also, we should note Candace Bushnell did write for Vogue before Sex and the City. After Sex and the City, she was a Vogue girl. She wasn't writing a ton of long form Vogue articles like profiles and stuff, but she was writing that sort of fun front of book stuff that we all love from Vogue for sure. So this is also consistent with the real life origins of this character.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Enid has to leave. She is then consoled by Julian, who plays Billie Holiday. And this is where we get the, I would say, iconic drunk at Vogue scene. He says to her that she shouldn't let Enid get to her because she just came back from Paris. And apparently humor and irony are out this season. Yeah, you hinted at this a little bit ago, but it is very Mad Men to just have a full martini Set up in your office. And is he suggests that Carrie has a Martini at 10:00am 11:00am yeah, like.

[Lauren Garrone]

I said, this is where it feels more like the funny face fantasy than what Vogue was actually like in the year 2000. And I'm fine with that.

[Chelsea Fairless]

You know what I'm not fine with is the fact that Julian says that he only breaks out the martinis for emergencies. And the last time he did this is when he heard Fun Fur was making a comeback. And I love Fun fur.

[Lauren Garrone]

Well, I hope he's retired at this point because the fall 2025 collections would have killed him.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Carrie gets drunk on two martinis.

[Lauren Garrone]

Well, it's one and a half martinis technically, which I don't think is enough. Look, I get that she hasn't eaten and it's early in the morning and sometimes a strong martini can really knock you on your ass. But Carrie also goes out every single night and drinks.

[Chelsea Fairless]

You are correct, it is one and a half. Because she sort of sloshes half of the second martini as she's talking to Julian.

[Lauren Garrone]

But this Carrie I love so much because she is so flawed and so messy and such a train wreck. Because actually doing this, not just being drunk or tipsy at Vogue, she's like, fall down drunk at Vogue.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Okay, maybe we better just take you.

[Carrie Bradshaw]

I can't go out there. I'm drunk. I'm drunk in Vogue.

[Chelsea Fairless]

So Julian sneaks Carrie out of the Vogue offices where Carrie bumps into someone and she whispers to Julian, please tell me that wasn't Anna Wintour.

[Lauren Garrone]

Well, he's also like holding her up. Like, I see bouncers dragging people out of the Abbey that look like this, you know?

[Chelsea Fairless]

And then Carrie falls into a clothing rack and I'm sorry, but this is definitely getting back to Enid. That their new Vogue writer was false. Falling down drunk at 11am in the offices. Like, I am surprised they didn't cancel her piece then. This is also beside the point, Chelsea. But in this scene, you get a close up of Carrie's shoes and she's wearing nude patent leather. I assume Manolo Blahniks. Do we think that's the right choice with this Vivian Westwood suit?

[Lauren Garrone]

Don't question Patfield.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Never.

[Lauren Garrone]

I think she looks great.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Just made me think.

[Lauren Garrone]

Cut to Samantha and Richard at dinner. It's about to be Richard's birthday.

[Chelsea Fairless]

I'm sorry, but Samantha practically goads Richard into this situation. Because I forgot that repeatedly. Richard's like, I don't want to do anything to celebrate my birthday.

[Lauren Garrone]

And then they get hit on by the Hostess of the restaurant elected Alexa, who says you're the most attractive couple in the restaurant.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Not to sound like Parker posing the White Lotus, but what does this young woman want with this old man?

[Lauren Garrone]

I don't know. I think that's like hot. And I respect a girl who just like outright hits on couples. You know, that's a great quality to have if you're a hot single person. Because like, why not just cut to the chase? If they reject you, it's probably because they're monogamous and if they take the bait, you just saved them from having to make a field profile.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Yeah, this is sort of the opposite of the we saw you from across the room and we like your vibe poly threesome line because it's, it's a single person being like, are you guys opened?

[Lauren Garrone]

This is how non monogamy should work. So basically Richard's like, actually I would like a threesome with this woman who just hit on us.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Well, sorry. He qualifies it as an all night non stop championship fucking fest with you and Alexa. And the way that Kim Cattrall plays this moment where as the audience, you see her face fall for a second and then she instantly picks back up her smile when Richard looks back at her is so brilliant.

[Lauren Garrone]

Cut to Samantha talking about this with the girls at the diner.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Is a three way with a 21 year old a bad idea for Richard's birthday? What an introductory line.

[Lauren Garrone]

And Carrie's like, what are you giving him next year? A four way?

[Chelsea Fairless]

That's a fair question for her. As funny as this storyline is, it is setting up what ends up happening in the next episode, which is the season finale of season four, where Samantha's storyline is being consumed that Richard is cheating on her. And she has this line where she's like, look, he doesn't want to be monogamous, so either he cheats with me or without me. And then has the not great line of it's not like he asked me to get him a hooker. Probably a line that wouldn't happen now. No, this is also prime time, the four of them having brunch. Everyone is in their own worlds and perspectives and it just builds the dialogue so brilliantly. Right. Because Charlotte is horrified about not just the threesome, but it's also like you're allowing Richard to fuck someone who's young enough to be his daughter. Like that is the fantasy. And Samantha's like, yeah, that's the problem.

[Lauren Garrone]

Also, we should note that Samantha is wearing a giant mud flap girl necklace in this scene, which is so iconic.

[Chelsea Fairless]

By White Trash Charms, which, as we learned, still exists.

[Lauren Garrone]

Still exists, bless them. Also, Carrie is wearing the iconic keffiyeh top by Mikalin Hushi that went semi viral last year, especially after Bella Hadid wore the dress version of it to Cannes. I think we talked about it when we talked about Cannes, whenever that was. But I just want to reiterate that I don't think that Carrie was intentionally making a political statement with this particular fashion choice in the same way that Cynthia Nixon was with her color blocked cowboy shirt. Like, our girl doesn't vote. She's not trying to free Palestine.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Yes, it was more for the fashion.

[Lauren Garrone]

And that was very true to the time period for anyone that wasn't around then.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Well, seeing that Carrie's entire dialogue in this scene is consumed with accessories she's supposed to recommend for this Vogue article, I don't think politics were top of mind. We also get this wonderful bit of Charlotte and Trey lore, which is Charlotte's warning to Samantha of, like, participating in your man's fantasies because you know it could blow up your relationship. And then you're just the idiot who did it with him on the golf course or something.

[Lauren Garrone]

Love that for her.

[Chelsea Fairless]

So Miranda is late because she's buying baby shit. She says that she was just at Crib World because Crib City isn't enough. And I have to tell you, one of the things that has changed from when this episode aired and now is there isn't even a Crib World. There's not a Crib City. There's not a Crib Town. Everything is online. We do not have stores with inventory anymore.

[Lauren Garrone]

Did we not just, like, go to that crib store, though?

[Chelsea Fairless]

Okay. What does exist is a place called the Baby List, which is an online registry. And then in la, they have a showroom, which, yes, the foursome, Paul, myself, you and Tat all went to this place and tested out different strollers and.

[Lauren Garrone]

They had cribs, but you couldn't actually buy anything.

[Chelsea Fairless]

You could scan the QR code and add it to your registry.

[Lauren Garrone]

Right.

[Chelsea Fairless]

I think the most impressive thing is that they had large baby bajor and.

[Lauren Garrone]

Like, like, ones that, like, were designed for adults. It was very much giving, like, AB lifestyle.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Oh, yeah. It was giving adult baby. And so Chell and Paul got in one and just took a few photos.

[Lauren Garrone]

The general gist with Miranda is that she doesn't have time to, like, prepare for this baby. She doesn't have time to find a crib. She works like 10,000 hours a week. So, like, how Am I going to, like, go shopping for all this stuff? I'm like, girl, how are you going to have a baby if you can't go to the crib store?

[Chelsea Fairless]

Well, yeah, she says, I don't have a vague idea how I'm gonna do any of this. And then Carrie says, well, I don't have a Vogue idea, so. Hello, Chelsea. If I was venting to you about getting ready for the baby and your response was a pun, I would punch you in the face. And I think I would be justified in doing that.

[Lauren Garrone]

This is, of course, where we get the name of the episode.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Also, indeed, Samantha rightly points out, why can't Steve? Or as she calls him, 01 ball help. And then Miranda says that her situation is just too complicated for Crib World. And this is where Charlotte suggests a baby shower. Because you can bully people into getting you all the shit that you need.

[Lauren Garrone]

And Miranda only really consents when she's like, okay, I'll have one, but I want sandwiches with crusts. I want fried chicken.

[Chelsea Fairless]

No cutesy storky shit. Yeah, I would say that I had a similar baby shower. I employed the amazing Annie Campbell Event planning, who helped plan the wedding is a fuckette. Basically, our initial call about the baby shower was just referencing this episode.

[Lauren Garrone]

Well, I feel like no one is doing storks these days.

[Chelsea Fairless]

That was our one mistake. We ran out of time. But there was, as you remember, a photo wall. And I meant to have Paul make a duck with a cigar, which. Which we're told is Miranda's invitation for her baby shower, but we just couldn't, couldn't get it together to do that. But I was taken aback at I was asked, understandably so, what the theme for the baby shower should be. And I was completely caught off guard. I suppose I should have just made the theme like Miranda's baby shower from Sex and the City.

[Lauren Garrone]

Why didn't you? No, you didn't need to. It was beautiful. It wasn't like super theme heavy. It just looked cute. There were no crusts on the sandwiches. They did have the crusts cut off, which isn't something that bothers me. I think we love a tea sandwich. And you were going for that vibe.

[Chelsea Fairless]

That high tea, that high tea environment. Yeah. I asked for an adult tea party and I. And I got it. I think unlike Miranda, who just doesn't have friends who have children, I am similarly an outlier, but only because I have one high school friend who has a three year old and then I have another friend who just had a baby and nobody else. And I was like, this is a baby shower for people that don't have babies. Like, we're having an open bar, even though I can't drink. And we did submit to a few baby games, which is the one thing Miranda's like, I don't want to do any games.

[Lauren Garrone]

Well, I feel like you have to do something. But your games weren't that annoying. Like, there was a guess the celebrity baby name thing, which you ran, which I emceed, where you basically, like, they gave everyone, like, a list of celebrities and a list of the baby names, and you had to match the names to the celebrities everyone said I killed.

[Chelsea Fairless]

You were amazing. I feel like there is a version of you that is a stern art teacher because you were going around and checking everyone's pictures paper as they were filling out the names, helping critiquing. Unsurprisingly, I won. I got 15 out of 15, but. And there were prizes, which I was shocked by. And I was like, that's. It's not fair. And then you did a sudden death match with my friend Danielle and Lauren Kramer.

[Lauren Garrone]

Yeah, Danielle won, right?

[Chelsea Fairless]

She did. It was a. It was a rough day for friend of the show Lauren Kramer. Because the other game, Steal the baby. Whose baby? I was looking at the choices and you were like, oh, that seems funny, because it was a mixture in my mind of the way that this game was presented was, you know, in junior high when you had to, like, carry an egg with you and keep it alive for a week. And that bit in Bridesmaids where Melissa McCarthy takes like, nine puppies from the. From the bridal shower because you are given a baby. When you arrived at the baby shower, you couldn't put it in your pocket. You couldn't put it in your purse. So you could steal the babies if someone put it down. And whoever got the most babies won the game. I was imagining, like, cabbage patch sized dolls.

[Lauren Garrone]

Yeah, Baby sized babies.

[Chelsea Fairless]

But they were the most miniature little babies.

[Lauren Garrone]

They look like they could be on a white trash charms necklace.

[Chelsea Fairless]

And I immediately was like, I'm out. And I gave my baby to Tat. And so it became a fight between Lauren Kramer and Tat of who could steal the most babies. And unfortunately, Lauren Kramer yet again lost and Tat won that.

[Lauren Garrone]

I didn't even bother to participate with that one, but it was very cute.

[Chelsea Fairless]

We get a brief scene where Charlotte gets work done at her house to cover up the baby room that she was making with Trey, which also always calls into question the bizarre layout of Trey's apartment that is now Charlotte's apartment. Because it seems like.

[Lauren Garrone]

Just lock the door.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Well, it also seems like the baby's nursery is kind of in a railroad style room off of the foyer and you would have to walk through the baby's room to get to her bedroom.

[Lauren Garrone]

But anyway, anyway, it's very depressing.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Carrie has sushi with Julian. This is where we learn, despite my thinking, Julian is not gay. He has a wife who was a dancer in Martha Graham's company.

[Lauren Garrone]

He's been married for 24 years.

[Chelsea Fairless]

And he asked Carrie if she has a man in her life. Chelsea, I don't know about you, but this episode radicalized me against older men who took an interest in me. Like, I. I watch this at a very impressionable age. And this episode taught me, like, no older man wants to help you. He does not have your best interests at heart.

[Lauren Garrone]

You mean older straight man.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Oh, yeah, sorry.

[Lauren Garrone]

Absolutely. Because what does an old guy want with a young girl?

[Chelsea Fairless]

Well, again, this is kind of genius subtle manipulation. Right? Because he's putting her in a place where he's asking questions to learn more about her. But it's all about like, do you have a boyfriend? Do you have a love in your life? What's your relationship with your own father? And then he parentalizes her by calling her kiddo. You know, I don't let my kids quit because this is where Carrie is. Like, I have asked you to dinner, not just because you were obviously going to pay for this dinner, but to tell you I'm quitting this 500 word assignment for Vogue.

[Lauren Garrone]

Well, he's clearly a mentor to her, which is what makes this all so creepy.

[Chelsea Fairless]

I mean, he negs her in a brilliantly subtle way. He's asking about her father and she reveals. And we get one of the few bits of Carrie Bradshaw history that her father left when she was five years old. And then he follows it up with, that's interesting. Your father left and you spent the rest of your life asking questions about men.

[Lauren Garrone]

Well, it's interesting because like you said, we get some information about Carrie's life pre 1998.

[Chelsea Fairless]

He does this, and then he brilliantly follows it up by saying, like, how about Enid's no longer your editor and I'm just your editor now? Would that be better?

[Lauren Garrone]

Also, I feel like we should note that this thing with her dad does contradict the Carrie Diaries, which we still haven't watched.

[Chelsea Fairless]

We'll never watch.

[Lauren Garrone]

How have we held out this long? We should watch it at some point. Why not?

[Chelsea Fairless]

And then we get the. I couldn't help but wonder which, in all of our rewatch episodes might be the most salient. I couldn't help but wonder. That actually asks a very probing question.

[Carrie Bradshaw]

Later that night, I got to thinking about fathers or the lack of them. Some say a daughter's relationship with her father is the model for all her subsequent relationships with men. Is that just pop psychology or is there some truth to it? And if you were given a less than perfect model, does it mean a life of less than perfect relationships? I couldn't help but wonder, how much does a father figure figure?

[Chelsea Fairless]

I got a lot of thoughts about this Chelsea shoot. So, yeah, daddy issues. Do women with emotionally unavailable fathers seek out emotionally unavailable men? I sure thought so. As someone who had a father who traveled a lot when I was younger and was not exactly emotionally available when he was at home, I was like, I took this as Bible. I was like, yeah, that's why I seek out these patterns. But then I became very close with my father when I moved back to Los angeles in my mid-20s. And I still was following a fairly destructive pattern of going after unavailable men. And then I realized it wasn't his bullshit that made me this way. It was my own bullshit. So basically, I did the work Carrie Bradshaw didn't and never has, which is going to a fucking therapist and unpacking why I keep doing the same shit over and over again.

[Lauren Garrone]

Okay? But there is a degree of truth to this. No? Like, I get that ultimately, at the end of the day, we are all responsible for our happiness and our growth and whether we're repeating toxic generational patterns, but we have to be aware of those toxic generational patterns, right?

[Chelsea Fairless]

I mean, later in the episode, Miranda, you know, they wrap this storyline up basically by Miranda being like, my dad came home every night at the same time and I still have no clue about men. Given that the last line is how. How much is a father figure figure? No needle drop of George Michael's father figure would have been a more appropriate needle drop of father figure than baby girl. And two, it's a little weird that Steve isn't in this episode.

[Lauren Garrone]

True. But it speaks to where Miranda is at with Steve. She is having this child as a single person, mostly.

[Chelsea Fairless]

And as they joke later in the episode, Miranda is the child's father figure. Carrie pulls out a photo of herself with her father when she's very little. This is a real photo of Sarah Jessica Parker in a field when she was three years old. But the man that is her father in this photo is not Sarah Jessica Parker's father, but a cameraman named John R. McDonald who was added in digitally. And I have to say, this is one of the things I obsess over in movies is fake digital family photos. This is one of the best I've ever seen.

[Lauren Garrone]

Yeah, it's great. You're right.

[Chelsea Fairless]

It looks legit.

[Lauren Garrone]

It does look legit. It really does.

[Chelsea Fairless]

So Charlotte, of course, is taking her role as baby shower planner very seriously and calls Miranda at work. While Miranda's in the middle of a work call saying it is an emergency just to ask if she has a Manhattan Whoseits on her registry. This is also where we get the idea of a stork made of feathers that are white. Fiji, Mum. Still not sure what that is.

[Lauren Garrone]

No clue.

[Chelsea Fairless]

And something that I wish that I had incorporated into the baby shower, which is a marzipan baby carriage, because that sounds delicious.

[Lauren Garrone]

And you can eat the baby.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Yeah, it's a chocolate peanut butter baby inside that you can eat.

[Lauren Garrone]

Very yellow jackets.

[Chelsea Fairless]

We should say that your suggestion as a theme for my baby shower was Rosemary's Baby.

[Lauren Garrone]

I thought that would kill.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Well, I think a marzipan baby carriage with a baby you could eat would have been also very on theme for that. And then Charlotte goes to Miranda's house, I guess, to baby proof it.

[Lauren Garrone]

She shows up wearing a really fabulous corset top. And then just sort of walks around and tells Miranda all of the things that are wrong with her apartment. Everything that needs to be baby proofed.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Asking about the different parenting philosophies that Miranda's gonna do or not do. Not that anyone asked, but this scene made me realize I am somehow Charlotte and Miranda combined in my readiness for a baby. Because, like Charlotte, I've done a lot of research about items, practices, methodologies. But like Miranda, I have not purchased or enacted any of this knowledge that I've acquired about parenting.

[Lauren Garrone]

Okay. I am a little concerned about the fact that, like, you haven't even started to put the nursery together. Like, when are you planning on doing that? When your water is breaking? I'm just saying, like, towards the end, it starts to get, like, uncomfortable being super pregnant and stuff. And maybe now would be a better time to get into that.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Well, the answer to your question is because we are building currently every Outfit Studios and Paul's office. Paul's current office in our house is where the nursery is going to be. Here's another thing I've come to learn about having a child, which Charlotte is explaining to Miranda in this scene. The baby sleeps in Your room for the first few months before you jettison it to its own room, which seems really cruel to put on. A pregnant woman. Like, you must decorate and fully set up a nursery that the baby's not going to use for another four to six months.

[Lauren Garrone]

See, I would do it, like, immediately.

[Chelsea Fairless]

So this is all to say that we are getting our bedroom set up for a baby, but we will be setting up the nursery, the child's room, once Paul is moved to his office, once construction is done over the summer. And you will be fully involved in the design of this baby room.

[Lauren Garrone]

Rosemary's Baby theme could carry on. You know, has there ever been a chic or apartment you can curate the.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Perfect Japanese poster for this baby. Baby's room.

[Lauren Garrone]

So Charlotte and Miranda basically get into a fight because Miranda starts getting really overwhelmed by Charlotte's suggestions, questions, et cetera.

[Chelsea Fairless]

To be fair, Charlotte is coming from a good place and does make a great point as someone who is a type A person herself, which Charlotte makes the point that you have to let other people in a little bit because it's not just going to be about you anymore. There's a baby and you're not going to be able to control everything, which is something I'm grappling with.

[Lauren Garrone]

Yeah. Best of luck, girl.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Although what really, let's be honest, sets Miranda off more than anything, is when Charlotte tells her that she had to cancel the fried chicken at the baby shower for the reason that you were the only person that wanted all of that breading. I'll put that in quotes. So rude. Look, I just want to enjoy the fried chicken and be done with it.

[Carrie Bradshaw]

Oh, well, I had to rethink the fried chicken because you were the only one who wanted all that breading. So instead, we're having masculine greens and lovely puttanesca with a Fiji Mum centerpiece.

[Chelsea Fairless]

A Fiji Mum stork centerpiece. One stork.

[Carrie Bradshaw]

I think you can deal with two storks.

[Chelsea Fairless]

I saw the invitation. There's a stork on the invitation.

[Carrie Bradshaw]

That's not a stork. That. That is a duck. And that duck is smoking. And it's a boy's cigar. That duck's not for children.

[Chelsea Fairless]

That duck is fucked. This whole shower is fucked.

[Carrie Bradshaw]

You can't have a shower without some baby stuff.

[Chelsea Fairless]

You keep this up, you're gonna have a shower without a mommy.

[Carrie Bradshaw]

Fine. Miranda, you better show up. I am not getting stuck with a bunch of lawyers who, if they're anything like you, won't even appreciate a beautiful puttanesca. Watch out for the sharp edges.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Why do you think the choice of Puttanesca just a funny word to say?

[Lauren Garrone]

I don't know. But I love this fight so much and I love this episode so much because we get more scenes with just Miranda and Charlotte than we do in any other episode.

[Chelsea Fairless]

And I think they are an underrated, but a great duo throughout the show and the movies and then. And just like that as well.

[Lauren Garrone]

And as we've said before, I think they're actually the closest friends of the cast, so they have brilliant chemistry.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Acting will only get you so far, as we learned in our deep dive of the Kim Cattrall Sarah and Jessica Parker feud episode available on our VIP channels. And now we have Carrie and Miranda on Carrie stoop. Carrie has come down because Miranda cannot get up Carrie stairs, which I don't know. I just brought all our podcast equipment up your driveway and your stairs and I was fine. There's no truth in this art, but I do love any glimpse we get of Perry street since we can't have it anymore.

[Lauren Garrone]

Yeah.

[Chelsea Fairless]

So Miranda worries that she'll be a terrible mother because she has no maternal instincts. She confesses that she dropped her niece on her head when she was babysitting her at the age of 13. As I said before, as a fellow type A person like Miranda, I don't really care for the insistence that type A women make terrible moms. Although given how Brady turned out in end just like that, maybe she wasn't a good mom. Maybe she was correct.

[Lauren Garrone]

That's so rude.

[Chelsea Fairless]

I didn't write Brady that way. Brady could have been up at, you know, Boston University during the first two seasons of it, just like that.

[Lauren Garrone]

Brady was just another one of those, like teenage kids that got fucked up during the pandemic, like, cut him some.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Slack and he ended up in the most New York looking street in Amsterdam. Remember that? In season two? Of course, as we spoke about earlier, Carrie presses Miranda and she says, do you think it really can be as simple as my father walked out, therefore I'll always be messed up about men. To which Miranda says, my father came home every night at seven on the dot and I have no clue about men either. And now we get the baby shower.

[Lauren Garrone]

Miranda shows up in what I assume is some sort of missoni off the shoulder top. She looks very pregnant. And Cynthia Nixon is actually pregnant, right?

[Chelsea Fairless]

No. It's this bizarre thing that when Miranda is pregnant in season four, Cynthia wasn't. But in season five, Cynthia Nixon and Sarah Jessica Parker were pregnant at the same time.

[Lauren Garrone]

I love that they timed those pregnancies.

[Chelsea Fairless]

So Charlotte has cut out all the cutesy baby shit, but still has made a very chic baby shower.

[Lauren Garrone]

Well, that's just what her apartment looks like. But she got the fried chicken. She's the perfect hostess. Of course.

[Chelsea Fairless]

I think this is a great menu. Tea sandwiches, fried chicken, Puntanesca, a mescaline salad. What more could you ask for? So Carrie and Samantha arrive and their gift has always been in my head, which is that four tiered baby cake made entirely of diapers.

[Lauren Garrone]

No. Who wants that?

[Chelsea Fairless]

I don't know if it ever existed. It might be an invention for the show. It's a cute idea.

[Lauren Garrone]

It would be a cute idea as like a gag gift, which I kind of did consider doing. But then I was like, who wants this?

[Chelsea Fairless]

And I do appreciate that.

[Lauren Garrone]

Although Carrie is wearing a really amazing Matthew Williamson rainbow skirt.

[Chelsea Fairless]

What happened to Matthew Williamson?

[Lauren Garrone]

Well, his fashion line closed and then I think he pivoted to being an interior designer.

[Chelsea Fairless]

I think there's a VIP episode in us. You know, we often talk about designer musical chairs, but just like designers who fell off the face of the planet.

[Lauren Garrone]

Where are they now? Yeah, he's around. He's just not making clothes anymore. He did the Todd Oldham thing.

[Chelsea Fairless]

So we cut to circle of women. They're all passing around baby presents that have been opened. I will say I did not do this at my baby shower. I also didn't ask for things from a registry. The ask was which was recommended by the party planners, was asking everyone to bring their favorite children's book to help build the baby's library and write a message in the book, which I thought was very sweet.

[Lauren Garrone]

What did you think of my book?

[Chelsea Fairless]

Well, you got several. One of which is a Maria Abramovic book for children.

[Lauren Garrone]

I thought that was crazy. It's not actually my favorite children's book from childhood. But I just went to the Hammer recently and went in the gift shop and saw that. And it's like, if there's one thing that children don't need to know about, it's Marina Abramovic's art. But your child will know.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Yes. And quite like Miranda's baby shower. There was inappropriate discussions about dating politics at my baby shower. And I would have it no other way. But we have this in the form of Samantha telling Carrie about this upcoming threesome where she says she may be 21, but I have 21 years of experience and I can fuck her under the table. Yeah. If I were in my early 20s going up against the Samantha Jones, I would be incredibly intimidated by her sexual prowess.

[Lauren Garrone]

I mean, I would be into it, so.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Well, you would not want Richard Wright to be in that equation at all. No, I do love that she refers to Richard as this woman's just renting him I own. And then she's like, wait, actually I don't really own him. And carries like so it's more like an illegal sublet type of thing. Which I think there's no better way to describe a situationship than an illegal sublet. This is where Miranda's co worker goes to the bathroom and hands her her baby, which Miranda promptly puts on the couch. And the baby almost falls off of the couch.

[Lauren Garrone]

Okay, so I did see Lauren hold a baby for the first time at the baby shower. And guys, I knew you were going.

[Chelsea Fairless]

To bring this up.

[Lauren Garrone]

It was distressing.

[Chelsea Fairless]

We'll see for the Patreon fuck ads if we can put a little emoji over the baby's face. So my friend Emily, who did the music for my film Sugar Baby, I've known her since my early twenties. She just had a child, it's two months old. Brought the baby. She was like, do you want to hold the baby? And I did. And 20 pairs of eyes turned to me. Everyone was watching me hold this baby. And everyone kept asking, have you ever held a baby before? Which I found very insulting because I had. And.

[Lauren Garrone]

And well, maybe it's because you weren't supporting the head.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Then I saw a photo from a particular angle where the baby was first put in my hands. And my talon nails are just like so close to the baby's face that I was like, oh, I'm sorry guys. I understand why you were asking this question.

[Lauren Garrone]

Well, obviously you'll figure it out. Your days of not knowing how to hold a baby are numbered.

[Chelsea Fairless]

So Charlotte cries when someone gives Miranda a Tiffany silver rattle. Which reminded me of your other gift. Cause you got me a little Elsa Peretti comb for the baby.

[Lauren Garrone]

Oh yeah, a baby brush. And in all honesty, I wasn't really sure what the purpose of the brush was. It's for the hair. But I was like, maybe it's to exfoliate the baby. Because you know how babies get a little crusty, like fresh out.

[Chelsea Fairless]

I'll let you know. Let's be honest, any Elsa Peretti related baby item is more for the mother than the baby itself.

[Lauren Garrone]

For sure. And someone was like, you should get her the rattle. And I was like, the baby's not gonna give a shit about the rattle. The rattle is for the baby. The brush is for the mom. Cause I also contemplated the Elsa Peretti, like, spoon and fork duo. But then I was like, they're never gonna actually use that. They're gonna give the baby some, like, soft silicone thing. It's never gonna be that. So the brush was what I landed on.

[Chelsea Fairless]

The brush is brilliant. So Miranda goes to comfort Charlotte. And this proves that Miranda does have a maternal instinct because she can, I don't know, comfort her best friend who's. Who's going through it. I will say this. I do find Miranda and Charlotte's friendship particularly moving, especially in regards to motherhood. Like, I think about the scene earlier in the season when Charlotte finds out she can't have kids and Miranda walks. Walks behind her the entire way home. The only I think, good, slash grounded scene in Sex and the City 2 is when they drink and confide in each other about how hard motherhood is.

[Lauren Garrone]

Is that grounded, though? Because they're at a bar, staffed with their own butler in what is essentially their own hotel room.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Right? Their hotel within the hotel. The conversation is grounded. So this is where Carrie comes in with the baby because the baby has soiled itself. And we get the great ending line of this scene, which is Samantha coming in saying, ladies, I have a three. Way to go, too.

[Lauren Garrone]

Love her for that.

[Chelsea Fairless]

We've also realized in doing these episodes, sometimes it's hard to talk about the episodes in chronological order because there's things that can be smushed together, which is. There was the brief scene where Samantha asked the hostess to have a threesome. And so now they're having a threesome.

[Lauren Garrone]

And we really need to talk about Richard's bachelor pad, because it is a nightmare. It rejects every single convention of interior design. Like, why are there two staircases converging at the head of his bed?

[Chelsea Fairless]

To be fair, we don't see another room in Richard's apartment. For all we know, this bed is in the foyer.

[Lauren Garrone]

But also, like, why are the windows obstructed by these staircases? Why are there two upholstered dining chairs just sitting there? Like, how did this happen? It's kind of as if the principles of German Expressionism were applied to a Marriott hotel room in midtown.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Not only does it go against every law of interior design, it goes against every law of feng shui because you're not supposed to have your bed up against a window. Also, why is this bed 8ft off the ground?

[Lauren Garrone]

Okay, the bed looks low at first glance, like when we first see the bedroom. But in the overhead shot, it is so high that it Looks like it's levitating off the ground like a magic carpet. Like, that woman could have fallen to her death.

[Chelsea Fairless]

I mean, she definitely has a concussion from when Samantha pushed her off the bed.

[Lauren Garrone]

So they're having the three way, but it's really just a cat fight between the women. Essentially, Samantha pushes her off the crazy high bed.

[Chelsea Fairless]

To be fair, I don't know if this even qualifies as a threesome. There's just some, like, heavy petting and then Samantha pushes her off the bed and Richard's like, be nice. And then the girl gets back into bed and says, thanks, Daddy. And then that ends the threesome.

[Lauren Garrone]

Yeah, because Richard's like, get her out of here. Because he's the only man in Manhattan that doesn't want to be called Daddy, I guess.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Yes. Despite the fact that he wants to fuck someone who's young enough to be his daughter, he does not want to be reminded of that fact, even in a slightly kinky way. But this whole scene and experience is just to get us to a place where Richard confides in Samantha that he wants to try monogamy for once with her. I'm sure, like, a lot of fuckettes have experienced. Why is it that when a man is like, no, I want to be like, let's just do this, you and I, they immediately start fucking other people. This was a prison you built. And asked us to be in together.

[Lauren Garrone]

So back at the Vogue offices, Carrie is with God, why can't I remember his name?

[Chelsea Fairless]

Julian.

[Lauren Garrone]

She's with Julian again, and he's like, have you ever heard of the Vogue accessories closet?

[Chelsea Fairless]

Well, he helps her put her 500 word essay to bed. Finally. I'm sorry, I'm gonna use my. I've written a book privilege. Or I guess I've half written a book with you. It is a little embarrassing that these 500 words have been this arduous for Carrie.

[Lauren Garrone]

Anyway, they head to the accessories closet and Carrie freaks out because of this show.

[Chelsea Fairless]

I did think that Manolo Blahnik patent leather Mary Janes were a very rare shoe. And they're not really.

[Lauren Garrone]

No, they're not an urban shoe myth, as Carrie says. Also, Kerry is wearing the most major Prada top. Or is it a dress? Yeah, it's a dress with this very kind of art nouveau type print of these voluptuous naked women. To my knowledge, it wasn't in any of their fashion shows. But it has become an iconic sought after piece, I think largely because of this episode.

[Chelsea Fairless]

And we've covered this outfit on the instagram And I think we covered this scene, I think, as our response to the MeToo movement. And I think that's why we thought we had talked about this episode. Because this older man didn't want to just show her the Vogue accessories closet to make her happy. It was all a ruse to show her in his Versace, or Versace, as he says.

[Lauren Garrone]

He just wanted to show her his Versace briefs and, you know, his dick. Of course.

[Chelsea Fairless]

I don't think this was on purpose. I just think men are gross like this. But this is kind of, as we Learned in the MeToo movement, Harvey Weinstein's pathology, like, his thing was being in a bathrobe.

[Lauren Garrone]

It's one of those scenes that really shows how much attitudes towards sexual harassment and sexual assault have shifted. Thank God. Because this is sort of treated as a awkward but somewhat whimsical situation. Again, I think the score is very unserious.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Well, yeah, it's being treated as like a. Oh, no, you're having a bit of a midlife crisis. Not like, clearly this is a pathology you have that you've definitely tried with other new Vogue writers. I'm sorry, I don't believe this is the first time he's tried this.

[Lauren Garrone]

It's also gross because he says in so many words, let's just, like, work on some of your daddy issues.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Well, no, no, no. He can't be her father, Chelsea, because would her father wear Versace?

[Lauren Garrone]

Okay, the thing I don't understand is I don't think this character, as he's been introduced, would wear Versace.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Absolutely not. He would have, like, I don't know, custom Turnbull and Asser shirts and matching briefs.

[Lauren Garrone]

Whatever is under there would be something like old timey and British would be my guess.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Yeah, they really underplay the severity of this scene because it's less like. Like, how dare you be nearly naked in front of me as this is clearly an act of sexual harassment. And it's more like, have some respect for the Vogue closet. Julian is no longer Carrie's editor. Is he fired from Vogue? Who's to say I don't get the.

[Lauren Garrone]

Vibe that Carrie went to Enid and was like, he sexually harassed me. She's not going to hr. Like, that didn't happen. She was probably just like, can I work with you on this instead of Julian?

[Chelsea Fairless]

Yes.

[Lauren Garrone]

And Enid probably was like, I understand, as I know he has a long track record of doing this with our young hot writers.

[Chelsea Fairless]

So the episode ends with Enid working with Carrie, I guess, on her next monthly story that Equally needs as much work in Eden's eyes. But Carrie's standing up for herself. She pushes back on Eden a little bit at the assertion that Carrie Bradshaw knows nothing about shoes.

[Enid]

What does Carrie Bradshaw know about shoes?

[Carrie Bradshaw]

Enid, with all due respect, men I may not know, but shoes, Shoes I know.

[Enid]

I'm walking. I'm walking.

[Lauren Garrone]

And just like that, she made Edid laugh.

[Chelsea Fairless]

And the episode ends on a voiceover. I admit it's tempting to wish for the perfect boss or the perfect parent or the perfect outfit, but maybe the best any of us can do is not quit. Play the hand we've been given and accessorize the outfit we've got. Yeah, girl, don't quit your Vogue gig. And yeah, there you have it.

[Lauren Garrone]

So how many Manolos? How many patent leather Manolo Mary Janes are we giving this episode?

[Unknown Speaker]

Eight.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Too high.

[Lauren Garrone]

Oh, I was gonna give it 10.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Oh, this is a 10 Manolo episode. Okay.

[Lauren Garrone]

I feel like this is one of the all time greats. Truly. The partnership with Vogue was unprecedented. It was extremely satisfying for fans of the magazine and fans of Sex and the City. I love this episode. I can't imagine Sex and the City without this episode. There's so much Carrie lore within this episode.

[Chelsea Fairless]

I'm gonna change my Manolo rating. Ten Manolos. Boom.

[Lauren Garrone]

Okay, who's the mvp?

[Chelsea Fairless]

I'm gonna say Charlotte just because I feel like you're gonna say Enid.

[Lauren Garrone]

No, this time I'm giving the MVP award to the four person ensemble, just like they did for the cast of Amelia Perez at Cannes.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Oh, everyone is an MVP in this episode.

[Lauren Garrone]

All of them. And the way that they work together. Because I agree, Charlotte in particular is stunning. The way she shifts from that very comedic type shtick to the raw emotion of the breakdown is fantastic. But you don't get that performance without Cynthia. And Sarah Jessica Parker is so brilliant because her best acting is when she's pretending to be drunk or stoned for comedic effect. And we really get that in this episode. And then Samantha balances everyone else out.

[Chelsea Fairless]

For the amount of sex storylines that Samantha has, this is probably the least soul crushing. She is finally in a position of power.

[Lauren Garrone]

Also in this episode, we get to see Samantha's insecurity as well as her balls. So it really has everything. The full spectrum.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Yeah, I mean, it has a perfect balance of the campiness and a bit of a grounded reality. As grounded as the sex in the universe can get.

[Lauren Garrone]

Especially the sex in the universe.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Sex in the universe. Especially in regards to the sex and the City universe. All right, who are we voting off the island of Manhattan?

[Lauren Garrone]

Rapey. Stanley Tucci. Julian, of course, Best dressed Carrie, obviously.

[Chelsea Fairless]

But I will add a caveat. It's easy to say Carrie in the pinstripe Vivian Westwood skirt suit in the beginning of the episode, but I'm gonna go with the gray Vivian Westwood skirt suit at the end of the episode.

[Lauren Garrone]

Oh, fuck. That was my hot take.

[Chelsea Fairless]

All right, well, I want to hear more about that.

[Lauren Garrone]

We always talk about the first suit, the pinstripe suit with the cameo, and. And it is gorgeous. But we cannot overlook the second suit. It is so timelessly glamorous. It's the sort of thing where we can imagine Lauren Bacall wearing it, we can imagine Carolyn Bessette wearing it, and I think it's one of the most incredible pieces of clothing in the entire series. And literally no one talks about it ever.

[Chelsea Fairless]

I mean, I think you've just explained the basis of our Instagram account and the podcast. We're the only two people who care about this and are bringing attention to it. Okay, best line.

[Lauren Garrone]

I'm drunk at Vogue.

[Chelsea Fairless]

That's what I had, too. Who is the character you most identify with? I could go first if you would like.

[Lauren Garrone]

Sure, go first, Miranda.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Because I, too, am a busy, soon to be mother who's just trying to do her best while putting in near zero effort to get ready for arguably the most life changing event of one's life.

[Lauren Garrone]

See, I'm caring because I'm messy, and I'm not above doing the things that she does in this episode.

[Chelsea Fairless]

What is your biggest trigger?

[Lauren Garrone]

Richard's bedroom. Obviously, I was gonna say I didn't.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Care for that line about fun fur. And then I guess you've said your hottest take, so I will jump in with my hottest take. I think Carrie's life would have been better if she did quit Vogue. The episode ends on a message of not quitting and playing the hand you were dealt. But let's imagine for a moment if Carrie had quit Vogue at the end of this episode, what a butterfly effect that could have been. She would have never cultivated a relationship with Enid and therefore never been invited to Enid's holiday party to witness the death of Lexi Featherston. Furthermore, she would have never been asked to be featured in Vogue's age issue about her wedding to Mr. Big. Therefore, never wearing or being gifted that Vivienne Westwood wedding dress that necessitated the larger nuptials that made Mr. Big feel deeply uncomfortable. So uncomfortable that he left her at the altar. And let's fast forward to end. Just like that. Carrie would have never had to cut Enid a sizable check to Enid's newsletter just so that her widow memoir could have gotten mentioned in Enid's newsletter. Boom.

[Lauren Garrone]

You raise some good points.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Thank you.

[Lauren Garrone]

What could have been. That was beautiful, Lauren. Truly.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Thank you, Chelsea. All right, guys. We truly have said it all about this episode. And just like that season three trailer, only time will tell what awaits us with season three. I may be there. I may not be there. We don't know. What I do know is that Chelsea has no choice but to cover every episode.

[Lauren Garrone]

That is my burden. But we will be back next week to talk about all of the fashion and pop culture news that we've missed. Thank you for listening, as always.

[Chelsea Fairless]

All right, guys. Bye.

[Lauren Garrone]

Bye.

[Carrie Bradshaw]

Three.