‘SJP Operates A Kiss Or Kill System On Set’: And Just Like That’s Costume Designers On The Show’s Secrets

If you haven’t already watched And Just Like That... then cancel your plans and make a pitcher of Cosmopolitans. If you have (no spoilers alert), you’ll know that the clothes are just as delicious - and as worthy of a Carrie Bradshaw, ‘Hello, lover’ - as the days of SATC. As soon as filming started, fan accounts emerged that dissected every look and commentary erupted on social media, a phenomenon that the show’s costume designers, Molly Rogers and Danny Santiago, tried to ignore as much as possible.

‘We didn’t let the magnitude or the reputation of the show get to us. I think that would have hindered our creativity,’ says Molly, who collaborated with Patricia Field, SATC’s legendary costume designer, on the original series, in addition to having worked on a string of films including The Devil Wears Prada. ‘It’s such a unicorn because it’s so beloved. I can’t really think of another show where people get so excited to see the ‘Roger Belt’. When does that happen?’

She’s referring to a black studded belt that was recycled from the first film; one of several fan favourites that were sourced from the archive of Sarah Jessica Parker. ‘There are so many special moments with clothing that people have just loved and held onto all these years,’ says Danny, a prolific stylist and fashion editor who joined the costume department for the first movie. ‘It’s almost like some of the accessories or outfits are friends,’ says Molly.

With Sarah Jessica back in the fitting room, it was business as usual. ‘Like the original series, we always let her go through the rack and see every single thing that comes into the room.’ Like Carrie’s game of ‘toss, take or storage’ that she infamously played on the first SATC film while packing up her apartment, Sarah Jessica operates a ‘kiss or kill’ system on set. ‘Kiss stays in the room and gets styled; kill goes out into the hallway and is returned,’ says Molly.

And there was a lot to sort through, with clothes and accessories flooding in from designer showrooms, vintage dealers and local talent like hat designer Rodney Patterson, as well as an epic shopping trip in Florida, where the pair hit all of the vintage and consignment stores between Palm Beach and Miami. ‘I drove a U-Haul truck here,’ laughs Danny, ‘With 12 rolling racks of clothes and another 30 boxes beneath. It was packed.’

SATC was a trailblazer at the time for using vintage clothing outside the context of a period production. The joy now, of course, is that unlike Carrie’s Manolos, which have been replicated by many a well-heeled bride, the pieces keep people guessing. ‘A lot of her looks, you can’t pinpoint where everything’s from, you just know that it looks great on her and it’s an amazing piece of clothing,’ says Danny.

One treasure is a pink kaftan coat with striped panels of pistachio, sourced from Lofty Vintage, that she wears with suede stiletto boots from Gianvito Rossi. Another, a sworn favourite of both costume designers, a pantaloon jumpsuit and matching jacket by Norma Kamali, which came from the vintage haul in Miami. Sarah Jessica wasn’t initially convinced. ‘I don’t think she saw a place for it,’ says Molly. ‘She was like, ‘That’s really out there!’’ And then as the weather got hotter and she read the script, she reached for it again. It’s like wearing a little rainbow, a candy Skittle.’

The heels are fabulously stratospheric - and the perfect antidote to all the slippers we’ve been wearing. ‘We were just looking for eye candy, weren’t we Danny? We wanted to see pretty shoes on pretty feet,’ Molly says. And unsurprisingly, Sarah Jessica is just as big a fan of shoes as her alter-ego. ‘She’s fascinated with shoes. She knows how they’re made. She knows what she likes on her foot. I would say she’s a shoe pro,’ she adds.

What about the new characters, played by actors such as Nicole Ari Parker, Sarita Choudhury, Karen Pittman and Sara Ramirez? ‘When we got the script and were talking to MPK [showrunner Michael Patrick King], that’s something that really excited us, to have these new people to play with,’ says Danny. ‘I don’t think they’ve ever had such a fashion influence on their characters before.’ Molly agrees. ‘I imagine it can be quite intimidating to come into this room, with the legacy of this show, you know, and have your belt chosen by the people in this room.’ Both laugh at the reference to Miranda Priestly, The Devil Wears Prada’s famously icy editrix who practically garrotes Andy, her fashion-clueless assistant, for smirking as they debate the colour of two remarkably similar belts.

One gets the sense that the amount of behind-the-scenes coverage has been both challenging and a totally different ballgame from SATC. ‘Back then, there was no internet. There were no cameras on phones. We were so under-the-radar, even on the last two movies,’ says Molly. ‘Being under the microscope like that was very unusual,’ she says of AJLT. ‘When the girls would come out of their campers, it was instantaneous exposure - and it was being judged immediately.’

With so much legend attached to the characters and clothes, Danny says they tried to tune out the noise. ‘We really didn’t pay too much attention to what people were saying at all.’ At the end of the day, Molly says, they just had one objective. ‘I wanted to have fun because we have been in quarantine and the breaks have been put on the entire world. I wanted to kick a heel up and have a good time.’ Mission accomplished.

And Just Like That… available now on Sky Comedy and streaming service NOW.