'Sex' and the styles

Fans look forward to seeing what fabulous fashion choices Carrie and her friends make this time

We missed Carrie's musings on sex and romance.

We missed Samantha's weekly escapades in the boudoir.

We missed dishing with the girls over brunch.

But admit it. What many of us missed most on "Sex and the City" was the sometimes loud, often trendsetting, never overlooked fifth, sixth and seventh characters -- the clothes, the shoes and the bags.

After four years without little else on TV to turn to for our style fix (except maybe "Gossip Girl" or "The Hills"), "Sex and the City" fashion is expected to be back in force when "Sex and the City: The Movie" opens in theaters Friday.

Those who've seen the movie say fans won't be disappointed. With 300 wardrobe changes in the 135-minute movie, there'll be plenty to feast on visually.

"The person who will want to see it, they'll see it the first time to catch up with the characters and take that ride," says Kim Martin, StyleList.com fashion editor, who screened the movie and interviewed the movie's stars about their SATC style. "But then you'll want to see it again to study everything that they're wearing. The shoes in the movie are almost another character."

While most of us tuned in primarily for the relationships, one of the lasting outcomes of six seasons of the SATC was how the fashion influenced viewers. Before SATC, how many women in mainstream America knew about Fendi baguettes or Manolo Blahnik sandals?

"I think the TV show definitely brought a lot of designer names more to the forefront," Martin says. "It provided an opportunity for people to really get into the New York fashion scene."

How could we forget: The trip Carrie took on the runway wearing Dolce & Gabbana, the Manolo Blahniks stolen from Carrie at a baby shower or the Badgley Mischka dress Charlotte wore in her wedding to Harry?

But the show did more than teach us designer labels. It gave women permission to enjoy and embrace fashion in a way they hadn't before, especially the way Carrie did. Whether it was splurging on a pair of shoes, wearing a daringly sexy dress in the middle of the day or pairing a designer jacket with a vintage dress.

"It really changed the way people dressed," says Julie Jennings, owner of one of the area's first contemporary women's boutiques, Uniquities.

Even she felt it. Jennings says it wasn't until after the show started running in 1998 that she started wearing stilettos with jeans.

To Jennings, though, the lasting effect from the SATC girls wasn't so much the big-name handbags and stilettos. It was helping to broaden the minds of women, telling them it was OK to break fashion rules and make their own. If Carrie could wear something daring and unusual -- a gold "Carrie" necklace, an oversized flower pin or skimpy terry cloth shorts -- maybe they could too.

"They made it cool to mix and match all different price points," Jennings says.

Another local store owner agrees. "It made women be a little more bold, more creative and more fashion-forward," says Ashley Vermillion Harris, owner of Vermillion in North Hills, which sells designer women's clothes. "It really pushed us."

In fact, when Harris was planning to open her store almost four years ago, she used (a more toned down) Carrie as one of her prototypes for who her shopper would be in the store. She envisioned a shopper who might buy a vintage bracelet (as it turns out, from the same broker who styled the cast on the SATC movie) and a designer gown for a big event.

"That's the concept of the whole store," she says.

Costume designer Patricia Field, who also styled the SATC cast for the TV show, brought back the mix-and-match look for the movie, especially for Carrie, who is more eclectic than ever, Martin says.

Here's what else we can expect from Field and her team from the movie:

Belts. One of the biggest styles expected to catch on is the belted silhouette, especially for dresses, Martin says. "It works for a lot of women," she says. "Older and younger women can take the trend and do something with it."

Ageless fashion. For anyone who complains there's no fashion for older women, you might want to tune into what Samantha's wearing. At 51, Kim Cattrall as "Samantha Jones" is just as sexy and sultry as ever, even as she shows less skin in the movie than she used to in the show.

"All of the characters have matured and it's definitely reflected in their clothing," Martin says. "Samantha is still sexy, but she's reached a point in her life where she doesn't care. She wears what she wants."

Boy-meets-girl. It's been a trend for a few seasons now, but with Carrie's Annie Hall look (in a vest and tie) in the movie, it should continue to be a key style for fall.

"Ten years ago we watched every episode never dreaming the influence that the show would have on the fashion world," Jennings says. "Patricia Field is really a fashion genius. Her contributions to current style and trends are very underrated."