The Sex and the City Lifestyle

 

 

 

  

Anouk den Hamer

0208973

Participatory Culture

Group 2

Teacher: S. van der Graaf

June 2004

Introduction

 

The Sex and the City lifestyle

 

Sex and the City is a show about Carrie Bradshaw, a mid-thirty year old, and her friends. You follow their lives and see what they do, how they deal with things, how they think about certain topics, and so on. Fashion is very important in the show. One time Carrie says: “I like my money right where I can see it…hanging in my closet.”[1] Clothes, bags and especially shoes are very important for Carrie and her friends. Whatever Carrie wears, becomes a big hit. She wears big corsets? The next day, New York wears corsets. And the day after the rest of the world. The same goes for the places the friends go to. Almost every episode there is a new place where they go out. That places becomes a hit in real life, just because the Sex and the City-girls went there. On the Internet you can even find a map of New York City, with all the places Carrie, Samantha, Miranda and Charlotte went to. So, for fashion brands and clubs, restaurants, etc., it’s very lucrative to make sure their brand is in the show. In that way, Sex and the City is one big advertisement. It is an advertisement of the lifestyle of Carrie and her friends.

            The producers want the audience to participate; they want the audience to copy the lifestyle of the SATC-girls. You can see that in fashion magazines, where you can check out what Carrie wears and how you can make a similar outfit with cheaper clothes. When the audience responds to that copying, they’re participating. They are participating in the lifestyle of the SATC-girls. Is the official website also keen on advertising the lifestyle of Carrie, Samantha, Miranda and Charlotte? Yes, it is. You can find information about the fashion brands, restaurants, etc. You can even buy cocktail glasses, one of the things the girls use a lot. I want to investigate how the webpage is used as a commercial tool. Does the site concentrate on the commercial goal, or is there also a more moral layer, like discussions about let’s say relationships? The main question for my paper is:

 

“To what extend is the official webpage of Sex and the City a commercial extension piece for the show?”

 

Sub questions are:

1. What lifestyle is being promoted in the show, seen from one episode?
2. What information about the show can you find on the webpage?
3. What information concerning one episode can the audience find on the webpage that makes it possible to copy the lifestyle of the four girls?
4. How can the public share their own opinion on the lifestyle that being presented?
5. How important is fashion in Sex and the City?

 

Method:

I’m going to do a comparative textual analysis on both the television show and the website. I’ll look global at season 1 till season 5 of the television show. I’m going to research how the lifestyle is presented in the show. But in particular, I’ll research one episode of the television show in detail, because it’s too much to research all the episodes in detail. That episode will be from season 4, episode 11, “Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda”.. The choice for this episode is random, because I think concerning advertising the lifestyle, the episodes don’t differ that much from each other. I’m going to show how the webpage is build, but also I’ll research how commercial the webpage is and how there is a participatory opportunity in that webpage for episode 4.11.

1. Text analyse episode 4.11 Coulda Woulda Shoulda:

 

My question is: “What lifestyle is presented in this episode?” By that lifestyle I mean the lifestyle of the four girls. But what exactly is a lifestyle? The dictionary says it’s a way of living. In the case of the Sex and the City (from now on SATC)-girls it’s the way they’re living their life; so, what kind of job they’ve got, how do they dress, what are they doing in their free time, how do they think about certain things, maybe even what they eat.

            First of all, let me give you a synopsis of this episode:

 

“Miranda tells Carrie that she's pregnant from having unprotected sex with Steve and his one ball. [Miranda says to Carrie: “He only has one ball and I have a lazy ovary. In what world does that create a baby? ... It's like the special olympics of conception!”] Miranda doesn't want the baby and doesn't want to tell Steve. Charlotte, however, can't seem to get pregnant no matter what bedroom techniques she tries. When she finds out that Miranda is pregnant and is going to have an abortion, she's so upset she storms away. Carrie and Samantha admit that they've both had abortions - Carrie after a one-night stand with a waiter in the '80s. Carrie tells Aidan about Miranda and swears him to secrecy. Aidan is appalled that Miranda isn't going to tell Steve. Carrie lies to Aidan about having had an abortion herself.

Samantha has lunch with Lucy Liu, hoping to represent her. They hit it off and Lucy tells Samantha that she refuses to be lied to. Samantha also has her eye on the coveted Hermes red "Birkin" handbag. Unfortunately, there's an eternally long waiting list, so Samantha uses Lucy Liu's starpower to score a bag. When Lucy shows up at their next lunch carrying the "free" bag, Samantha tells her it's actually for herself. Lucy is furious, fires Samantha and walks off with the bag.

Charlotte sees a fertility doctor and finds out that she has only a 15 percent chance of conceiving naturally. She bumps into Miranda on the street, tells her the news and walks away from the unhappily pregnant Miranda. Carrie accompanies Miranda to have her abortion. While they're waiting Miranda becomes increasingly worried that she's not making the right decision. She wonders if this is her only chance to have a baby. She decides to keep the baby and the girls, including Charlotte, gather around her and support her decision.

Carrie returns to the restaurant where she had met Chad, the waiter who had gotten her pregnant years ago. He's still there and doesn't remember Carrie. She realizes she made the right decision and leaves. Carrie decides to be honest and admits to Aidan that she had an abortion when she was 22. She was worried that he would criticize her, but Aidan is non-judgemental.”[2]

 

Theme

How do the SATC-girls think about certain issues?

This episode is mostly about the pregnancy of Miranda and whether to get an abortion or not. Samantha, who is known for her wild sex life, talks about abortions as if it’s a normal thing to do. She doesn’t want children, so when she’s pregnant, what happened twice, she simply has an abortion. Carrie shares the opinion of Samantha; she has no problems with an abortion. She had one thirteen years ago and is glad she did it. Charlotte in contrary is trying to get pregnant for over five months, and finds out that she only has a 15% chance to get children. She is in tears, because already in the first episode of Sex and the City she talks about how bad she wants a baby. She is therefore very upset with Miranda, who says that she simply can’t fit a baby in her life and wants an abortion. At the end of the episode we find out that Miranda changed her mind and wants to keep her baby.

            Another issue that’s central in this episode is whether the man who made you pregnant has the right to know that you are pregnant. Miranda gave her ex-boyfriend a few episodes before this one a ‘mercy fuck’; he was insecure because he has only one ball after cancer. Miranda doesn’t see why she has to tell Steve, the ex-boyfriend, that she pregnant. Why tell if she’s going to have an abortion? You can see that Carrie doesn’t know if she agrees with Miranda, but she decides to respect Miranda’s decision. Carrie tells her boyfriend Aidan about the pregnancy and he says that Miranda should tell Steve, because he has the right to know. So, the sexes differ on this topic.

            Also in the fight between Samantha and Lucy Lui we can see an ideology. Samantha is just hired by Lucy Lui and then walks in the street. She sees a Birkin handbag with which it’s ‘love at first side’. But there is a waiting list for five years, so she decides to say that is for Lucy Lui. When she meets Lucy again, Lucy has the Birkin handbag with her and tells Samantha that she got it for free for some reason. Samantha explains what happened and that the bag is actually hers. Lucy Lui gets mad and says that Samantha is fired, because she doesn’t want people around her that lie. Samantha’s ideology is thus that you can lie to get what you want. But what the audience learns is that you don’t get what you want when you lie.

 

What do the girls do for a living?

You see in the intro that Carrie writes a column titled ‘Sex and the City’. Every episode, one column is central. Carrie always starts her column with a question. This episode, the question is “Are we there yet?”. By that question she means ‘do we have the age to get pregnant?’. She doesn’t answer that question. In case, in most episodes she doesn’t know the answer of her questions.

You can’t make up from this episode what the other girls do for a living, but in earlier episodes we learned that Miranda is a lawyer, that Charlotte works in an art gallery and that Samantha is in PR.

 

What do Carrie, Charlotte, Samantha and Miranda do in their free time?

We see the girls every episode hang out in different diners. They lunch several times a week together. In episode 4.11 we see them lunch two times.

 

What do the SATC-girls wear?

I can now watch the episode over and over again to note exactly what the girls are wearing, but I can easily find it on their official webpage. So, this is what they wear in this episode:

 

“"Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda" Fashion Credits

Carrie - Ext. Street (1): Pant: Black knicker Commes des Garcons; Top: Black Martin vest; Shoe: Nude patent Manolo Blahnik

Carrie - Int. Carrie's (4): Shoe: Nude lace Dolce and Gabbana; Skirt: Pink Williamson lace skirt; Bra: Putty Dolce and Gabbana

Carrie - Int. Carrie's (6): Dress: Pink strapless; Shoe: White Manolo Blahnik pump; Bandana: White Carrie; Purse: Blue Bulgari and Lulu Guinness tote

Carrie - Int. Pizza Shop (14): Jumper: Pink terrycloth strapless jumper; Bra: White 14th Street strapless; Belt: Gucci artist pack; Shoe: Nude patent mule; Hat: White floral golf cap

Carrie - Tavern (22): Top: Gauzy white Martin L/S top; Jacket: Crème Wilhelm stripe 3 button; Pant: Chloe (accent); Shoe: White Manolo Blahnik strappy

Samantha - Int. Coffee Shop (3): Top: Mathew Willamson; Pant: Turquoise Gucci; Shoe: Christian Dior denim mule

Samantha - Ext. Madison Ave. (5): Dress: Brown and white Ralph Lauren; Shoe: Jimmy Choo XX Suede mule; Purse: Crème quilted Chanel

Samantha - Int. Restaurant (7): Jacket: Pink Thierry Mugler vintage jacket with belt: Skirt: White Tahari stretch; Shoe: Turquoise Roberto Cavalli pump

Samantha - Int. Restaurant (17): Dress: Floral glitter Tracy Feith dress; Shoe: Black Manolo Blahnik; Bag: Charles Jordan

Miranda - Int. Miranda's Office (10): Suit: Orange burlap Ellen Tracy; Bag: Yellow patent Cerutti; Shoe: Crème slingback

Miranda - Ext. Street (16): Suit: Plum Barney skirt suit; Bag: Butterscotch snake Amarcord

Charlotte - Int. Coffee Shop (3): Skirt: Navy Floral print Jussara Lee; Top: White V-neck; Shoe: Navy Coach wedge; bag: Pink linen Kate Spade tote

Charlotte - Int. Miranda's LR (21): Pants: Khaki Donna Karan; Top: Pink Ralph Laurnen S/S; Shoes: Pink Coach wedge; Bag: Pink Prada”[3]

 

What I personally found most significant concerning fashion in this episode were a couple of things. First of all, when Carrie tells Aidan that Miranda is pregnant, she makes him swear on Chanel not to tell Steve. She sees the fashion brand Chanel as something holy. (Carries says in one scene to Miranda: “I made him swear on Chanel”. Miranda says: “Well, as long as he took the oath of fabric’.)

            Secondly, when Lucy Lui walks in the restaurant where she meets Samantha, she wears a shirt with the lines ‘I love Dior’. The last fashion statement is how much Samantha wants the Birkin handbag. She even lies to get it. Samantha says to Carrie: “Oh honey, it’s not so much the style, it’s what carrying it means”. By saying that she makes clear that fashion is not only about the style, but mostly about what it means to you and others when you wear it; the image of the brand. A Hermes Birkinbag is a expensive bag (it costs four thousand dollars), so by carrying that bag, Samantha let people know that she’s rich.

These are only the most striking examples, but when you pay attention you can see a lot more fashion statements. For example, Carrie doesn’t leave the house with her stilettos, most of the time Manolo Blahniks. Shoes mean the world to her. In one episode she saw a beautiful pair of shoes, and besides the fact that she doesn’t have the money, she buys them. She says: “But I rationalised that my new shoes shouldn't be punished just because I can't budget.”[4] A few episodes later, when she realizes that she spent 40.000 dollar on shoes, and doesn’t have money to pay for her apartment, she says: “I've spent $40,000 on shoes and I have no place to live? I will literally be the old woman who lived in her shoes”.[5]

 

2. Analyse webpage:

 

I will look at every single aspect of the webpage, classified in the same way the website does it: Home, Episode Guide, Cast and Crew, News and Awards, Community, Games, Scrapbook and The Look.

 

Home

About every month the homepage of the site is changed. But it has always the same lay-out and sequence of topics. At the top of the page you see a large picture which refers to an episode. When you click on the picture, you go the episode guide. This picture is the first thing you see when you enter the page and because it is such a large picture, which means that the web producers find the episode guide the most important aspect of the webpage.

            Under that episode guide picture you see five pictures of Carrie, wearing the most beautiful outfits. These pictures are links to the Scrapbook and under the pictures is written “take a look back at your favourite defining moments in dating, fashion, and girl talk.” Next to that we see advertising for new DVD-box of season 6.

            At the bottom of the page we see six little pictures and their links; one of a character of the serial, linked to the Cast and Crew section, one of a computer, linked to the bulletin board, one of Carrie and Samantha, linked to The Look section, one of an other character, also linked to the Cast and Crew section, one of the new book Kiss and Tell, “the ultimate fan-bible”, in which are pictures, interviews, behind the scenes things and so on. Finally, in the last picture, you can subscribe yourself for “The Dish”, the official SATC newsletter. Under all these pictures there is a toolbar where you can hyperlink to HBO.

 

Episode guide

The episode guide of every episode begins with a quote of one of the characters, followed by the director, the writer and the synopsis. On the side you can click on a link to see what Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte and Miranda are wearing in a particular scene. You can see on page 5 what these fashion credits look like. You can also check out what music is used in the scenes. The fashion credits of the first four episodes of the show, can’t be found on the webpage, maybe the webpage didn’t exist at that time.

 

Cast and crew

You can click on fifteen cast members and fourteen crewmembers. When you click on a picture of a cast member, you get the biography of the character. You almost have to search for a link to the biography of the actress. On the side, there is an advertisement for the “Sex and the City Champagne Flute”, a champagne flute with and etched Sex and the City logo. It’s also possible to take a look at the interior of the four girls. When you click on Carrie, you can check out her apartment; there are pictures of the different rooms in her apartment with an in-depth description of the rooms. You can also click on the ‘Interior Zoom’. There you can click on the different rooms and see what’s in there. For example, when I click on Carrie’s closet and then click on a dress, I get the following information: “Carrie’s closet is a virtual who’s who of haute couture: outfits by (among others) Roberto Cavalli, Dolce and Gabbana, Narciso Rodriguez, Chanel, Juicy Couture, Robert Funk, Christian Dior, and Balenciaga. A cool Chloe dress hangs in front – perhaps for tonight urban escapade?”[6] You can also check out the interior’s of Samantha, Charlotte and Miranda.

 

News and awards

Well, this speaks for itself; here you can find out what award SATC won (a lot) and what the latest news is. The latest news is updated about every two months.

 

Community

In the community, you can subscribe yourself to the newsletter, called ‘The Dish’ and you can talk with others on the bulletin boards. There are four bulletin boards: Carrie and Co., Fashion!, City Café, and Favorite Moments. These bulletin boards are very vivid, because there is an enormous number of posts everyday. In the Fashion! Board, there are 2 or 3 posts every minute! The same goes for the Carrie and Co. board. On the other two bulletin boards, there are about 2 posts in 5 minutes.

 

Games

It’s weird that this section is called ‘Games’, because there’s only one game you can play here. You can do three things here: play the Trivia Game (find out how much you about Sex and the City), vote in polls, and download screensavers. In the Trivia Game are 89 questions that only the real SATC-fans can answer. For example, ‘where does Carrie go after her book party: a) Gray’s Papaya b) Ray’s Pizza or c) The Coffee Shop”. In the polls section there are polls like ‘have you ever been in Paris?’ or ‘do you have your Mr. Big?’. The screensavers are film stills from the serial.

 

Scrapbook

The scrapbook is the most interesting section of the website. It’s classified in the different episodes per season. You can read a short synopsis, you can see what the girls are wearing in 2 or three scenes, you can check the address of the restaurant the went to, you can see who they dated this episode and there is the “girl talk”, where you can see what an important topic of the girls is in that episode. It’s a pity that the link to the scrapbook doesn’t work most of the time. 

 

The Look

In this section, you can click on Carrie, Samantha, Miranda or Charlotte. Every girl has a lot of pictures divided over the different seasons. Carrie for example has 33 pictures for season 6, but Miranda only 8. Under every picture there is a description on what the girl wears. I looked up what description can be found on a film still from the episode that I’ve analyzed (4.11): “Carrie looks cool as a summer breeze in a white vintage sundress and UV ray-blocking Battenburg lace parasol. Barely-there nude mules by Manolo Blahnik add invisible height”[7] It’s also possible to hear the comment of the SATC-stylist Patricia Field on the look of the four girls.

 

Merchandising

When you look closer at the website, you can also find a Sex and the City merchandise link. You can order shirts with the SATC-logo on it, different cocktail glasses, of course the episodes on DVD, a baseball cap, books from Candace Bushnell (the writer of SATC), the new book Kiss and Tell, with all background information on the show, posters, and shorts.

3. Episode 4.11 on the webpage:

 

There can be information found about episode 4.11 in three different segments of the webpage; the scrapbook, the episode guide and the community.

In the scrapbook, you can find this information about episode 4.11:

 

Story highlights

“Are we there yet?”

Miranda is pregnant with Steve’s baby, and has to decide whether to have it or not. Carrie wavers about whether or not to tell Aidan about an abortion in her past. Charlotte, who really wants a baby, learns that pregnancy is not a possibility and Samantha loses a star client over a bag.

+ read an in-depth synopsis of this episode.

 

 

Dating diary

Aidan

Carrie worries that Aidan will judge her by having had an abortion when she was 22. After initially hiding the truth from him, she decides to stop lying and gets understanding in return.

+ read an in-depth profile of Aidan.

 

The Look

Carrie looks cool as a summer breeze in a white vintage sundress and UV ray-blocking Battenberg lace parasol. Barely-there nude mules by Manolo Blahnik add invisible height.

Carrie is at the head of the ‘80s-redux class in this reconstructed prom dress mini by Invitation of Christ and white stiletto pumps by Manolo Blahnik. A classic Hermes silk pochette with an ‘H’ scarf ring gets a new lease on life as a headwrap. Note the double designer bags – a Bulgari print purse and a Lulu Guiness striped tote.

Miranda shows her fondness for colourful ethnic design with this Japanese print dress by Cacherel, while Carrie’s messenger style consist of Comme des Garcons knickers, a Martin vest and a graffitied tote.

Charlotte greets the day in a sunny botanical checkerboard shift dress by New York-based design duo David Gregory and a peach handbag by Charles Jourdan.

 

Girltalk

No information

 

Address Book

No information

 

Inside Scoop

No information

 

It’s clear that the scrapbook focuses on the fashion aspect of the episode; there is no information about what the girls are discussing this episode and where they go to, but you get detailed information about what the girls wear.

In the episode guide there can be found an in-depth synopsis of the episode, music credits and fashion credits. Both the synopsis and the fashion credits I already mentioned and pasted in the pages above.

            One of my sub questions was how the webpage offer a participatory opportunity for the audience, so that they can copy the lifestyle of the SATC-girls. Based on episode 4.11 in the webpage, the audience is mostly able to copy the fashion aspect of the lifestyle. They get enough information about different outfits and brands to make their own combination, inspired by the SATC-look. The audience is able to use the fashion of SATC to create their own fashion. In that way, there is an active audience (Fiske 1987). The audience looks at the information they get, and uses that to create their own set of information.[8]

The audience gets also the opportunity in the community to share their opinions on that SATC-look and the way the SATC-girls handle certain things in their life. But I will come that in the next chapter.

Based on the whole webpage, the audience is able to copy these elements: the interior of apartments of the four girls, the look, the beliefs on certain topics (they are in the episode guides), and the places to be.

 

4. Sharing opinions:

 

The main theme of episode 4.11 Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda is the pregnancy of Miranda and whether or not she’s going to have an abortion. I looked that abortion theme up in the SATC-community on the webpage, and I was stunned that there are only a few posts about that abortion question. It seems that the only thing the forum members do on the community is talking about how they’re all doing and what clothes, make-up and shoes the SATC-girls wear.

            This is what I found concerning the abortion theme:

1. “ONE of my all time favorite memories was the show WOULDA COULDA SHOULDA, when Miranda is deciding on an abortion. At the very end when Charlotte finds out and she says WE'RE HAVING A BABY! Everytime an episode has Charlotte crying, you can almost feel her emotion.”

2. “I think it´s good that they brougth this abortion theme in. A woman should not feel ashamed about that. A appreciated that part.”

3. “What single woman Carrie's age hasn't had an abortion? Most of these gals are very irresponsible when it comes to contraception. A lot of gals will go out on the town with their friends hoping to find Mr Right. But at the end of the evening...after one too many cocktails, will end up in the bed of Mr Wrong, ass up in the air...face buried in the pillow, getting drilled from behind doggiestyle. Just because they get knocked up after a night of drunken debauchery, they think it's OK to fix their mistake by killing the innocent lovechild that results from their union. This is just wrong!”

The man or woman that posted that last one, gets the following respons:

4. “i for one have not. why don't you find out all the facts before you go shooting your mouth off. and you sure do know a lot about the show for someone who cant watch it because it morally bankrupt. maybe your just an immoral liar. And would you rather they have a child that no one wants so it just gets bounced around in foster care?”

5. “don't know what you guys think, but i think we should all make a pact to just ignore MrBigWhereItCounts [the author of post 3] and other ppl who are simply on the board to be as offensive as possible. too much of these boards gets taken up with ppl arguing about who's being judgmental or defensive, and it's really not worth it.”

The author of post 3, later posts the following (a week later):

6. “The one episode that kind of pissed me off, was where Miranda was contemplating having an abortion, and the rest of the gals were sitting around the lunch table sharing abortion stories. I mean, it kind of made it seem like killing your baby is an acceptable form of birth control. It's the wrong kind of message to be sending young ladies. If a woman is going to spread like peanut butter for any Tom , Dick , or Harry....she damn well better be responsible enough to deal with the consequences...and I don't mean by murdering her baby! Would you all agree?”

But nobody responds to this post.

            I think the fact that almost nobody discusses the abortion question but is more concerned with what the girls wear, shows that the Sex and the City webpage is mostly about the fashion, not so much about what the SATC-girls opinion is on different topics. It’s mostly the fashion aspect of the lifestyle that’s being copied by the audience. That’s an interesting point, because the show itself isn’t really that superficial. Every episode, Carrie raises a question concerning relationships. These questions are often very critical and well-considered. You would say these questions stimulate the audience to think about these topics. I don’t believe that the audience of Sex and the City really is that superficial. I think the webpage doesn’t stimulate a critical environment, because the webpage doesn’t concentrate on Carrie’s questions, but only on the fashion aspect.

 

5. The popularity of SATC and fashion:

 

The main reason why Sex and the City became so popular is because of the fashion in it. It is a fact that whatever the girls wear, becomes a fashion hit. In magazines (for example in the Dutch Starstyle) we can see what Carrie wears and how we can combine the clothes from H&M to make a similar outfit. Carrie combines in the show stilettos with baggy pants and after that you see on fashion posters baggy pants with stilettos. I don’t know if the fashion market says to the producers of SATC “hey, this will be big in the summer, can you show it in SATC?” or that the stylist of Sex and the City (Patricia Field) can do what she wants and create a new fashion, which the fashion market copies. That’s an interesting topic on a new research, but for now I will stick to my own topic.

Sometimes there is product placement in Sex and the City; that’s when a product of one of the sponsors is clearly on screen.[9] In the episode I used for the analysis, episode 4.11, the audience sees Lucy Lui wearing a shirt with the lines “I love Dior”. That is a clear product placement. Other times there is talk of inscriptsponsoring. When a product and the commercial message are incorporated in the script, it’s called inscriptsponsoring.[10] In episode 4.11, Carrie makes Aidan swear on Chanel. That’s an example of inscriptsponsoring.

            Sex and the City uses a multimedial strategy in advertising the products of their sponsors; the brands are advertised in different media. The products are seen on the show, but also they are often named on the webpage, namely in the Scrapbook, in The Look, and in the Episode Guide. The advantage of the webpage is that people can look up what the brands are the girls wear. The sponsor can be sure that the audience who wants to know what clothes are worn, has the possibility to easy look it up. Is this multimedial advertising a strategy that will be often used in the future? Or can’t we already get away from it? That’s also an interesting research for the future.

On June 7th 2004, Sarah Jessica Parker was crowned as the fashion icon of 2004, by the Council of Fashion Designers of America. In the Dutch paper, ‘De Telegraaf’, was an article about this award that Sarah Jessica got. They write what I was trying to say in the introduction:

 

“[That Sarah Jessica Parker officially is proclaimed as style icon, is inevitable. As Carrie Bradshaw, she is in the unprecedented popular serial Sex and the City for many women a role model. As for lifestyle, but mostly as trendsetter. Not for nothing praises the organisation her personal and professional involvement with fashion and her typical New York’s style. Carrie shops ‘till she drops and always wears the newest clothes.

Thanks to her passion for beautiful clothes, she has made that brands like Jimmy Choo, Manolo Blahnik and Marc Jacobs are known in many living rooms. Women in the large cities already knew the enormous popular shoe brands, but thanks to the show, everybody can recognise the shoes from a distance. This has brought grist to their mill. Marc Jacobs, Micheal Kors and Prada are on an average named once every episode. And when Carrie Bradshaw is robbed on the street, she only can perplexed murmur: “He has got my Manolo’s!”]”[11] Free translated from Dutch.

 

            Sex and the City has an unprecedented popularity. In the Netherlands, there is even a Dutch equivalent of the show: Rozengeur & Wodkalime (‘Scent of Roses & Wodkalime”). This show is inspired by SATC: it’s about four thirty-something girls who constantly date with men. Even the webpage of Rozengeur & Wodkalime is much like the SATC-webpage. It’s using the same lay-out and gives information on the same topics as the Sex and the City webpage, for example on the interior of the apartments of the girls. And the show catches on. I absolutely don’t think that the show is in the Netherlands as popular as Sex and the City, but I’m certain that it provides high viewing figures.

            Sex and the City is all about expensive clothes: Prada, Chanel, Manolo Blahninks, etc. What I’m wondering is why the producers use such expensive clothes in the show. They must know that a large part of the audience isn’t able to buy such clothes. But I think they do that, mainly so that the brands used in the show become well-known. And these expensive brands make the SATC-lifestyle more exclusive and therefore more attractive to the audience. The lifestyle of the Sex and the City-girls is so expensive that it becomes special to live that lifestyle. When you can buy the clothes at H&M, it isn’t special anymore, because everyone can buy it. When it’s Prada, it is special, because there aren’t that much stores (especially in the Netherlands) where you can buy these. And also, Prada is so expensive, and thus exclusive, what makes it more attractive. But what a lot of women forget is that you can buy the clothes at H&M, only of a cheaper material, and of course, here, you don’t have to pay for the brand.

Conclusion

 

My main question “To what extend is the official webpage of Sex and the City a commercial extension piece for the show?” can be answered by the following: the webpage stimulates the audience in copying the lifestyle of the four Sex and the City girls and is therefore an enormous commercial tool. You can point out two layers in the show: the moral, like questions about relationships and how the girls think about certain topics. The second layer is the material layer: the clothes, the bags, the shoes, the restaurants, the clubs, etc. The website concentrates on the material layer of the show and is therefore clearly trying to sell the “material lifestyle” of the SATC-girls. The fact that the women in the community almost don’t talk bout the moral layer, but only about the material layer, is a sign that the selling strategy of the webpage is working.

There are a lot of questions that pop up investigating the main question. First of all, as I already noted above, is that it’s interesting to find out about the relationship between Sex and the City and contemporary fashion. We saw that Carrie is a true trendsetter. But who has made her a trendsetter? Does Patricia Field, the stylist, have a free hand in choosing the styles and therefore the new trend? Or is it the fashion market that stimulates Field to use particular styles, because the fashion market knows that it will be big in a half year or so? Does Sex and the City receive money from the brands that they show?

Another interesting topic is whether the multimedial selling strategy that Sex and the City uses will be the way all markets will sell in the future. You see that Sex and the City advertises a lifestyle both on television, in the show, and on the Internet. These two media reinforce each other.

When I was researching the community on the webpage, I was wondering if the producers of the show and the stylist read what the women on the community have to say about the fashion in the show. Does the stylist listen to that opinion? Or, better, does the fashion market listen to that opinion? When the women on the board said that the Birkin bag of the episode I researched is ugly, does the fashion market read that and respond to that by, let’s say, produce less of that particular Birkin bags? I don’t know, but I think that’s very interesting to investigate.

One question that occupies my mind is the following: the episode that I’ve research was about lying, twisting the truth. Samantha wanted the Birking bag, but there was a five-year waiting list. So she told the bag was meant for Lucy Lui so that she would be on the top of the waiting list. At the end, Lucy Lui found out and decided to keep the bag herself to punish Samantha. Miranda didn’t want to tell Steve that she was pregnant with his baby. But Carries boyfriend Aidan didn’t agree with that decision, because he found that Steve had to right to know that Miranda was pregnant. Like I said, on the webpage, there is almost no attention paid to this dilemma; lying to get what you want and keep a secret to your own when the other has the right to know. Clearly, the moral questions are of minor importance than the material stuff. Is there in the 4.11 episode really speaking of a moral message? Or are the moral questions placed in the show to hide the fact that the show is almost a flat selling instrument? And to make it look like the show has a more deep and profound layer?

      As you can see, this paper is only the top of the iceberg in investigating the Sex and the City webpage. Not to name the show on television, I’m sure books can be written on that topic.

Literature:

 

-         Tybout, A. & Carpenter, G. (2001) “Creating and Managing Brands”  In: Iacobucci, D. (ed.) (2001) Kellogg on Marketing (New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.).

-         Fiske, J., Television Culture. London Methuen 1987.

-         Basu, Michou, “Net als Sarah Jessica Parker”, from: De Telegraaf, June 6th 2004, page T23.

-         Knecht, J., and Stoelinga, B., Communicatie en mediaplanning. Boom Amsterdam 1998.

 

 

 

 

Appendix:

 

This is the Dutch text from the article about fashion from De Telegraaf:

 

“Dat Sarah Jessica Parker officieel tot stijlicoon wordt gebombardeerd is onvermijdelijk. Als Carrie Bradshaw in de ongekend populaire serie Sex and the City is ze voor veel vrouwen een rolmodel. Qua levensstijl, maar vooral als trendsetter. Niet voor niets roemt de organisatie haar persoonlijke en professionele betrokkenheid met mode én haar typische New Yorkse stijl. Carrie shopt zich namelijk suf en ze heeft altijd het nieuwste van het nieuwste aan.

            Dankzij haar passie voor mooie kleren en accessoires heeft ze merken als Jimmy Choo, Manolo Blahnik en Marc Jacobs in veel huiskamers bekendheid gegeven. Want vrouwen in de grote steden kenden de waanzinnig populaire schoenenmerken al, maar dankzij de serie kan iedereen de schoenen vanaf een afstandje herkennen. Wat a deze merken natuurlijk ook geen windeieren heeft gelegd. Marc Jacobs’ naam valt net als die van Michael Kors en Prada gemiddeld een keer per aflevering. En als Carrie Bradshaw op straat van haar schoenen wordt beroofd, is het enige wat ze verbijsterd kan murmelen: “Hij heeft mijn Manolo’s!”

 

These are the posts found on the SATC-community about abortion and episode 4.11:

gattaca09 - 1/9/04 9:01AM PST	(1116 of 21123)
Re: Fashion! > Gattaca09: SJP's pants in "Could Shoulda Woulda" were > designed by Stella McCartney for Chloe. It was her > horse-phase. THANK YOU!!! It was on the tip of my tongue...
shanarebert - 2/24/04 7:36PM PST				(1973 of 2896)
Re: Favorite Memories ONE of my all time favorite memories was the show WOULDA COULDA SHOULDA, when Miranda is deciding on an abortion. At the very end when Charlotte finds out and she says WE'RE HAVING A BABY! Everytime an episode has Charlotte crying, you can almost feel her emotion.
germanshoegal - 5/13/04 2:48PM PDT			(2705 of 2896)
"Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda" Here´s a german addicted to SATC. One of my favorite´s is "coulda, woulda, shoulda". When Samantha orders the Birkin bag and then it ends up with Luicy Liu, that was so funny. I think it´s good that they brougth this abortion theme in. A woman should not feel ashamed about that. A appreciated that part. I think season 4 is the best, I always loved to see Carrie and Aidan beeing a couple......
envysatc - 5/14/04 2:48PM PDT		(2711 of 2896)
Re: Favorite Memories can anyone tell me what episode and season was it when Samantha was representing someone and used her name to get a bag, sweared like crazy and then got caught? The bag was sent to the hotel room and it was like 4K. thanks
message 300212875

 

envysatc - 5/14/04 2:51PM PDT	(2712 of 2896)
Re: "Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda" what episode and season was the Birkin Bag?
MrBigWhereItCounts - 3/3/04 9:36PM PST						(8052 of 9765)
Re: CarriePoint of correction~~Carrie also had a abortion. What single woman Carrie's age hasn't had an abortion? Most of these gals are very irresponsible when it comes to contraception. A lot of gals will go out on the town with their friends hoping to find Mr Right. But at the end of the evening...after one too many cocktails, will end up in the bed of Mr Wrong, ass up in the air...face buried in the pillow, getting drilled from behind doggiestyle. Just because they get knocked up after a night of drunken debauchery, they think it's OK to fix their mistake by killing the innocent lovechild that results from their union. This is just wrong!
sexandthecitycindy - 3/3/04 11:13PM PST				(8055 of 9765)
Re: Carrie > What single woman Carrie's age hasn't had an > abortion? Most of these gals are very irresponsible > when it comes to contraception. A lot of gals will go > out on the town with their friends hoping to find Mr > Right. But at the end of the evening...after one too > many cocktails, will end up in the bed of Mr Wrong, > ass up in the air...face buried in the pillow, > getting drilled from behind doggiestyle. Just because > they get knocked up after a night of drunken > debauchery, they think it's OK to fix their mistake > by killing the innocent lovechild that results from > their union. This is just wrong! > i for one have not. why don't you find out all the facts before you go shooting your mouth off. and you sure do know a lot about the show for someone who cant watch it because it morally bankrupt. maybe your just an immoral liar. and would you rather they have a child that no one wants so it just gets bounced around in foster care?
thee83 - 3/4/04 12:28AM PST		(8056 of 9765)
Re: Carrie don't know what you guys think, but i think we should all make a pact to just ignore MrBigWhereItCounts and other ppl who are simply on the board to be as offensive as possible. too much of these boards gets taken up with ppl arguing about who's being judgmental or defensive, and it's really not worth it.
MrBigWhereItCounts - 3/11/04 3:41PM PST					(16367 of 21123)
Re: Fashion! The one episode that kind of pissed me off, was where Miranda was contemplating having an abortion, and the rest of the gals were sitting around the lunch table sharing abortion stories. I mean, it kind of made it seem like killing your baby is an acceptable form of birth control. It's the wrong kind of message to be sending young ladies. If a woman is going to spread like peanut butter for any Tom , Dick , or Harry....she damn well better be responsible enough to deal with the consequences...and I don't mean by murdering her baby! Would you all agree?
Sherman74 - 1/8/04 10:10AM PST			(717 of 10165)
Re: The Big Board I wonder if the author of the book had one abortion like the TV Carrie did.

 

 

 

 

(I'm working on the final H2O assignment, so the 'study avoiding behavior' is big:)) I must share with you: yesterday I saw the movie 50 first dates, with Drew Barrymore and Adam Sandler. Although I was very sceptical at first (I don't like Drew Barrymore and silly comedies), I loved it! It's about a girl, Lucy, who has short term memory loss (inspired by Dory from Finding Nemo, I think:)) and Adam Sandler, who falls in love with her. But every morning she forgot about him, so he has to let her fall in love with him every single day. Of course, it's a weird topic, but the film is great, because there are hilarious characters: especially Doug (Lucy's brother) and Ula (played by Rob Schneider). They're just sooo funny!! Everybody, check it out!

O yeah, I'm quick this week, the article of Warde will follow, probably after the weekend:).

 

J.D. Lasica and Dan Gillmor:

I combine these two texts for my critical question, because they have the same subject: weblogs and journalism. They both say that weblogs are redefining journalism. Journalism was (and the official journalism still is) very strict; the conventions are accuracy, credibility, trustworthiness and being straight up with your readers. Webloggers don’t really care about these conventions, they just tell us what happened or what their opinion on something is. Readers can critical respond to that. Bit by bit, the blogger and his readers come more and more to the core of what their talking about. As Lasica quotes Shirky on page 71: “The order of things in broadcast is ‘filter, then publish’. The order in communities is ‘publish, then filter.” I want to know which way works better.

            I think that the conventions of the ‘old’ journalism are very valuable, because it makes sure that journalists tell the truth, that they researched their sources. But everybody knows that a journalist can tell a story in a certain way, holding himself to the facts, but for example leave some facts out of it, by which there is a story that has the same facts as what happened, but isn’t what happened. For example, when you read the papers in the Netherlands and in the USA about Iraq, you get two different point of views. For the people who read that, it is the truth, they don’t know that there are different versions of what happened.

            I think that the weblogs and their way of doing journalism changes that coloured perspective. Everybody who reads articles in a weblog can respond to it; say if he agrees with it or if he thinks that it must be seen in a different way. Because people read weblogs from all over the world (I read Dutch, American and Japanese weblogs today, so it’s that easy), they get a view of what the different versions of a story are, what others think about a topic and so on. That makes the reader think about what his or hers opinion is. So, weblog journalism makes that reader will think more critical and gives not ‘one truth’, but several point of views on a story. That’s why I think weblog journalism is great; I think that weblogs change our perception of the world. Of course I know that the ‘old journalism’ won’t ever fade (and that’s ok), but the weblogs made it possible that we don’t take everything for granted what’s in the ‘old journalism’.

 

Van Middelaar:

This text is about anti-globalisation, in particulair the different movements in anti-globalisation. First of all, I think Van Middelaar needs an extra course ‘How to write a paper’, because his structure sucks. I’m sorry, it not nice of me to say that, but I’m annoyed with the bad structure: he talks about globalisation and anti-globalisation, but doesn’t even accurately explain what globalisation exactly is. Of course, it’s a popular term, so I can think of a few things that belong to the term globalisation, but I wanna know precisely what it is. Also, I want to know what the anti-globalists exactly are against with. What I read in the text is that they are against the immense commercial culture (the billboards all over the country) and so against the capitalism. Well, I don’t know if I’m right. So, my question is: What does anti-globalisation stands for?

Ok, I looked it up at www.attact.org, because according to Van Middelaar this is a central player in the anti-globalisation movement. On the Australian website (the have websites from all over the world, so I just picked one) I found the main ideas of ATTAC:

‘ATTAC campaigns for:

• Democracy and transparency for global financial markets.
• Democracy and transparency for global institutions such as the World Trade Organisation (WTO), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank and Export Credit Agencies (ECAs)
• A Currency Transaction Tax such as the Tobin Tax
• The outlawing of tax havens
• Cancellation of Third World debt
• Increased State control of superannuation funds
• The promotion of Human Rights, and Environmental and Labour standards over the rights of corporations and investors.’

(this is from http://www.australia.attac.org/html/about_index.html)

 

I just found a webpage that gives me the answer to what globalisation exactly is:

‘Our goal is to ensure that the poor are not left behind by globalization, and that technology is used in the developing world as a tool with which local people take advantage of opportunities, instead of one with which they are taken advantage of.’ (from http://www.globalenvision.org/index.php?fuseaction=aboutus.main) So, globalisation is about the free market system I think.

Warde:

Warde makes in this article the distinction between the culturalisation of economy and the economification of culture. I’m interested in how the Internet has an influence of these two types. Did the Internet stimulate the culturalisation of economy or the economification of culture, or maybe both? With the introduction of the Internet there came a medium that is interesting for everybody; it doesn’t matter where you’re interests are, you can find it on the Internet. Fansites, music downloads, getting to know the culture behind a company (for example, on the Trump-site we researched before, there is a lot of info about what the company represents and what their ideology is > this is an example of how the Internet makes the economy more cultural), and many more. So, I think the culture became much more visible because of the Internet. But it made culture also more economic, because you can now easily order cultural stuff like paintings, or cd’s, or whatever.

Tybout & Carpenter:

When I was reading this article I couldn’t help linking it to my paper subject: Sex and the City. As I explained on this weblog, I’m going to research how Sex and the City creates a lifestyle. My main question will be how the official Sex and the City webpage complements the serial on television in advertising a lifestyle. Tybout and Carpenter talk in this article about image brands. I’m wondering if you can call Sex and the City a brand?

            Sex and the City is very popular, mostly because of the fashion in the show. Everything Carrie, the main character, wears, becomes a big hit. A lot of girls and woman want to dress like Carrie. So, in the magazines (at least here in the Netherlands) you can see what Carrie wears and how you can make your own Carrie-combination by buying clothes in the Carrie-style at H&M. So, in a simple way you can copy the style of the Sex and the City girls and in that way copy the image.

            Tybout and Carpenter say in their article on page 89: “For example, driving a Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) may allow soccer moms and dads to express their desire for an adventurous lifestyle even though they never leave the streets of suburbia.” I think that works the same in the case of Sex and the City. I think that there are a lot of girls, maybe even women, I don’t know, who want to look like Carrie, because when they look like her, they get the feeling that they are a girl from the ‘city’; a girl who knows what is fashion, who is always in the places-to-be, who has luck with men. Of course, it doesn’t work that way, but I think that they feel for a minute glamorous.

            The girls from Sex and the City always wear the hottest things in fashion, but always in the style of their character. I’ll implement some pictures to show you which styles belong to which character: (okay, having a fight with my computer, so no pictures)

Carrie always wears the weirdest combinations, but she can’t go without here stilettos. Samantha’s style can be characterized as provocatively. Miranda’s style is that of the businesswoman. Charlotte always dresses in a classic way. Maybe you can say that each of these for characters is a brand on its own. In my group of friends, it’s not unusual to say ‘you look so Carrie today’ (or another character). Yeah, I think the girls became a bit of a fashion brand.

 

Dafermos:

In this article Dafermos raises the question whether blogging-for-money is possible or not. What do I think?

            What makes a weblog so characteristic is that there are opinions, doesn’t matter about what.  If a blogger is really interested in the opinion of his readers, I think that weblog has a change to become a discussion board. Of course, when a blogger is hired by a company, that blogger has an (hidden) agenda; promoting the product. In that case, the weblog would only work if the blogger is truly interested in what people think about the product. I think that when a blogger focuses too much on advertising the product, a lot of readers will seen stop visiting the blog. So, blogging-for-money is only possible if the blogger is really interested in the opinion from his readers.

For my paper, I wanna look at the way how Sex and the City is one big advertisement for drinks, clothes, places to be, and so on. I wanna research how the offical SATC-website threats this advertisements. Do they advertise in the same the show does? And my main question: How does the official Sex and the City website complement the Sex and the City television show in advertising a lifestyle?

The Sex and the City lifestyle

 

Sex and the City is a show about Carrie Bradshaw, a mid-thirty year old, and her friends. You follow their lives and see what they do, how they deal with things, how they think about certain things, and so on. Fashion is very important in the show. One time Carrie says: “I like my money right where I can see it…hanging in my closet.” Clothes, bags and especially shoes are very important for Carrie and her friends. Whatever Carrie wears, becomes a big hit. She wears big corsets? The next day, New York wears corsets. And the day after the rest of the world. The same goes for the places the friends go to. Almost every episode there is a new place where they go out. That places become a hit in real life, just because the Sex and the City-girls went there. On the Internet you can even find a map of New York City, with all the places Carrie, Samantha, Miranda and Charlotte went. So, for fashion brands and clubs, restaurants, etc., it’s very lucrative to make sure their brand is in the show. In that way, Sex and the City is one big advertisement. It is an advertisement of the lifestyle of Carrie and her friends.

        That’s how the television show looks like. But how about the official website? Is that website also keen on advertising the lifestyle of Carrie, Samantha, Miranda and Charlotte? My main question for my paper is:

 

“How does the official Sex and the City website complement the Sex and the City television show in advertising a lifestyle?”

 

Of course, I already looked at the website and I saw that it’s stunning how they focus on the look of the girls. When you go to the episode guide, you can see from every episode, even every scene, what they wear. In the scrapbook, you can also check what they wear. For example, in the scrapbook, for season 5, episode 70: “Carrie wears two of spring 2002’s “it-girl” musthaves: Balenciaga’s wait-listed cargo pant and Juicy Couture’s terry zip hoodie. Funky floral fabric wedge sandals by Fendi replace her usual stilettos Amy Chan’s reversible “Cirle Tote” replaces her former fave baguette.”  On the same episode, I read in the scrapbook, the girls went to “Krispy Kreme, 265 West 23^rd Street” where “Miranda and Tom forget about calorie-counting and indulge their sweet tooth at this popular doughnut shop”. On the website, you can also listen to what Patricia Field, the stylist of Sex and the City, has to say on what the girls are wearing.

 

Sub questions are:

-         What lifestyle is being promoted?

-         How does the television show advertise a lifestyle?

-         How does the official webpage advertise a lifestyle?

-         Is this the same lifestyle the show advertises?

-         Is it all about the lifestyle of Carrie or is it more the lifestyle of the four girls, Carrie, Samantha, Miranda and Charlotte?

-         Which brands are often promoted in the show and on the webpage?

-         What about sponsoring? How much money does Sex and the City receives for showing brands?

 

Method:

I’m going to do a comparing textual analysis on both the television show and the website. I’ll look global at season 1 till season 5 of the television show. I’m going to research how the lifestyle is presented in the show. But in particular, I’ll research one episode of the television show in detail, because it’s too much to research all the episodes in detail. That episode will be from season 3, episode 48. The choice for this episode is random, because I think concerning advertising the lifestyle, the episodes don’t differ that much from each other. Further, I’ll research the whole webpage, not only one episode.

 

Literature:

 

-         Tybout, A. & Carpenter, G. (2001) "Creating and Managing Brands"  In: Iacobucci, D. (ed.) (2001) Kellogg on Marketing (New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.).

 

-   Gay, P. du & Pryke, M. (2002) Cultural Economy. pp. 132-147.

 

-         The Sex and the City tour

 

-         How everything Carrie wears becomes hot

 

-         The guide about Sex and the City lifestyles, fashion and dating

 

-         About Sex and the City fashion

 

Shirky:

Shirky talks in this article about P2P. Although he is trying very hard to explain what P2P exactly is, I still don’t get it. So, my question is: is there a simple definition of P2P? And yes, I found it in the Rutherford article: P2P applications […] allow users to communicate synchronously, doing things such as instant messaging, working on shared documents and searching each other’s computers for files.[1]

            I know it’s a rather brief question and answer, but I really can’t come up with another question.

 

Rutherford:

In this article, Rutherford talks about peer-to-peer (P2P). On page 3, he says: Some industry watchers predict that some commercial e-commerce ventures will start using P2P technology. This article is four years old, so, were those industry watchers right?

            I think P2P applications became much more common than four years ago. Nowadays, you almost can’t imagine what the Internet is without the P2P applications. Well, at least, I can’t imagine that, addicted to KaZaA and msnJ. But what strikes me is that there that much advertising on these P2P applications. At msn, you have some advertising for Messenger-tools, but the advertising isn’t aggressive. When you want to see it, you can click it away. At KaZaA, I see now advertising at all. None. KaZaA and msn are two well known P2P applications; the first one doesn’t contain advertising at all and the second one only a bit. So, I think you can say that the industry watchers in the Rutherford article were wrong.

 

Boase and Wellman:

 

What’s my opinion on Boase and Wellman?

Boase and Wellman divide social networks in two groups to explain how viruses (biological viruses, computer viruses and viral marketing) work. There are densely knit groups and there are ramified networks. In a densely knit group, most members know each other, are in frequent contact with each other, and have little contact with outsiders. In a ramified network, few members are in contact with each other, and a large portion of interactions are with outsiders. Boase and Wellman say that those two groups are idealistic, there not realistic. The common social networks is glocalization: rather densely clusters of relationships (usually at home, at work, and with kin) that also have many ramified ties to other people and groups (Wellman, 1999; Hampton 2001).

            Why would Boase and Wellman explain the viruses on non-realistic social networks? I think it would be a lot more effective if they explain it on glocalization, because that’s more representative in society, that’s the way society looks like. We don’t live in densely knit groups, you always have connections outside your group. And we neither live in ramified networks, because there’s always a core, for example family, or friends, or colleagues. So, it’s useless to only look at those two groups.