Looking for Inspiration

Everyone has a hero. Could be real or fictional. Someone famous or someone known only to them. Dead or alive. Sometimes, the person needn't even be so much of a hero, but really more of a guru. Somebody who’s past actions you can use as a guide to help run your life better. Someone whose wisdom you can draw upon when faced with a conundrum in your own life.

I recently realised that I have one such guide in my own life. She's officially fictional, but people who know her (and many people know her) think of her as a real person. She has a name and an address and a career and a personality and a past and plans and a love life and friends and strengths and weaknesses and favourites and allergies and well, you get the idea. For all practical purposes, she’s a real person, and you could either like her or dislike her or just not care about her.

I personally fall in the “don’t really care either ways” bracket. How then is my guide, you wonder? That’s because while I have a don’t-care-to-bordering-on-being-annoyed-by-her attitude towards her, there is one aspect of her that I appreciate greatly.

Allow me to explain.

It’s like this. Being new-ish to America, I’ve found myself spoiled rotten for choice when it comes to shopping for clothes, shoes and accessories. (Is there any other kind that really matters anyway?) Every so often I find myself in a store trying out an ensemble and standing in front of a mirror, trying to figure out if an outfit really works for the occasion. Or for me. I add a different shoe or throw a different scarf and wonder which looks better. I ponder over colours and lengths. Can I really pull off such a bright green? Should I wear that with black or a grey? Does this show too much leg for a dinner party?

As I stand there, surrounded by endless possibilities, confused beyond belief and on the verge of just giving up and running home to my sweats and tee, I invoke the spirit of my guide and ask myself, “What would Carrie do?”

By Carrie, of course I mean Carrie Bradshaw, the heroine of the long running TV show and what now appears to be a franchise of movies – Sex and the City. The show supposedly broke some solid ground when it came to women and sexual politics but for me it’s lasting legacy will always be its contribution to fashion, specifically Carrie’s fashions. For six years, her very average-sized closet provided Carrie with an unending supply of clothes, shoes, hats, shoes, bags, belts, shoes, bras, those flower like pins that she made do damn famous and shoes. In every episode she would dazzle us by throwing together an ensemble that would probably be a joke in theory but that always worked awesomely on screen.

Sure, she had a body that could carry off a garbage bag if she were asked to but that doesn’t take away from the fact that Carrie always knew how to dress for any occasion. Formal black and white ball? Check. First date with an older businessman? Yup. Third date with geeky computer guy? Check. Sunday brunch with the girls? Check. Wednesday afternoon coffee with the girls? Got just the outfit. Appropriately sexy outfit for accidentally bumping into crush so she can entice him into asking her out? Of course. Appropriately sexy but demure outfit for breaking up with the dude ‘cause he’s just such a loser? Got it.

While Carrie often made mistakes and sometimes fumbled on the right thing to say at the right time, you could never fault her for not being dressed just right. Across cities and situations, Carrie strode through life, secure in the knowledge that even if life didn’t work out exactly the way she expected it to, at least she’d have the outfit for it.

It is this unerring and dependable knack of always being perfectly dressed that I admire so much. It is what has helped me come to a decision when that decision seemed impossible. When I was out looking for a great dress to wear for a formal ball I had to attend, it was the spirit of Carrie that guided my hand in getting the right dress, shoes, clutch and even the earrings. It was she who gave me the courage to spend some serious bucks on a pair of heels I earlier dubbed ‘too much’ for myself. At a time when I was torn over a decision to buy or not buy a scarf that I felt may be too fussy for spring, I asked the four magic words, “What would Carrie do?” Carrie would get that scarf and wear the heck out of it, came the answer and so I bought it and wore it and loved it! I used the magic mantra when I was tempted to get a sweater just because it was marked down, and decided not to get it, a decision I have never regretted.

It’s not that I copy Carrie’s sense of style. Let’s face it, it has been a few years since the show went off the air and styles have changed since then. Also, while some of her choices worked for her, they wouldn’t really figure in my closet. To me, Carrie is not a style icon to be followed blindly. She represents a woman who loved fashion and who loved to dress up and who was shallow enough to put style over comfort and clothes over food. All fine qualities that I aspire to. After all, there are many do-gooders in the world who’re getting through life in a pair of jeans and a smile on their faces. But when I’m faced with a choice between donating money to a charitable cause or taking off to the mall, I know what I’ll take. I simply have to ask myself, “What would Carrie do?”