Sarah Jessica Parker’s Mismatched Shoes Are a Tribute to Carrie Bradshaw

Sarah Jessica Parker continues to take style inspiration from Carrie Bradshaw. For the New York City Ballet’s Fall Fashion Gala on Oct. 5, the actor wore a fabulous ensemble influenced by the character in more ways than one. Her balletcore dress from Carolina Herrera featured a dramatic tulle skirt and an off-the-shoulder top, and she finished it with a large bow accessory and a pair of mismatched heels from her own collection. She wore a satin black sandal with a crystal buckle on one foot, and an identical pale-pink version on the other.

Though mismatching footwear has become Parker’s signature over the years, it was initially seen on Carrie in a season three episode of “Sex and the City.” In one memorable scene, Carrie wears a ruffled floral dress with Christian Louboutin sandals in distinctly different colors, pink and blue, as the crew head to Los Angeles after the writer breaks up with Aidan. Though there were many theories surrounding the intentional fashion choice, in 2019, Parker shared the reason was simple. “[Patricia Fields] and I chose to do 1 of each,” she wrote in the comments of an @everyoutfitonsatc post. “Perhaps because both were so delicious in color and seemed in harmony with the dress.”

In real life, Parker was first spotted mismatching her shoes at the 2016 Met Gala. Wearing a Monse jacket and capris for the gala’s technology theme, she wore satin blue heels from SJP by Sarah Jessica Parker, featuring two different buckle details. She tried out the look again at the NYC Ballet’s fashion gala in 2019, where she wore a showstopping fuchsia gown from Zac Posen with complementary footwear: one hot-pink sandal and one gold one.

You might remember the mismatched-shoe trend had a moment in 2017, with fashion houses and street style stars incorporating different-colored shoes and interchangeable straps. Though its popularity has since declined, it’ll likely always be a style cue in Parker’s book. See more photos of the actor channeling Carrie’s shoe mishap ahead.

Related: “And Just Like That”‘s Costume Designer Talks Carrie’s Season 2 Wedding Dress