Thursday, June 5, 2008

Sex And The City - More Interiors


Set designer Jeremy Conway and
set decorator Lydia Marks
kept a neutral palette for
Charlotte's Park Avenue apartment



Carrie in front of her new closet
with her new glam mirrored vanity



Miranda's Brooklyn home was designed
for comfort and practicality -
and with her hair color in mind


I am so happy to see the set design of Jeremy Conway, and the set decoration by Lydia Marks getting some attention in the current issue of Traditional Home. Over the years I have been interested in compiling a book on decor in the movies. Often things set designers and decorators use become the very things we off screen mortals use and love.
I worked in The Museum of Modern Art Film and Media Department for a time, doing a stint with Mary Corliss in the Film Stills Archive. I was equally entranced by the photos of the sets, as I was by the actors.
I have been trying to find images of the set design and decoration from the genre of bedroom farces from the 1960's, and alas there is very little out there.
So it is gratifying to see that the interior design world sees the importance of archiving set designer Jeremy Conway's work. Sex And The City, whether you love it or hate it, is an iconic film and television series of its time. Twenty years from now, someone will come across it as a time capsule. Much in the way we currently look at mid 20th century and Hollywood Regency furnishings and design, today's decor and interior design iconography will be of interest to the next generation. A gold mine of decor and design images of are found in the movies, past and present.
Sets often play a co-starring role in the movies. Certainly Carrie's new chic blue and brown apartment shows her coming of age. She cares enough about where she lives, as much as about what she puts on her back and feet. The closet has matching padded hangers, and the clothes are organized. In the TV series, Carrie's closet was a lovely jumble. Her new mirror vanity also gives her a special place to put on her make-up, rather than hunched over the small old sink in her tiny TV series bathroom. It's the same Carrie and the same apartment, but reinvented for the next new phase in her life as a 40+ year old woman. She's taking better care of herself. Linda Marks says: "Since Carrie is so involved in fashion, I thought it would be very believable that she would have new fabrics around her, so the curtains, upholstery, and bed linens are all new for the film."
Charlotte has a happy marriage, and a child. She still has her dog Elizabeth Taylor. The apartment is as calm and pulled together as ever, much in the same way Charlotte's life is pulled together.
Miranda, living in Brooklyn, has a real house of a busy working couple with a small child. Magda her cleaning lady from her single days, is now her son Brady's nanny. Steve's Alzheimer stricken mother has been put in a nursing home. The Brooklyn house has hip furnishings along mid century lines.
The only home missing is Samantha's. She's moved to the Los Angeles area, and is living in a gorgeous beach house. I haven't found any images yet.
The interiors were created on the sound stage of Silvercup Studios in Long Island City.
You can see more photos of the set HERE and HERE


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