And Just Like That… Episode 3 Fashion Recap: A Night Out, at Long Last

A grieving Carrie is back to work, and back to sticking out like a sore thumb at the podcast studio. She’s wearing not one, but two statement tops, plus a monogrammed Gucci bag and pearls. Meanwhile...

A study in contrasts: Che’s office fit consists of baggy pants and a t-shirt with an anarchy sign, topped with three chains.

Glamorous as she may try to look on her walks with Mr. Burton—here, in a Stella McCartney top and Balenciaga skirt—there’s no getting around that at some point Charlotte has to crouch down and pick up her pup’s poop. In a very Charlotte move, she’s elevated the task by keeping the bags in a vessel that Burberry bills as a “Vintage Check cotton barrel bag charm.”

Carrie, who’s deep in the throes of insomnia, has replaced sleeping with walking. “When I saw your text I thought your phone had been hacked,” Miranda says when she turns up on Columbia’s uptown campus. “You really walked all this way? In those shoes?!” Quipping that they’re her “running shoes,” Carrie shows off her glitter-covered Terry de Havilland platform pumps in all their glory. She’s paired them with a paisley dress that fans will be relieved to hear is not by Forever 21, as had been rumored when Sarah Jessica Parker wore it on set.

But you can’t blame us for believing that Carrie would fall prey to fast fashion in her sleepless state. Insomnia must be to blame for her decision to wear the dress atop a denim shirt with an Ed Hardy-esque motif splashed across the back.

Rejoice, because the look has a saving grace: a bag from Gucci’s wildly popular (and rather groundbreaking) Balenciaga remix.

Enter Natasha, Big’s ex and surprise soon-to-be recipient of $1 million from his will. She’s gotten a bit more sophisticated since a Sex and the City-era Carrie memorably described her as “shiny hair, Style section, Vera Wang.” Little does she know that Carrie, Miranda, and Charlotte are scrutinizing her emerald green Khaite bag and faux-leather Stella McCartney skirt from behind a tinted window. “She’s wearing flats,” Charlotte remarks, aghast.

Behold, a fascinating look into the sartorial mind of Carrie: You know she spent ages calculating exactly what to wear to ambush Natasha, who unceremoniously blocked her on Instagram, at work. She added a youthful edge to her Carolina Herrera dress by reprising the studded Streets Ahead belt she wore in the Sex and the City movie, rounding out the look with her trusty Manolos. Fortunately, she’s had enough practice with them to sprint across cobblestones when Natasha spots her lurking outside.

It was about time the gang had a night out on the town. And they certainly dressed for one—just not the one the night had in store. Charlotte pulls out a ruffled shirt that dates all the way back to the fall 1996 season of John Galliano’s era at Givenchy, clearly expecting that Che’s comedy show would be a bit more high-brow. Carrie is comparatively toned-down, but still marks the occasion by reprising a version of the Fendi baguette bag she was robbed of in season three.

Miranda is dressed for the club, though it works in her favor. Che certainly seems to like her jumpsuit—which is a rather on-the-nose shade of wine red—when she doubles back to hang with her comedian crush.

Miranda’s cool professor, Dr. Nya Wallace, continues to challenge her notions of what a highly respected academic can wear to work.

Charlotte and Carrie may detest the first funeral home they visit when making arrangements for Big, but there’s no denying that they blend right in with the pastel-colored environment.

“I’m so proud of [Carrie],” Stanford tells Anthony at Big’s funeral. “With all she's going through, pulling it together and giving us a look today, because people will be expecting it. She's kind of our Jackie Kennedy.”

Fearing that Charlotte would feel left out, Carrie fruitlessly instructs Stanford to hide when she makes a surprise feel-better visit with a bag full of Vogue’s. But there’s no missing Stanford when he darts out to grab his martini—especially in this loud Dries Van Noten shirt.

Thanks to a surprise encounter with their old pal Bitsy Von Muffling, an eccentric socialite played by Julie Halston in Sex and the City, the show addresses Samantha’s absence right off the bat. It soon transpires that Bitsy is just as loud as her ‘80s-style ensemble, which comes complete with puffed shoulders and a peplum waist. “Sexy sirens in their sixties are still viable over there,” she quips upon learning of Samantha’s move to London, then tops off her look with cat-eye sunglasses and air-kisses them goodbye.

After lunch with Charlotte, Miranda walks Carrie to her podcasting job. Presumably, the gig is the reason why Carrie is carrying two phones and two hand bags. (She’s also toned it down from a whole bird on her head to a feather or two.) As for Miranda, she’s embraced no longer being “a spicy redhead”—her boldest accessory is a red belt.

Carrie drops everything the moment she spots this eccentrically dressed stranger. “Wow, I’ve gotta get him,” she says, holding her phone inches from her face with a look of intense concentration. “Do you see his hat?,” she asks Miranda, riveted. “Looks like a light fixture.” Swiveling in her chair, she gets as many shots as she can for her burgeoning Instagram account. Apparently, it’s “starting to become a thing” now that she’s joined the podcast.

Introducing the first of the newcomers: Lisa Todd Wexley. (Charlotte, who clearly worships the chic documentarian-slash-supermom, privately calls her LTW.) When it comes to statement dressing, it seems Carrie has met her match. Lisa has topped off a Pleats Please dress with a silk coat from The Row, but the ensemble is really about her unmissable, oversized chain necklace (by the Danish jewelry brand Monies). For Carrie, it’s instead all about one of Lisa’s many bracelets. “It’s [by] this 20-year-old from Jackson, Mississippi I came across on Instagram,” Lisa tells her.

Charlotte’s daughter Lily is still in her school uniform, accessorized with matching Chanel monogrammed backpack and boots, when Charlotte returns home with two Oscar de la Renta garment bags. Both contain floral gowns, and Lily is tickled when she hears the other is intended for her sister, Rose. As we quickly learn, unlike Lily, Rose is not her mom in miniature.

Enter Rose on a skateboard, wearing a helmet covered in stickers, a backpack dotted in pins, and a pair of classic checkered Vans. Judging from Lily’s reaction to the dress, it’s a wonder she’s even wearing the skirt that goes with her school uniform.

Miranda’s new life as a student requires carrying two bags, just like Carrie. She survives a subway ride, then gets an 11 a.m. glass of wine to calm her nerves. Then, she arrives to class to find she sticks out like even more of a sore thumb than she’d feared. She’s the only one in the classroom with grey hair, and no doubt the only one who’d step out in what suddenly feels like a very matronly skirt. Alas, there’s more. “Everyone was looking at me like I was the white lady who couldn’t stop saying the word ‘Black,’” she later tells Carrie. “It’s a miracle nobody pulled out their phone or I would be a meme now.”

Over at the podcast studio, Carrie is also struggling to fit in. Between her sparkly Gucci gloves and inability to talk about masturbation, she couldn’t have more different of a vibe from her cohost, a non-binary comedian named Che who commands Carrie to “step [her] pussy up.”

Back at home, Carrie surveys the scene in her shoe closet. With a grin, she selects the pair of blue Manolos she wore for her wedding with Big. “Those blue shoes are the whole ballgame,” he remarks when she shows them off.

Carrie seems to be getting nostalgic: Her Chanel flower brooch dates back to her fling with Aidan in Sex and the City season 3.

At the recital, the glimpse of a pair of dandelion-yellow loafers descending from a car signals the arrival of Stanford. He’s wearing a periwinkle suit that, per his peeved husband Anthony, took him an hour and a half to select. Topping it off: a paisley tie and handkerchief, blue-tinted glasses, and gold brooch in the shape of a lizard.

Time for Charlotte to go to battle with Rose. “Please put this dress on, I want us all in florals,” Charlotte begs her ahead of Lily’s piano recital. “What is the problem? It isn’t even poofy!”

Rose acquiesces—evidently with one condition. Half of the dress is obscured by a t-shirt printed with a tuxedo, making it crystal clear that she styled herself. As if she couldn’t offend Charlotte enough, Rose has accessorized with Comme des Garçonnes x Converse sneakers and a hat shaped like Harry Potter’s owl Hedwig. Carrie is the first, and likely only, to give Rose a compliment. “It’s really cute, right?,” Rose says as Carrie urges her to do a twirl. Meanwhile, Anthony accosts Charlotte: “What the hell is with that get-up? She looks like a little Edie Beale.”

Lily, on the other hand, looks like Charlotte’s dreams come true—especially as she blows everyone’s minds on the piano.

In fact, Charlotte is on a roll. Her friend crush Lisa is back, again wearing a statement necklace, and evidently considers Charlotte enough of a friend to introduce her to her mom.