Wendy Brandes Jewelry Blog

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On the Town Epic Post: Celebrating Sex and the City 2

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In case you’re new to this blog and haven’t read the TEN MILLION posts I’ve done on this topic … guess what?! My Cleopatra earrings are worn by Samantha (Kim Cattrall) in Sex and the City 2!

In case you missed her the first 10 million times -- here is Kim Cattrall wearing my earrings in SATC2.

I wanted to see the movie on opening night. At first, I thought MrB and I would have a low-key evening at the movie theater on our block. Then I noticed that the movie would be playing at the nicest theater in New York: the Ziegfeld. Forget low-key! I invited 10 gorgeous friends (plus MrB and my parents, GeorgeB and BarbaraB), brought along Cleopatra jewels for 10 peeps and myself, and turned it into a party.

My look for the evening had to show off the earrings, so I went to super-stylist Julie Matos for a hairdo. She teased up the top of my hair and used my somewhat exhausted faux-ny tail as a fall, letting the hair hang loose instead of putting it into a ponytail. While Julie was working on the top, I was holding the faux-ny tail (we’ve named her “Helen”) and discovered said faux-ny tail had a gray hair.  Julie and I decided that Helen is going gray either from the stress of overwork or from hearing our running conversation about replacing her.

Helen the faux-ny tail plus my Cleopatra earrings.

My lipstick is called Liza, from a discontinued collaboration that Liza Minnelli did with MAC. Perfect for a movie with a Liza Minnelli cameo. Deciding on a dress was a little more challenging. I wear statement necklaces more often than I wear earrings. Earrings aren’t as visible with my usual hairstyle and it’s important that people see my work easily: I’m the walking billboard for my business. While getting dressed for SATC2, I realized how many of my dresses have plunging necklines that cry out for necklaces. Luckily, I have a Diane von Furstenberg from the early 2000s with a higher neck.

The head-to-toe look. Photo by Tina Anderson.

Dress: Diane von Furstenberg (somewhere between 2000 – 2003)
Shoes: Karl Lagerfeld (1994 and looking the worse for wear, like Helen)
Earrings: Wendy Brandes Cleopatra earrings in gold
Lip color: Liza by MAC

My shoes were involved in some drama early in the evening. Gorgeous blogger Stacy of taffetadarlings happens to be my neighbor, so she came over to share a cab to Benoit, where we were all meeting for pre-movie Prosecco and the jewelry distribution. We were both running late, as usual. Stacy was doing her nails and changing out of her flip-flops in the cab. We’d only gone half a block when I realized I’d left my phone in the charger at home and, that as the evening’s hostess, I’d have to have it in case anyone needed to tell me she was lost or delayed. “Stop the cab!” I screamed at the driver. “Give me your flip-flops,” I screamed at Stacy, concerned about my ability to run in my heels. Flip-flops, nail polish and Stacy herself were hurled around the cab as I crawled over her and dashed home to get the phone.A  By the time I scooted back to the cab with the phone, Stacy had finished her nails and was coping with the fact that she had accidentally mooned a passerby during the kerfuffle. (I did indeed get a text from my gorgeous friend Amanda, who requested the address of our meeting spot.) Anyway, good to know that I think fast about footwear during minor emergencies.

At Benoit, more hilarity ensued when gorgeous blogger Tina of The Occasional Cook — the photography director of a national magazine during the day — organized all the Cleopatra wearers for a picture. After setting us up, Tina had to get in the picture, so she stopped a woman on the street and asked her to do the honors. The woman was accompanied by another woman and two men, one of whom decided to provide running rude commentary including, “One of you is prettier than the other one.” Gorgeous blogger Midtown Girl, standing in back of me, was angered by that comment and said a few things that made Helen grow another gray hair. I kept asking people why the dude sounded like he was addressing two people when he was looking at 11 of us. In the midst of all this … *CLICK!*

Outside Benoit with my posse.

In the photo, from left to right are: Tina wearing silver Cleopatra earrings; Jen W. of 40 Is the New Fabulous in silver Cleopatra earrings; non-blogger Jen D. in silver Cleopatra earrings and a city-themed dress; Stacy in gold Cleopatra earrings; non-blogger Amanda in silver Cleopatra earrings, caught mid-blink but don’t you love her eyeshadow?; Ann of Holier Than Now in silver Cleopatra earrings; WendyB in gold Cleopatra earrings; Midtown Girl wearing silver Cleopatra earrings while planning to stab a dude; non-blogger Alyssa in a gold Cleopatra necklace; Fashion Herald in silver Cleopatra earrings; and Suzanne of Idee Fixe, also in the silver Cleopatra earrings.

Somehow, we were able to stop Midtown Girl from killing anyone — though no one was able to clear up my confusion about the singular versus plural issue — and hustle over to meet the B family at the Ziegfeld on the next block.A  On the way, Tina stopped me for outfit pictures …

Side view.

… while everyone else took the opportunity to examine their own cameras.

"Delete, delete, delete."

I loved that Midtown Girl described a street vendor’s counterfeit Burberry handbags as “Faux-Berry.”

No, she didn't buy one! And the one in her left hand is real.

As for the movie itself? It’s gotten a lot of bad reviews, but my peeps — and the rest of the audience — were screaming with laughter. SATC2 is not going to win any Oscars and anyone who is taking him- or herself very seriously can drone on forever with his or her very legitimate complaints about the characters and plot, but that’s not what this movie is about.  It’s about rounding up your wimmin friends, drinking some bubbly and having some good, silly fun! Here’s my movie marquee blurb:

A highlarious action movie for women, starring shoes!

My favorite moments:

  • The brief ’80s flashbacks in the beginning of the movie. (While the movie was being made, I saw Sarah Jessica Parker’s scene filmed near the Plaza Hotel with hundreds of people gawking and taking cellphone pictures from across the street.) I didn’t know how they were going to use those or how it would work to see the women playing themselves 20 years younger, but it was brilliant and set the tone for the whole movie.
  • Liza Minnelli singing “Single Ladies” after officiating at a gay wedding (did she become ordained online?). One character explained Liza’s presence by noting, “I am convinced that when there is so much gay condensed in one area, Liza Minnelli manifests.” Special Liza bonus: she was wearing green nail polish like the “Divine Decadence, darling!” shade she wore in Cabaret.
  • Lots of happy applause: applause for the theme song, applause for the flashbacks, gasps and applause for a Louboutin shoe, huge applause for a scene at the very same Ziegfeld theater we were sitting in, etc.
  • Samantha telling a Bergdorf Goodman saleswoman, “I’m fifty-fucking-two and I’m going to rock this dress!” And then going to a movie premiere and seeing Miley Cyrus in the same dress.  Also, Samantha and her manservant (aka “Paula Abdul”) trying a yam facial treatment together. Samantha having a menopausal breakdown with condoms flying everywhere. Basically anything with Samantha. At the end of the movie, I immediately turned to Stacy and said, “Kim Cattrall fucking killed it in this movie.” Kim looked gorgeous, had great energy and, while a lot of reviewers complained about her character’s over-the-top sex puns, I thought she delivered them with more panache and sly humor than she did on the original show. Every review I’ve read has complained about her “Lawrence of my labia” line but when she said it and mock-swooned onto the girls, the audience roared.

My praise for Kim Cattrall is not influenced by the fact that I had a fashion mind-meld with her during this movie. Of course, she was wearing THE EARRINGS. Fashion Herald sneaked a picture of them on the big screen.

The actual pair of earrings you see in this photo are available at Broken English Jewelry. Click for contact info.

She also had a Minx manicure, another one of my favorite fashion statements. Most amazingly, in one scene she is wearing a one-shoulder tiger-stripe dress which I am convinced is the twin of my vintage Clovis Ruffin tiger-stripe strapless dress — I’m betting it’s also a vintage Clovis or made by another designer from that period with the same fabric. I’m going to try to find out for sure, via stylist Patricia Field.

Privately, I had a good laugh about Carrie’s and Mr. Big’s squabbles about what to do in the evenings. She wanted to go out; he wanted to sit on the couch watching TV. I kept envisioning her dropping by my apartment at 11 p.m. most weekdays, which is when I yell, “FAMILY GUY!” at MrB and we sit on the couch (me in my gym clothes) and watch cartoon reruns. Oh, the glamour of it all!  I’ve seen some of those Family Guy episodes so many times that I say the lines before the characters do, and I’m trying to teach my 18-month-old nephew to say, “Cool Hwip” like Stewie does.

I also got a laugh after the movie when GeorgeB exclaimed: “I sat in a row of gay guys — now I’m booked for the next month!”

One rant: I read quite a few SATC2 reviews that complain about a moment when Muslim women take off their burkas and reveal designer clothes underneath.  “Must get hot,” Roger Ebert snipes, apparently operating under the misguided belief that women are walking around with teeny bikinis under their burkas instead of clothes. (The burka is an outer garment.) It is 100% true that there are seriously wealthy Muslim women who dress to impress other women under their robes and who love designer labels. When people bitch about U.S. consumerism, I have to laugh. Americans are amateurs. It’s the Middle Eastern women who keep real haute couture in business. They’re also crucial to the survival of many ready-to-wear lines.  Here’s a real-life example that I encountered: A Saudi princess bought a $10,000 mink-trimmed cashmere shawl in all 25 available colors. That’s $250,000 on shawls and she hadn’t even started her real shopping. (When she got home, her female relatives admired the shawls so much that she came back the following season and got them all complete sets as gifts.) Any designer with a high-end line and an ounce of sense aspires to hit it big with the Middle-Eastern oil-money ladies. So if you don’t like the movie, that’s fine, but don’t say ignant things about my business while you’re dissing it. Also, don’t complain to me that the SATC2 characters aren’t good role models. I wrote about how fictional females shouldn’t have to be a model minority in my 2008 Sexism and the City post. My 2007 Why Does Buyer’s Guilt Focus on Fashion is a good companion piece.

While you’re catching up on your reading, you definitely need to check out the blog posts by my gorgeous SATC2 party companions:

Finally, I made sure to get a close-up of everyone wearing her Cleopatra jewelry after the movie. Enjoy the slideshow!

UPDATED JUNE 7, 2018, TO ADD: Alas, the slideshow app I used is defunct!

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. wow. that was an epic post! I probably won’t be seeing the film in the theatre but I will be getting it on DVD. There are a ton of films that the critics hate but I love so really it comes down to what you like… you can expect them to hate a fluffy film but people need silly escapism too!

  2. Honestly, there’s so much happening in this post I do not know where to start! I have to say you look phenomenal in that dress. Like a sexy, grown up Pebbles.

  3. How thrilling to see your jewels on the BIG screen!! The Cleopatra earrings looked fab-u-lous, and had such kudos. Love the pic of all your girls wearing them too. They are definitely on my wish-list 😉
    xx

  4. You look beautiful. I love that you still wear those shoes and Helen – now that’s loyalty. I noticed them in your first post yesterday too! You can’t abandon them! xx

  7. I loved the movie, and I agree that Kim Cattrall killed it. My favorite scene was the condoms scene. You could barely hear anything over the intense laughter in the theatre.

  8. I love(!!!) your outfit! Of course the earrings look super stellar. (In every instance!) I haven’t seen the movie, but thank for saying a) its not trying to be an Oscar movie, don’t take it too seriously and b) just because people live in the Middle East doesn’t mean they don’t dig designer clothes! (I was going to type “duds” but that was a little to alliteration-tastic).

  9. you look AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!! i love that your fauxnail is going grey, i didn’t even know that was possible!!!

    those earrings are so gorgeous. if i could wear earrings iwthout my ears swelling up i would buy the silver ones in an instant. i do so miss wearing earrings!

    xo
    sara

    • Have you ever tried 24K gold or platinum? The 24K is hard to come by, but it might work because it’s pure. And platinum is nearly pure.

  10. What an amazing evening. So much fun. And this is an epic post because it’s an epic event. I’ve never known anyone to hit the bigtime like this! I’m bragging to everyone…”My friends’ earrings are in SATC2 – in your face.”

    I have to give GeorgeB a high five for his joke! Good one Georgie! My kind of humor.

    And I’m with you — Kim Cattrall was the best. Hands down.

    I loved the burka babes — so glam!

    Oooh, the french fry eating burka babe 🙂

    You looked so beautiful. Perfectly flawless. Nobody noticed Helen’s “issue.” 🙂

    Thanks for a great evening!

  12. OH EM GEE –

    I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE this post!!! It had me laughing throughout & the pics, comments were so perfect!! Cheers to an amazing evening with beautiful friends, fabulush earrings & wonderful times.

    Thank you so much for inviting me Wendy, I am so proud to have worn your celebrity earrings on this epic night – the memories will be treasured for sure – heart you X 100, stunning girl <3

    XOXO
    Amy

  15. oh can anyone say GLAM?!!! Love!!! how smoking did you look Mrs B?! I love love love this roundup!! I love hearing all the tidbits on a night out or after a celebration, so I just read the piece twice in a row!

    I love the idea of all your ‘wimmin'(hehhee) friends wearing the the cleopatra earrings!

    Wendy I loved this so much! Thank you.

    Happy Sunday!
    xoxo

    Marian.

    p.s if I were you and my design was in the movie, I would go see the movie a gazillion times while in cinemas and smile to myself each time the design comes on screen 🙂
    big kiss sweetie pie!
    xoxo
    Marian.

  16. Great post! I love it when you cover every base! The burka story is so true…I saw examples of lavish spending many times when I worked at Lillie Rubin and Gucci in my late teens.

    Great pictures, great fun! I still haven’t seen it…both of my girlies who go with me are out of town and I’m trying to be faithful to our tradition…but it’s getting harder every day!

    CHEERS TO WENDY B AND HER FABULOUS CLEOPATRA’S!!

  17. Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant – everyone looks killer in those earrings and I can’t wait to see movie and holla when your earrings make their début. xx

  18. first of all- you look absolutely stunning!! hope youre having a wonderful weekend. and i cannot get over how fierce those earrings are-im so proud of you!
    and also about family guy- haha love that. im watching it on telly as we speak

    the comment field/antispamword says mr.big- hahah!

    xx ediot
    http://www.ediot.org

  19. an epic post, some epic beauties, and of course epic earrings, wendy B! though kim looks stunning in them, I still don’t think she holds a candle to you in that animal print DVF.

    on the topic of cargo pants, I recently bought the j brand ‘houlihan’. they’re a bit of a sleeper hit this season and for good reason–the fit is fabulous (slimming cargo pants? who knew?) and they have these great ankle zippers that have stolen my heart. highly recommended!

    hope you’re having an amazing holiday weekend 🙂

    (p.s. my captcha word is ‘fangbang’. i’m envisioning that as a vampire orgy.)

  22. What a fun post to read . . . I really enjoyed all the photos. I almost felt like I was there, too!

    (I ignored the review comments, because my friend Laurie and I are going to see SATC2 on Tuesday). 🙂

  24. Your earrings will probably be the highlight of the movie for me. So far everyone I know who\’s seen it says it\’s terrible.
    And, on another note, the leopard print dress you\’re wearing in this post is possibly the nicest leopard print dress in the world. I love it!

  26. Wow, Wendy you look absolutely fabulous! That dress is such a statement look and fits you so well. And everyone looks amazing in their Cleopatra earrings 🙂 Looks to be a hell of a chic and fun night!

    Thanks for your comments on my recent posts, Wendy. You have always had such a strong voice in this blogosphere, wear what you want and don’t judge anyone for wearing it. Thanks again for reminding me!

  27. Well, I’m definitely not new to your blog and HAVE read the 10 million posts 😉 FREAKIN AWESOME *CYBER HUGGGG*.

    I mean, that’s really, really rad. And by the way, your hair is not to be believed.

  28. Sounds like a fantastic night, apart from the rude dude. All those Cleopatras (human and bijoux) clustered together are quite something to look at! And hey, I wouldn’t begrudge Helen one grey hair, she works hard after all. But I’m SO THRILLED for you about this, I bet it beats having Britney pinch a ring- the SATC team did send your earrings back, after all!

    PS: Thank you for continuing to comment on my blog, even though I’m such a lazy poster. I’d like to recommend the blog of Faux Fuchsia http://fauxfuchsiastyle.blogspot.com, though- she’s Aussie, a fashion lover and a champion wit, and her posts remind me of yours in that they’ve made me laugh so often. I recommended coming here to her, too- it feels a bit funny, this business of trying to introduce two of my favourite bloggers to each other’s blogs, like trying to introduce two of my friends who don’t know each other.

  29. Nobody does NYC glamour better than you Miss B. Congrats on your epic big night! Thank you so much for sharing your shining moment with me. It was truly a special evening and one I will remember forever. What a spectacular way to see the movie. This post sums up the festivities perfectly! THANK YOU!!!!!!

  30. fabulous post Wendy! I think it is my very favorite post that you have ever done! I was so excited when I saw your earrings on Kim Cattrall in the theater and also when I noticed immediately that her nails were Minx! Sadly, nobody that I went to the movie would have understood what I was talking about had I shared my excitement with them so I had to hold it inside but it was still so fun:)

    Again congrats to you-you must be so proud!

    I loved the movie-all the way through- and I have not paid any attention to bad reviews. I have no patience for it. The movie was just too fun for me all around! From the 80’s flashbacks to the scenes of Miranda and Charlotte drinking martinis to the thought of dealing with their children to all of it really-

    anyhow, bravo!

    smiles,
    gina

  33. All of you look amazing and I love youR DVF dress so much and plus your hair looks perfect! I’m glad you enjoyed the movie and I can’t wait to see it! xoxxoxoxoxoxo

  34. Such a fun night and so fabulous to see the earrings in person as well as 2-stories high! So cool…hwip!

  35. GREAT post!! 🙂 Wish I was there.
    I liked the movie a lot actually. I thought it was cheesy but in all the right ways 🙂
    I tried snapping a photo of the scene w/your now famous earrings but it didn’t come out. Stupid camera phones.
    PS- you looked EXTRA amazing! You pretty little thing you. 😉

    xoxox

  36. An epic post for an epic night; I could actually picture the cab braking hard when you yelled “STOP” and everything flying forward and everywhere (and yet, Stacy did not spill her polish… cool).

    I’m also surprised no one noticed the flash on the camera while that pic was snapped in the theatre; the Cleopatras must’ve hypnotized the audience and the ushers.

    Oh, and here’s a review from Gawker’s sci-fi blog io9 about SATC2; very interesting idea, non ?: http://io9.com/5550558/why-sex-and-the-city-2-is-a-science-fiction-movie

    Bonne journée à tous !

  37. Wendy!! How amazing that your earrings are there up on the big screen.. and I love that you even wore them (and also gifted them) to the movie. Might I add you are one hot lady! 🙂 Hope you’re having a great three day weekend!

    xx Love & Aloha
    ***Stop by to enter my InezDesigns giveaway!

  40. Hey Wendy,
    Thanks for more than just a mention!! I am however starting to suffer guilt over
    ” Helen ” ! She is not only turning gray listening to us talk about her in 3rd person,
    but if she is capable of reading will not only be retiring soon, but will need therapy. Poor Dear Helen; after all she has been serving a great purpose as your
    faux-ny tail for quite a while now and did a great job once again.
    Your earrings and necklace all looked fabulous and you spectacular!!! Love the dress. A must repeat….
    Love to you & helen,
    Julie M. Matos xoxo

  41. You look STUNNING. The hair is awesome, the earrings beautiful (duh) and that dress was MADE for you. (I love the fact that most of your clothes are 5 to 10 years old, they still look fresh years later, some stuff just doesn’t go out of style.)

  42. I’m glad you guys had such a good time! This post was a great read, and I really appreciate the points you included toward the end. In addition, everyone looked lovely with your earrings on. 🙂

  44. I agree with all of the above!! Loved the film, the clothes, The jewellery (well done wendy!), the setting, everything was just what we needed from the fab four!!! I’m sooo jealous you saw some live filming, how cool! I just need to see it again now!! e xxx
    ps. ditto re. family guy!!!!!!

  45. Eeee! You and your SATC2 posse look absolutely gorgeous. I still haven’t seen the movie yet (blasphemous for a fashion blogger, I know), but you can bet your baubles I’ll be on the lookout for your beautiful Cleopatra earrings.

    As for Roger Ebert’s comments, I just followed the link to his review. Whoa, so much vitriol for what’s supposed to be a breezy enjoyable film.

  47. You all looked AMAZING. And I want MG with me the next time someone decides to snark it up. Your earrings looked amazing on screen btw. And Liza’s cameo brought the house down IMO!

  48. Absolutely everybody looks gorgeous in your earrings! They are so chic! And you look beautiful, as always! Congrats on your earrings being in SATC2, that really is so, so cool! I skipped over your fav moments from the movie bc I haven’t seen it yet, but I’m glad to hear that you liked it 🙂

  49. omgosh! good job on being featured in sex and the city; wow i want a pair of those earings noww! holy!!! i want to watch it sooooooo badly! would you say it’s as good as the first one?

    my mom and i DIED watching the first one, the clothes were SO MAGNIFICIENT!

    yellowscarff.blogspot.com