Sarah Jessica Parker tells us about her head-turning 'cloud hat' in 'And Just Like That'

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Sarah Jessica Parker tells us about her head-turning 'cloud hat' in 'And Just Like That'
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Sarah Jessica Parker on new 'And Just Like That' season
Sarah Jessica Parker reveals why audiences are rooting for Aidan and Carrie in new season of "And Just Like That."
Spoiler alert! The following story contains minor details about the Season 3 premiere of "And Just Like That" (first episode now streaming on HBO Max; new episodes on Thursdays).
NEW YORK — It's been 27 years since 'Sex and the City' first strutted onto HBO, but Carrie Bradshaw is still turning heads.
Whether she's braving a snowstorm in a Moncler puffer gown or giving bridal chic with a taxidermied bird headpiece, the authorial fashionista has never shied away from an over-the-top gown or accessory. Her audacious style moments continue in Season 3 of sequel series 'And Just Like That...,' following Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) and friends as they weather another Manhattan summer of romantic misadventures.
On an afternoon stroll through Washington Square Park, Carrie's friend Seema (Sarita Choudhury), recounts how she nearly burned down her apartment while smoking in bed during a bad FaceTime date.
The courtship horror story is amusing, yes, but it's impossible not to take your eyes off Carrie's humongous headwear in the scene: a floppy gingham hat designed by Maryam Keyhani. She pairs the colossal chapeau with a brown, pink and cream-colored dress from Ossie Clark, which she ties together with Dr. Scholl's white slides.
After nearly three decades of working together, executive producer Michael Patrick King has learned never to question Parker's trend-setting choices.
'I saw the hat and wanted it on my head,' Parker says. 'At this point, there's no pretend dilly-dallying around. We pretty much just put stuff on my head and photograph it, and hope that Michael Patrick is hospitable to the idea.'
The Ossie Clark dress reminded Parker of Neapolitan ice cream, which neatly combines chocolate, vanilla and strawberry flavors side by side. Without a headpiece, Parker adds, the scrumptious frock would feel 'incomplete.'
Over the years, "once you've put a lot of hats on your head, you feel like it's missing its punctuation point,' Parker says. 'So there was that hat. It was going to be a lovely summer day, and it just felt like the period at the end of the sentence. I loved it and (King) agreed. I feel we've really worn him down. His eyes have adapted to large-scale things on heads now, so he's pretty generous about how often they can appear.'
The Maryam Keyhani design is frequently called a 'cloud hat,' although King jokingly refers to it as 'the Hindenburg hot-air balloon.' For him, it felt like a brazen fashion statement to help usher in the comedy's new season.
'It's like, 'Hey, everybody, we're back! Here's a hat that Carrie would wear eating sherbet in Washington Square Park. Why not?'' King says. 'I've learned over the years that sometimes logic is not as good as a hat. It makes people say, 'I love it. I hate it. Oh, my God, what was she thinking?'
'It'll be a meme,' he continues. 'It'll be a thing. People will wear it at Halloween. It's always fun, but with that (hat) particularly, I had to call up some of the writers and say, 'Get ready. Once it's on the head, it's not coming off.''
King teases more delectable style ahead in 'And Just Like That...' Season 3, including a 'stunning' vintage Vivienne Westwood piece that Carrie dons in the final two episodes. ('It is quite special,' he says. 'It's an event.')
A midseason episode also begins with a montage of Carrie sporting roughly a dozen different heels as she sashays through her new Gramercy Park townhouse. Although her face and torso aren't visible for the minute-long sequence, Parker wore every unique outfit on display.
'The shoe montage made everybody salivate,' King says. 'It's all her. Nobody else walks in Carrie's shoes – Sarah Jessica is a purist. There's not one part of Carrie Bradshaw that's ever been filmed by any other actor, especially not her feet. She was adamant she wanted to get in as many different shoes as possible.'
Meanwhile, Seema flaunts a braided white dress in the Season 3 premiere, as she accompanies her film-director paramour, Ravi (Armin Amiri), to a dusty shoot. Choudhury recalls how fastidiously the crew worked to ensure it never got dirty.
'It looks like string or thin rope bound together,' Choudhury says. 'It's made in Colombia by many people. I wear it with Ravi when he's directing a scene and it's the dirtiest terrain. Everyone was super worried (about) this dress. It was my favorite because it's not a name brand, and yet there was more care and love for that dress than anything I've worn in the show.'