Style icon and actress Sarah Jessica Parker fronts the January issue of InStyle, donning a floral print dress by Dolce & Gabbana on the retail cover and a sheer, floral embroidered gown on the subscriber edition. The shoot was lensed by Thomas Whiteside and styled by Ali Pew, with Parker’s hair guru Serge Normant on tress patrol and Leslie Lopez on makeup duty. In a tête-à-tête with EIC Laura Brown, Parker discusses the evolution of her style, launching her shoe and fragrance line, her HBO show Divorce, and being a celeb parent. Scoop up a copy when the issue is released on December 9.
Her style influences as a young woman…
“…street imagery and girls on the subway more than anything. I was like, ‘How can I do that? How can I afford to do that? What’s my version of that?’ Honestly, thrift stores played such a huge part in my life before Sex and the City. And, of course, my mom was the biggest influence. She had pretty firm ideas about how we would dress.”
The evolution of her style…
“I dress based on what I have. I’m not a huge shopper, but I love beautiful things. To be able to borrow them is ridiculously fortunate, and I enjoy every second of that. I have a pretty standard wardrobe, though I’ve got wonderful shoes. That’s more so the case now. I genuinely don’t know what people think of me or want from me.”
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- Dress: Carolina Herrera; Earrings: Harry Winston; Shoes: SJP by Sarah Jessica Parker
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- Dress: Erdem; Ring: Dior Fine Jewelry
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- Dress: J. Mendel; Earrings: Tiffany & Co.
On her character, Frances, in HBO’s Divorce…
“It’s taken me a long time to find anybody who I thought had as much potential as [Sex and the City’s] Carrie Bradshaw, who was as complicated, human, layered, and objectionable yet understandable, relatable yet foreign. People think she was a second skin for me, but she wasn’t. I didn’t know her at first. She was different from me as anybody I’d ever played or known. So I feel like Frances is equally as interesting and unknown to me.”
Why she deleted Twitter…
“I don’t have the constitution for Twitter. It’s a boneyard, a feast of vitriol. I just don’t want to participate in it. But on Instagram people tend to be more civilized. And they can disagree and have objections, but I don’t find it as mean-spirited a community.”
How she handles celebrity as a parent…
“We talk about it with the kids to the degree that they want to, but we don’t do it unsolicited…Like any parent, I just try to be present, pay attention, ask questions, and then allow them the freedom to monitor themselves. Hopefully, they’ll live by our example. It’s hard, because you want to give them freedom, but as a parent you have to be willing to not be liked by your child sometimes.”
