We couldn't help but wonder, how much would you pay for a tutu?
When the tulle skirt Sarah Jessica Parker famously wore as Carrie Bradshaw for Sex and the City's opening theme went up for auction, this is exactly the question many buyers asked themselves. And the answer, readers, might surprise you.
Though Julien's Unstoppable: Signature Styles Iconic Women In Fashion auction originally estimated the skirt's selling point to be $8,000-12,000, Carrie's three-tiered white tulle skirt featuring a satin waistband ultimately sold for a whopping $52,000.
It was among the top three items from the auction, only outsold by a dress worn by Princess Diana and a Givenchy ensemble Grace Kelly wore while meeting President John F. Kennedy, which both sold for $325,000.
And the best part? SATC costume designer Patricia Field only spent $5 on the tutu in New York City's garment district ahead of filming, per the site. The website also notes Carrie was originally going to wear a spring 1998 Marc Jacobs runway dress during the opening credits, but that they ultimately opted for the tutu because it was "something that wasn't specific to the time so it wouldn't date fashion-wise."
The skirt sold during the auction is one of five originally used on the series, with Sarah owning one herself.
Filming the sequence required multiple versions of the tutu because—as any Sex and the City fan will remember—there is a moment where Carrie gets splashed by water from a passing bus.
"We didn't do a lot of takes," Sarah reminisced to Vogue in 2022. "We rehearsed it, we timed it, as you do, you kind of get all the pieces together without adding the liquid. And then you go for it, and I think we got it done probably in one or two takes."
As the Hocus Pocus star explained, "When you're doing a scene where you're getting splashed, you have to find something that has multiples. But it can't just simply be multiples, it has to be artistically, sartorially, it has to fit a lot of criteria. So Pat and I, as we always did, talked about a bunch of choices and at the end of the day, this is where we landed."