Although a fictional character, Carrie Bradshaw (as played by Sarah Jessica Parker in the HBO series Sex and the City) is the ultimate Manhattan It Girl, known for her outré style and fun-loving personality. Bradshaw is a New York Star newspaper columnist whose “Sex and the City” dating column provides a through-line for the show’s plot. She goes on to write for Vogue as the TV show progresses, eventually spinning out into two movies and a sequel, And Just Like That, where she becomes a podcaster. 

Bradshaw broke many boundaries in the TV genre—she smoked, she drank cosmopolitan martinis with cheeseburgers, she wore tutus with Manolo Blahnik stilettos at brunch, and most importantly, she mused openly about sex and relationships. She was the wild best friend we all wished we had. Viewers followed her own relationship, with the also iconic Mr. Big (Chris Noth), with bated breath, and cried with her when she was left at the altar, celebrated with her when they finally married, and mourned with her when he died of a heart attack. 

Bradshaw’s backstory is that she moved to New York when she was 20, and came from a middle class family. In one episode she reveals she had an abortion at the age of 22 after a one-night stand. She lives in a brownstone on the Upper East Side at the fictional house number of 245, on East 73rd Street, between Park and Madison. Obsessed with fashion (I would buy Vogue instead of dinner, she said) and owns more than 100 pairs of shoes, including Blahniks, Jimmy Choos and Christian Louboutins.  She famously called shopping her “cardio.” 

Bradshaw is associated with dozens of American and European designers, and was one of the first to mix quirky vintage finds with haute couture. She tries moving to Paris, with boyfriend Alexandr Petrvski (Mikhail Baryshnikov), but feels like a fish out of water and soon returns to New York City. Much of Bradshaw’s life revolves around her search for true love, even after she is widowed, but she will never settle: "Maybe some women aren't meant to be tamed. Maybe they need to run free until they find someone just as wild to run with," she mused.