Carrie Bradshaw made quite a few budding writers and fashionistas want nothing more than to run away to Manhattan, pursue a career involving fashion and romance, live in a charming brownstone apartment on the Upper East Side, and spend their evenings drinking cosmos with their friends. In addition to her envious lifestyle, which included gorgeous clothing and a prodigious shoe collection, Carrie also had a thriving dating life with her pick of New York City's most eligible men, and she wove her relationship adventures into a weekly column that somehow made it all possible.
But as fabulous as she is, fans were puzzled about a variety of aspects about Carrie, from the way she neurotically flaked on her friends to why she kept getting back together with Mr. Big. There are numerous inconsistencies about her Manolo Blahnik-wearing, Vogue-writing character that baffle fans even to this day, decades after Sex and the City ended.
Affording All Those Shoes
At one point in the series, Carrie blanches at the realization that she's acquired $40,000 dollars worth of shoes in her closet. When it's cascading with Louboutin, Gucci, Prada, and Givenchy, it's not hard to see where most of her finances are directed to, but how could she afford so many designer shoes with a career as a freelance writer?
Fans have often speculated about where her shoe money comes from, especially considering she writes a weekly column which, before she starts working for Vogue, couldn't have helped her afford much more than her apartment. Carrie mentions off-handedly at one point that she's maxed out her credit card, but fans weren't convinced her credit limit was in the tens of thousands of dollars given her salary.
Her Apartment
Carrie lives in the same rent-controlled brownstone on the Upper East Side for almost the entirety of the series, until in the last season she leaves for Paris to live with her artist beau Aleksandr Petrovsky, and later when she and Big move into something much more palatial.
Even at $700 a month, the apartment is a roomy studio, which somehow manages to feel bigger than the one Miranda owns on Manhattan's Upper West Side. Given Carrie's freelancer salary and the amount of money she delegates to shoes, brunches, and cosmopolitans, how is she able to afford it?
Ditching Good Guys For Bad Reasons
Carrie's romantic life is the inspiration for all of her advice columns, so the more men she dates the wider the variety of anecdotes she can relay to her readers, most of whom are looking for "the perfect man" in New York City. The trouble is, according to Carrie's brief time in therapy, she "attracts the wrong men."
Since all the men fans meet are viewed through Carrie's perspective, many of them are described in unflattering ways, but aside from some truly unfortunate suitors, there are plenty of boyfriends she dumps for petty or problematic reasons, like being in therapy themselves (Jeremy), or because she hasn't moved on from Big (Joe), or they're bisexual (Sean).
Managing Every Activity In Heels
Other than her gold "Carrie" necklace, Carrie is almost never seen without her other ubiquitous fashion accessory: her high heels. Whether she is out walking Aidan's dog, hailing a cab, or just walking down the streets of the Big Apple, she's almost never to be found wearing a "sensible shoe."
While the endless parade of stilettos is impressive and enviable, her commitment to them seems unrealistic. Miranda isn't unfashionable because she changes into her trainers to walk to the subway — she's a typical New York woman who reserves her heels for a night on the town because wearing them every day would be extremely painful.
Constantly Getting Back Together With Big
From the first season to the last, Carrie and Big engage in a will-they won't-they, on-again off-again relationship that is full of melodrama and passion, mixed with heartache and pain. Carrie, a hopeless romantic, desperately wants true love, and yet she decides the only person whom she can have it with is the most emotionally unavailable man in New York.
Her love affair with Big ruins not only her chances of dating regularly — remember the charming baseball player with no baggage? — but her long-term relationships. She cheats on Aidan with Big simply because Aidan's stability represents stagnation in her mind, and she's addicted to the rollercoaster of emotions Big provides for her.
Always Going Out
Though Carrie is a freelance writer with deadlines, she somehow always finds the time to go out with her friends. Whether it's brunch with the girls or meeting some new gentleman caller for drinks at the newest hot spot in New York City, she never has to worry about scheduling her recreational activities — or paying for them.
Most adults in their thirties have to schedule these sort of commitments weeks in advance, making Carrie's lifestyle very unrealistic.
Affording Couture
Somehow on a freelancer's salary Carrie is able to afford the latest couture. From Yves Saint Laurent dresses to Burberry coats, her closet reads like a runway model's most coveted collection. How is she able to affords luxury duds when she isn't able to afford her rent half the time?
Patricia Field, Sex and the City's stylist explained that after the first season of the series, its popularity grew so enormous that designers wanted their labels worn by the quirky fashionista protagonist, but Carrie never gives any actual explanation about how she can afford to dress so well throughout the seasons.
Being Instantly Recognizable Everywhere
For most of the series, Carrie's dating advice column's location is in the back of the paper. She jokingly complains to people that it's by the sex ads, and feigns surprise when anyone has heard of her. Yet somehow even with a column that causes her embarrassment, her face is plastered all over buses, and everyone is New York has heard of her.
Unlike her contemporary Frasier Crane whose sonorous radio voice might make a few ears perk up when he's ordering coffee at Starbucks, how is Carrie Bradshaw so famous in a city of millions?
Flaking On Her Friends
Carrie may say she loves her friends, but more often than not if a man gets involved in her life, she forgets all about them and focuses on herself. The biggest grievance her friends had was that she frequently stopped having a social life with them due to Big, but they were just as upset when she started dating artist Aleksandr Petrovsky.
Because she perceives her friends to be moving on with their lives with marriage and children, she decides the only thing for her to do is move to Paris with her boyfriend, despite knowing no one there. When her friends (most notably Miranda) worry about her not considering their feelings, she dismisses their concerns completely.
No Relationship Is Good Enough
One of the most frustrating things about Carrie is that despite having gone through a lot of heartache, she never seems to learn from past romantic mistakes. Not only does this become apparent every time she goes running back to Big, but it's present even when dealing with Aidan. None of her long-term relationships become good enough because Carrie only thinks she wants to put in the work.
Carrie cheats on Aidan with Big because their relationship is too "safe," and then doesn't seem to understand why Aidan can't forgive her. When they ultimately can't make their relationship work, she resigns herself to being with Big. When that relationship feels too complacent, she cheats on Big with Aidan in the Sex and the City 2 film.