He might look more like Mr. Big when he’s in the office, but on social media Dan Clay prefers to channel Carrie Bradshaw.
The “Sex and the City”-inspired persona, which he dubbed “Carrie Dragshaw,” has attracted the New York City strategy consultant a following of and the attention of some of the stars of the iconic show two decades after it premiered on HBO.
“It started as a Halloween costume with precisely zero aspirations for internet acclaim,” he told CTV’s Your Morning on Wednesday.
But somehow, through some “magical internet algorithm,” he says, it took off. Clay wears heels, a curly blonde wig, pink top and white tutu as he looks off wistfully on a New York street in the photo posted October 29, 2016, that has been liked nearly 7,000 times.
“I have wanted to be Carrie Bradshaw for Halloween ever since college, when I had HBO in my frat room and girls would come over and watch Sex and the City on Sundays and I would pretend that I hated it because I didn't want to give myself away,” . “Well, the secret's out, and this is the happiest day of my life. sending you more love than you could even imagine.”
The star of the show, Sarah Jessica Parker, responded on Instagram saying “Oh my L_ord! Words cannot convey. A triumph. Xxx.” And he has since met other cast members Kristin Davis (Charlotte York) and Cynthia Nixon (Miranda Hobbes), who have in some of his posts.
“It’s just completely surreal to me,” he says. “They’ve all been remarkably kind. Sarah Jessica Parker in particular has been just so extravagant with her generosity and her kindness. It means the world to me.”
He’s posted dozens of more recreations since, making “semi-homemade” costumes using dresses purchased off Amazon and adding “Carrie pizazz” to each garment. Twenty years after “Sex and the City” premiered on HBO in the summer of 1998, Clay’s mild social media celebrity is exemplary of the show’s impact two decades on.
“These people have made me smile so much over the years so just the thought that I could add a little boost to their day, I could make them smile in my small way,” he says. “It’s just such a privilege for me.”
