Candace Bushnell, author of Sex In The City and Lipstick Jungle

A few weeks ago I had a few minutes to chat with Candace Bushnell before she gave a talk at a luncheon at The Four Seasons in Beverly Hills. Wearing a fitted cream colored dress and strappy leopard heels, she looked sexy and stylish--exactly the way you might expect the author of author of Sex In The City to be dressed. She was also funny and charming and I loved her confession that ultimately she didn't want to date 'Mr. Big', she wanted to be him. This is what led Candace to write Lipstick Jungle, which has been made into the much anticipated new show coming to NBC this January.



Lipstick Jungle's cast: Lindsay Price, Brooke Shields, and Kim Raver

I thought it would be fun to share some of the Q and A from the other day here at Trust Your Style:

On dating advice for the alpha woman:
"Society has narrow ideas of who we can be with. We are trained to think that this is a man two years older, who makes more money than us." According to Candace, for a successful woman this can be a nearly an impossible feat. Her advice is: "Be open to a different kind of guy than who we grew up believing we needed to be with. For me, it's about looking for love and a partner."

On waiting for Mr. Big:
"In real life waiting for Mr. Big is a bad idea," Candace says. If her friends were in a similar situation, she would advise them to move on. "Who wants to spend their whole life twisting themselves into being someone to make someone else happy?" Candace is married to a principle dancer with the NYC Ballet. Turns out he's 10 years younger. "He's the new Mr. Big," she laughed, "he's 6'4."

On being single in the city: "I wish I hadn't worried about men so much--what they were thinking and doing" she lamented. I wish I had put that energy into my career. You can't get self esteem from another person."

Advice for anyone breaking up with Mr. Big:
"I focused on work to get over Mr. Big. I think the answer is getting back to the core person you imaged yourself being when you were a little girl."

On being sexy:
"I think it's a mistake to tell women that their only validity is being hot. I would tell young women to study hard--achieving is the way to self esteem. I tried to make that the message of Lipstick Jungle."

If you're interested, you can read more about Candace Bushnell in my full-length profile at Sheknows.com by clicking here.

Labels: Candace Bushnell, Lipstick Jungle, Sex in the City