candace bushnell on why she wrote lipstick jungle

The Lipstick Jungle ladies; photo courtesy AP

Last night was the premiere of Lipstick Jungle. With sightings of Kim Raver at Fashion Week making headlines, I predict it could be influencing fashion and trends for the next good while.


Kim Raver turning heads at the Monique Llhulier show

Although some reviews have been less than complimentary, I'm willing to give it a shot for a few more episodes and here's why: I met Candace Bushnell last spring and thought she was smart, funny, powerful, yet humble--the kind of woman that you would image the creator of "Sex In the City" to be, and the sort of friend you'd want to have in your corner when you break up with your own Mr. Big. I wrote a little profile on her for SheKnows.com, which has mysteriously disappeared from that site, so today seemed like a good time to run it here. I hope that you will find her as enjoyable as I did.


I was invited to a lunch at the Four Seasons in Beverly Hills to hear Candace speak and I had to ask her, "If you were to write Sex In the City now, how would it be different?"

"I wouldn't," was her immediate answer. "I wrote it 13 years ago. I was a different person then. The things I was going through then were different. I couldn't relate to those issues now. I've been married for five years--I mean, I can't believe how concerned I was with men!"

As it turns out, the most riveting topic of the day was Candace's new project, "Lipstick Jungle," and why this is more about her life now. Growing up in the 60s Candace says she was a little Gloria Steinem. Girls were supposed to be 'sugar and spice and everything nice' and she didn't want any part of it--spiders and snakes and puppy dog tails sounded much more interesting to her. When she got to college and wanted to go out with her roommates, one told her 'we don't go out without men' and another stayed in the dorm room all weekend crying because she didn't have a boyfriend. "I decided then and there that if I did one thing in life, it would be to show women that they can go out with their girlfriends have a really good time. And I think I’ve done a pretty good job!"

Candace moved to New York in the late 70s--early 80s, intent on exploring a new lifestyle. Moving to a big city, she and scores of other women her age wanted to pursue a career and having it all. Sex was a part of this, and if you were lucky, the Big O--which Candace jokes that she's still not sure if she's had. Back then, women 'dressed for success,' in other words, like men, with the buttoned up collars and little bow ties. Candace and all of her friends wore running shoes to work "because as a single woman back then, you never knew when you’d have to run. You’d also carry a bag with another change of clothes because after work, if you were lucky enough to have a date, you might go home with a guy and spend the night and you'd need something to wear the next day. The single woman's life back then entailed a lot of schlepping."

"The big dilemma was how to get a man to marry you—and I always did everything wrong." Candace recounts the numerous times in her 20s when she’d move in with a guy and a year later, need to move out. She'd call her friends, who would come over and load all of her possessions into trash bags and haul them out like reverse Santa. By the early 90s, Candace had lots of girlfriends but still had not found 'the guy'. She also realized at the end of ten years of living in NYC, that men come and go but your girlfriends are going to be here forever, which is what spawned the concept of Sex In The City.



"Back in the 80s women believed that they couldn't have sex and not go crazy if the guy didn't call. But in the 90s, women with power and status have sex like a man. Most of my friends were like Samantha. Even my Miranda handled sex like Samantha." It turns out that there was a real Mr. Big in Candace's life who dated her...and super models. "The thing I love about New York is that when you go out with a guy, your competition isn't the girl-next-door, it's a super model. Mr. Big did break up with me and marry someone else. I was 37 when I was dumped by Mr. Big. Mr. Big makes you feel smarter, funnier, and prettier than if you were just at home watching TV. The thing is, that's how we should feel when we're all alone. I realized finally that I didn't want to date Mr. Big, I wanted to BE Mr. Big!"

Candace says she spent 5 or 6 years trying to be Mr. Big and this new realization led to Lipstick Jungle. "It was a different era for women in the 90s. Single women in New York were trying to find a way to live differently. The women I knew had grown up now, and in their 40s they were suddenly a lot more successful. They had confidence and financial security. This was a very different model than what society would have you believe about an unmarried successful woman--that you have to be a dragon lady, or lonely and bitter, or a man-hater. That's crazy! It inspired me to write Lipstick Jungle because a woman doesn't need a man to put a roof over her head anymore. Society gives a lot of lip service to choice, but as a woman you don't have choices unless you have money. There's no way around that."

After Sex in the City, Lipstick Jungle was a hot property, with a lot of people interested. But Candace met a woman at Cynthia Rowley's wedding who told her she wanted to buy Lipstick Jungle. They clicked, and it ultimately ended up with this producer. There were a few bumps along the way--the script was picked up a year ago and according to Candace, the director went on strike and wouldn't come out of his hotel room so production shut down. But now, the show will debut on NBC with Brook Shields cast along with Lindsay Price and Kim Raver. Candace was visibly proud to mention that five other women executives are involved at the network and the studio. The new reality she writes of for powerful and successful women is clearly reflected in all aspects of Lipstick Jungle.



Lipstick Jungle has all my best wishes!