Since the glamour of black and white TV, fashion on-screen has always been a major visual element for viewers, sometimes with audiences tuning in just to see the clothes. Whether you love the fashion, the characters, or both, you are not alone. Not wanting to spoil the entire list for anyone, here are a few of the most fashionable black women to ever grace the small screen — and a few non-brown honorable mentions.

Fashion and television icon Sarah Jessica Parker sat down with Net-A-Porter’s The Edit magazine to speak about more than just personal style, and she decided to open up about the road Sex and the City paved for Girls, and how she really feels about the CW bringing you a whole different version of Carrie Bradshaw via The Carrie Diaries (are you even watching?).

While The Carrie Diaries is a cute show, it doesn’t seem that Sarah Jessica Parker is a big fan of it. She didn’t outright tell the magazine that she didn’t like it, because she’s a fan of the young lady who plays a young Bradshaw, AnnaSophia Rob, but it’s definitely not what SJP was expecting. When asked how she felt about the new portrayal of her iconic character, Parker says, “I’m not so sure.”

“You know, I think it’s one of those tests of your generosity,” Parker continued. “[Robb] is a lovely girl and I want her to feel good about it, but it’s… odd.”

Just as a reminder to all though, The Carrie Diaries is of course from the book of the same name by Sex and the City writer Candace Bushnell, so it’s definitely not a random out of the blue concept (and in fact, the book is pretty good–bought it for my diehard SATC stan sister). Therefore, Parker just might be creeped out by watching another person embody the character she brought to life. As for the legacy of Sex and the City, Parker says she’s hesitant to say it gave a voice to a generation of women, but it definitely let the stories of many women be told in a more frank manner.

“I think it certainly encouraged women to share more candidly,” she said. “I don’t know if it empowered women. I hesitate to say whether we were the pioneers or whether we gave voice to something that was there, but I recognize there was a connection.”

And this candid way of doing things definitely influenced Lena Dunham and the whole Girls series (and honestly, it probably also did so for shows like Girlfriends, movies like Bridesmaids and more). SJP says the influence is specifically around women playing a larger role in production of these stories on these shows, like Parker having a behind-the-scenes role outside of just being Carrie Bradshaw on Sex and the City. It definitely allowed other women to do more than just be a small-screen star.

“HBO was very encouraging of the beyond-camera role I played, and I feel that had we not done it, I don’t know that would have existed for ‘Girls.” It’s a such a different way of thinking and it’s not conventional. I also think Dunham came along understanding her voice and with the support of a producing partner Judd Apatow experienced enough to say she is capable of this, she needs to be in charge of the story as it’s her voice. I do feel ‘Sex & The City’s’ success made that possible, and it would have been different otherwise.”

She definitely has a point. But what do you think? And what do you think about the prequel to SATC, The Carrie Diaries?

T. Whiteside for Elle

For ELLE magazine’s new “Women in Hollywood” issue, the magazine enlisted not only women like Sarah Jessica Parker for the cover (a usual face–don’t front), they also asked sista girl Octavia Spencer to sit and get glammed up for her own separate magazine cover. The Oscar-winning actress, who made a huge name for herself after playing the outspoken, headstrong maid, Minny, in The Help, put on her big hair and some fly fashions for the shoot. Inside the magazine, Spencer talked about the bullying she had to deal with in Hollywood as she tried to make a name for herself. In fact, she called out, without naming names specifically, a famous producer who tried to play her in front of a group of people in a crowded office, and told the magazine that even though he made her cry, she had to put him in his place first:

“Early on I had to stand up to a producer – I won’t say who, but he is famous, famous.  He dressed me down in a crowded office.  I told him right there in front of a hundred people, ‘You don’t know me well enough to use that tone’…And then I ran to the bathroom and cried like a baby.  But he never addressed me that way again.  And he is known as a yeller.”

I know that’s right! I think we’ve all heard the stories from celebrities about rude and/or very thirsty movers and shakers in Hollywood who use their clout to make people do just about anything, or treat them like crap. Good to see Spencer pulled her backbone out and stood up for herself, and of course, knew that a smart lady always cries like a baby in the bathroom–never in public. *winks*

If you’re aching to find out what else Spencer had to say in her interview, you know what to do–pick up the new issue of Elle when it drops on newsstands on Oct. 16!But in the meantime, check out more foxy images of this very lovable lady.

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In Sex and the City 2, we saw our favorite New York fashionistas finally get their happily ever afters, particularly Carrie, but what was the best-selling author like before she met Miranda, Samantha, and Charlotte? If you haven’t already read the “Carrie Diaries” you may have a chance to see her in action because the CW has ordered a pilot for a show based on the book.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, “the Carrie Diaries” will focus on Carrie during her senior year of high school in the early 80s,  as she “asks her first questions about love, sex, friendship and family while navigating the worlds of high school and Manhattan.”

The first book in “The Carrie Diaries” series was published in 2010, and the sequel, “Summer and the City: A Carrie Diaries Novel,” came out last year. In the novels, Carrie is from a small town in New England, but the story line will be moved to New York to make for better television. Plus Amy B. Harris, who worked on the original “Sex and the City,” wrote the “Carrie Diaries” pilot and will serve as showrunner, so the series should be in good hands. There’s just one question, though, who should play the young Carrie Bradshaw? Something tells me Blake Lively will be all over this.

Are you excited for the “Carrie Diaries” to come to TV? Who do you think could pull off a young Carrie/Sarah Jessica Parker?

Brande Victorian is a blogger and culture writer in New York City. Follower her on Twitter at @be_vic.

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Sometimes we look at celebrities and life just doesn’t seem fair. They’re rich, they’re adored and to add insult to injury they’re unnaturally good looking, right? Well…not really. If you look closely, through the makeup, Photoshop, and airbrushing, you’ll notice most of them look just like you and me. And just like us, their bodies aren’t perfect. But, when you have undeniable talent, people will accept your so-called “flaws” with open arms. Here are some celebrities who have features that are a little…interesting. Many have embraced themselves with with such conviction that those same features that might have caused ridicule as a child, are now their “quirky” bits that help  them stand out from the rest of Hollywood and make more money.

Madames, as sisters have been making strides in the workplace, going higher and higher in education and crafting amazing careers, sometimes family has been put on the back-burner.

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