Sarah Jessica Parker shares the reason Carrie never has a manicure

Executive producer Michael Patrick King agrees. “Anything that Carrie wears that you see on camera is well thought-out by the wardrobe department and Sarah Jessica,” he tells me. “She really tries to play both sides, the high and the low, the real and the fantasy. So notably, she never wears nail polish.”

Another reason for Carrie’s bare nail look is time management as well as episode continuity. Aside from being the star of SATC and AJLT, Parker is busy serving as an executive producer. She’s also heavily involved in Carrie’s looks and therefore in constant fittings with costume designers Molly Rogers and Danny Santiago, leaving little time to spend in a manicure chair.

“We also don’t shoot in order,” Parker explains. “You’re moving from scene to scene, so practically speaking, it’s problematic to have a nail colour that’s got to match every single scene. It gets in the way of speed and economy.”

However, Parker surprises me by revealing that there are a few upcoming scenes in later episodes in which Carrie does wear bold nail polish. “I thought it would be interesting to do, given the outfits and given the environment in which those scenes take place,” she says.

During the filming of said scenes, King noticed right away: “I thought, Wow, she’s wearing nail polish! And it’s a dark nail polish, which is interesting and surprising.” When asked for more details, King says the initial scene takes place in Brooklyn, and you notice the nail change right away because Carrie is “holding the tiniest purse she’s ever held. It’s almost a doll’s purse. I guess she just decided, ‘I’m going to Brooklyn, I’m wearing this glittery thing, I feel like I want a little fun.’ But once again, it’s always spontaneous. Carrie Bradshaw is spontaneous. She decides, ‘I’m going to wear this or that. I’m going to wear this long slip tutu to go get coffee. And, oh, maybe I’ll put on nail polish tonight.’ What’s great about the character is she is not guarded by rules. Even rules she makes up.”

Plus, it’s a new season on And Just Like That…. While Carrie will always be a bare-nail girl, she’s also coming out of a deep grief since Big passed away — and that’s evident in her look. “Carrie went through that loss when it was winter,” King says. “In this next season of And Just Like That…, which is in spring, Carrie’s returning to herself with a new thought: Life’s too short, so live. So one night she decided to let her fingernails live, I guess.”

Jessica Radloff is the Glamour senior West Coast editor and author of the New York Times best-selling book, The Big Bang Theory: The Definitive, Inside Story of the Epic Hit Series.

The article originally appeared on GLAMOUR (US).