For better or for worse, the season premiere of And Just Like That… lived up to the show’s traditions. There were bizarre rendezvous (as in a one-night stand with a nun), controversial outfit choices (even though I’m a proud defender of Carrie’s now-infamous hat), and a phone sex scene that I’d rather forget. But what’s been plaguing my mind this week doesn’t involve any of the leading ladies, but rather one of their children, who, as a collective, manage to test my patience and my desire to have my own kids more with each passing episode. Tell me why, after famously having a closet full of valuable designer goods last season that she sold to afford a new keyboard (a questionable choice on its own), Lily York-Goldenblatt is ordering Shein? In one of the premiere episode’s York-Goldenblatt family scenes, we see a large branded box that she’s ordered. But Lily is the daughter of a prominent lawyer who lives in a palatial Park Avenue apartment! The masses (I among them) are not convinced.
Lily’s purchasing decision was met with a bit of onscreen backlash as well (her younger sibling Rock hit her with a “Maybe don’t order so much fast fashion? It’s killing the environment” dig), however that still ignores the fact that the daughter of Park Avenue’s princess would never be buying $7 cargo pants in the first place! Surely, even in a universe where Lilly stupidly sold off her Chanel dress “from Lagerfeld’s last collection,” she would still be given a generous clothing allowance? And even if it’s not a huge fund, maybe she’d be the type to secure good deals on Depop?
Honestly, the Shein shoutout felt like a slight cop out. A random yet recognizable name drop (we all know what the brand’s about…whether we shop it or shame it) that Rock could drag Lily for, to signal to us at home that Rock is this show’s resident socially-conscious teen.
But why, on a show so beloved for its style, would they position Lily as a fast fashion fiend when there are so many other faults to latch onto? There was that time she hooked up with Miranda’s son…that other time she made her mom trek through a snowstorm to buy her condoms…or when she basically ruined Carrie’s wedding (still not over it). And Just Like That loves to test the bounds of reality, but this was just a step too far for me. Get Lily in a Bushwick thrift store as soon as possible. Surely Rock has some suggestions.
