Sarah Jessica Parker picks family over fashion

NEW YORK - Actress Sarah Jessica Parker, once the poster girl for style and single women in New York, says there's something in her life that takes higher priority than the latest designer fashions - her family.

Parker, 41, soared to international stardom as newspaper columnist Carrie Bradshaw in the hit cable television series "Sex and the City," which made her into a fashion icon, with fans copying her on- and off-screen clothes and accessories.

The show about the friendship and sex lives of four single, working women in New York ran from 1998 to 2004 and spawned scores of fads, made shoe designer Manolo Blahnik famous in middle America, and landed Parker on Vogue's cover.

But while New York is abuzz over its annual fashion week, which runs September 8-15 this year, Parker says her family is her top priority and she won't be attending any shows.

"I don't have time. My son starts school this week and I have to take him every day," Parker said, talking about her 3-year-old son James with actor husband Matthew Broderick.

Broderick, 44, broke his collarbone recently in a riding accident while on vacation in Ireland.

"He's OK but he is (without) one arm. It's hard to get my son dressed and out of the door ... so I have a great excuse not to attend any fashion shows."

In real life Parker is Carrie-like, with her mane of curly hair, red stiletto sandals and a lacy, silver designer dress.

But she said she has treaded carefully in endorsing products. Since "Sex and the City" ended, Parker starred briefly in an advertising campaign for the Gap clothing store and last year produced a signature perfume called Lovely.

"I have had lot of opportunities and continue to ... but I am very good at saying no," she told Reuters at a store in New York to present a new line of Lovely products.

"I am not particularly swayed by money because I don't think it is the reward I am looking for. I have to feel proud of stuff at the end of the day. I don't want to go to bed and be ashamed or embarrassed by opportunities that I have taken."

Fans said Parker exuded glamour.

"I'm a big "Sex and the City" fan. I just like her and her style so much," said Dory Tuohey, 25, a graphic designer from Chicago who had spent US$125 on a Lovely gift box.

Parker has done no television since the end of the series but has starred in two movies - "Failure to Launch" and "The Family Stone."

- REUTERS/VNU