Move over, Sweet 16 — New York women have crowned a new birthday worth popping bottles for.
Fed up with the societal (and self-imposed) pressure to have life figured out by their early 30s, women in NYC and beyond are celebrating turning 32 in a big way — not because it’s a traditional milestone, but because it’s a cultural one.
The reason? Carrie Bradshaw.
When “Sex and the City” debuted in 1998, viewers met its heroine at 32 — single, successful but very much a work in progress.
Watching Carrie make a few — or several — not-so-smart decisions and continuously question herself, but still thrive over six seasons, permitted women to believe that life at 32 doesn’t need a tidy bow.
Nearly three decades later, that message is fueling a wave of SATC-inspired “Carrie parties — complete with SATC-themed costumes, cosmos and cigarettes (as props) to celebrate being fabulously unfinished.
Michelle Costanza, 30, a PR executive from Larchmont, NY and a self-proclaimed SATC “superfan,” is already planning her 32nd birthday bash à la “Sex and the City” — complete with bottomless cocktails and her closest girlfriends.
“Carrie Bradshaw turning 32 at the start of ‘SATC’ is the inspiration for my own upcoming birthday because at this certain age, there is pressure to have a lot — if not most things — figured out,” she told The Post.
Rather than having a doomsday attitude about getting older in her 30s, Costanza wants her 32nd year to be explorative, unapologetically authentic and maybe even a little messy along the way — if only for the plot.
It’s the age “where you’ve lived enough to know yourself, but you’re still curious and open,” she explained.
“It’s not about having everything figured out; it’s about having better taste, stronger boundaries, and a clearer sense of what actually matters.”
She calls it “choosing myself” and, in classic Samantha Jones fashion, adds: “I will not be judged by you or society.”
Costanza is just one of many women leaning into the idea that 32 is just the beginning.
From SATC costume-themed soirees to dinner parties with never-ending cosmos, 32 is quietly becoming the birthday women are reclaiming as the moment to celebrate growth without the pressure of perfection.
Social media videos of this type of celebration come with captions like, “This is just a little reminder that Carrie Bradshaw was 32 in the first season of ‘Sex and the City.’”
Others flaunt giant 32-shaped balloons with messages like, “Reminder to 1994 babies: Carrie Bradshaw was only 32 in Season 1 of SATC. We still have so many seasons to come.”
Dr. Jasmonae Joyriel, PsyD, a licensed clinical psychologist and founder of Ignite Anew, supports this trend, viewing the early 30s as a major glow-up moment.
“Less self-doubt, more ‘this is me’ energy,” she told The Post. “Women start ditching the ‘shoulds’ and figuring out what they really want in careers, friendships, and love.”
“SATC normalized women in their thirties having sex for their own pleasure, experiencing relationships as dynamically as men, and holding identities beyond the desire to procreate and manage a household.”
And the ultimate takeaway?
“In SATC you see all the ways you can be a woman and know that all are good and none are wrong,” Joyriel said.
Mental health counselor and adjunct professor Keisha Saunders Waldron, LCMHCS, says Carrie’s 32nd year hits differently for women of the same age because the beloved character “was honest about being a mess and showed women something they weren’t seeing much of at the time: someone who was figuring it out as she went.”
After all, Ms. Bradshaw had a killer job, epic friends, and NYC glam — while also being broke, dating disastrous men, and figuring out life along the way.
“Women who watched the show in their teens and twenties internalized that 32 could be glamorous and chaotic at the same time,” Waldron told The Post.
“Celebrating 32 is a form of resistance. Women are rejecting the idea that they’re ‘behind’ if they haven’t checked off traditional boxes by a certain age,” Waldron said.
Psychologist Dr. Debra Kissen, PhD, MHSA, agrees, calling celebrating 32 a quiet act of rebellion.
“Choosing to celebrate a ‘non-milestone’ birthday pushes back on the idea that certain ages are inherently more meaningful than others,” she told The Post.
“It’s deeply empowering to celebrate a life built on your own terms, not someone else’s timeline,” Kissen said.
Shows like SATC don’t tell women to copy Carrie, Kissen explained — they permit women to be imperfect, flirty, ambitious, and messy without shame.
Fellow SATC “superfan” Carolyn Rynne would’ve thrown a big Carrie Bradshaw birthday bash when she turned 32 had it not been during COVID.
However, the PR guru, now 37, made sure that her next big celebration — her bachelorette party before her wedding — was “Sex and the City”-themed.
“I did my bachelorette in the Hamptons — largely inspired by the handful of SATC Hamptons episodes,” she told The Post.
Think cosmos by the pool, chic outfits, and SATC-inspired games — basically, the style icon’s Hamptons dream IRL.
“Aside from the new focus on 32nd birthdays, people have used Carrie as inspiration for important parties and trips to NYC for years,” Rynne noted.
The Chicagoan added that the birthday moments on SATC “play an important role for Carrie and the other girls — whether it’s turning 32 or older as the show progresses,” she said.
She pointed to Carrie’s infamous 35th party in Season 4, when no one showed up, or Charlotte’s traumatic 36th birthday trip to Atlantic City in Season 5.
“Like your friends in real life, the SATC characters are flawed, they make mistakes, do things they’re not proud of, and they’ll piss you off from time to time. But aren’t we all at times?”
“As Carrie said in the first ‘Sex and the City’ movie, ‘your 20s are for enjoying yourself and your 30s are for learning the lessons.’”
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