Today marks 20 years since Sex and the City, with its infuriatingly catchy theme tune and THAT tutu in the opening credits, burst onto TV screens

Sex and the City, which premiered 20 years ago this week, changed the way women thought about sex. The assertion of the show’s main character, Carrie Bradshaw, that she will start having sex “like men” — sleeping around and feeling “nothing” afterwards — struck a chord. It was a new kind of fairy tale — a glitzy, glamorous, New York City Cinderella ditching the prince but keeping the shoes.

The Manhattan adventures of Carrie, Samantha, Miranda and Charlotte still feel very alive. Carrie, Charlotte, Miranda and Samantha became as real as our own friends, from their first appearance on 6 June 1998 to the final episode (countless dates, several husbands and a baby or two later) in 2004.

People are still taking quizzes on what SATC character they are, there are Instagram accounts of Carrie’s fashion looks, a hilarious #WokeCharlotte meme, and of course, a very familiar Miranda just lost her bid for New York governor in real life.

 Sex and the City, which premiered on June 6, 1998, was that rare thing, an independent female perspective — even if it was usually more feminine than feminist. It was unapologetically into stuff women find interesting, from sex and ambition to friendship and fashion, and it had all the pleasures of a great intimate gab session.

When it came to dressing a group of the most iconic on-screen fashionistas of the 20th and 21st centuries, Patricia Field wasn't focused on trendsetting.

"I never really tried to consciously create a trend," the renowned costume designer for Sex and the City once said in an interview. "All I really ever did was try to make things look beautiful and interesting and tell the story."