Sarah Jessica Parker Has a Pretty Pragmatic Approach to Shoe Shopping

"I've spent $40,000 on shoes and I have no place to live? I will literally be the old woman who lived in her shoes!" In case you're not up on your Sex and the City trivia, those words were famously uttered by Carrie Bradshaw (because, who else?) back in season 4 of the HBO series. Her small-screen alter ego may have debunked the Manolo Blahnik Mary Jane urban legend and taught us that a good pair of heels can make life a little more fun, but Sarah Jessica Parker is a bit more practical when it comes to her own footwear shopping habits.

Parker, of course, is a shoe designer now herself. (She launched SJP by Sarah Jessica Parker with Manolo Blahnik U.S. president George Malkemus III back in 2014.) She opened her second boutique in Las Vegas, at the Bellagio Hotel, this month—and, surrounded by an array of stilettos, sparkles, and a smattering of LBD’s for good measure, Glamour caught up with the actress-cum-designer to get some insight into how to find Carrie-level footwear love. And though her advice is predictably sage, it's not exactly what you'd expect from the person who brought to life television's foremost shoe aficionado. (Spoiler alert: Bradshaw's real-life counterpart doesn't share her character's voracious appetite for accumulation.) Below, SJP explains how to balk the trends, treat color as a neutral, and make every purchase count. Read on!

Glamour: When it comes to buying a pair of heels, what is non-negotiable for you?

SJP: Quality, relevance, how long will it last—I’m actually not the shopper that people think I am. I was probably much more profligate when I was younger, but I never was the sort of fevered shopper like Carrie Bradshaw. For the last ten years or more, I’ve really been making decisions based on, “Is that what I want to wear forever?” I tend to not have these quick one-night stands or affairs with fashion, because it never suits me anyway. I tend to shop, specifically with heels or shoes, for things that I think, “Yeah, this is a long-term relationship.”

Glamour: What exactly about a pair of shoes tells you it might be a long-term relationship?

SJP: I think a single sole is timeless—that’s why we were so invested in this idea of revisiting and recommitting it. The silhouette of the heel says a lot, because you can look at it and know, Oh that was 1981, ’82, ’83, or That’s the court heel that Princess Diana wore, or That's the kitten heel we know from the ‘80s and the early ‘90s. It’s single sole, it's silhouette, and it's quality.