Carrie Bradshaw may not have gotten her controversial maxi dress from Forever 21, but it turns out she isn't fully opposed to shopping at mall brands. As the costume designers behind the HBO Max reboot And Just Like That… tell InStyle, a few of the fashion icon's earrings actually come from a store many millennials loved as preteens.

"A lot of times her earrings were from Claire's," Molly Rogers reveals over the phone, pointing out that Carrie is often seen rocking tiny studs.

"They're those little crystal microdots," says her co-designer Danny Santiago. "We would switch up the colors — sometimes, she would wear different colors in each ear. They just worked with everything and we thought they were really cute. They gave her a bit of color, just to brighten things. A very small detail, but something for people to look out for — they're from Claire's."

According to Rogers, the accessory added just enough sparkle to complete Carrie's elaborate outfits, especially if Sarah Jessica Parker was wearing her hair down. And while some might be shocked to discover where those earrings were sourced, the two want to clarify: price tag is rarely important to them when dressing these characters. They're more about the overall look.

"Organically, there are things that we gravitate towards, no matter if it's a high end or a low-end piece, or a new designer or an established designer — it's just something that we love," Santiago tells us. "We're not necessarily looking to pick out something from a luxury brand. It's more about what we love about the design, whether it be vintage, thrift, a high-end designer, an upcoming designer. We also love to support the new, young designers, and we had so much fun discovering a lot of them through Instagram. I had a ball digging through and finding new accessories from all over the world."

Eagle-eyed viewers may also notice that Carrie tends to repeat a lot of her accessories this season, much like those Claire's earrings. That's because, despite having a wide selection, Rogers and Santiago naturally began to develop favorites.

"There are certain pieces that just look really great with everything," Rogers explains. "You do find yourself saying, 'Oh, what about these opals? Or let's mix it up. How about this?' There were these gold ball chains that were super long — they'll come up soon. I really loved them. I hope we got them in a couple of times. They were just really cool to layer."

Another thing we see a lot throughout the series? Belts. So many belts.

"We are belt crazy," claims Rogers, as Santiago chimes in to add that they are "belt fanatics."

"That's something that we always use," he says. "It's something that the show's always done, too — all the characters have always worn belts."

The costume designers even hint that, at some point in the future, they plan to start their own belt line.

"Belts really are not in department stores anymore," says Rogers. "So we're always on the hunt for the perfect belt."

In the fourth episode, specifically, we spot another call back to the original series: Carrie wearing a tutu, which she slips on after sleeping at her old apartment.

"That almost didn't happen," Rogers reveals, diving into the backstory. "In the script, she wakes up at the old apartment and we had two options: you either wear what you had on the night before from the comedy club or you put on something from your closet. We picked this really cool outfit that had roses all over it, and then [the show's creator] Michael Patrick King came in to review the clothing from that episode and was like, 'What are you guys doing?' He goes, 'Yes, it's a beautiful outfit. But of all the things you have to choose from in the old apartment, from the closet, why aren't you doing something that throws back to the old show?'"

Eventually, SJP herself made the call.

"She was like, 'Let's come out of the old apartment in a tutu.'"

The voluminous skirt was also paired with white Chanel boots, something else that came from Carrie's costume archives.

"Naturally, they would also be in that closet in storage," says Rogers. "That was fun."

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