Sarah Jessica Parker goes thrift shop in new HBO comedy

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. – In “Sex and the City,” Sarah Jessica Parker’s wardrobe was all about the look and the label. In “Divorce,” her new HBO comedy series, it’s more about emotion.

Parker, back on HBO a decade after starring as the single Carrie on “Sex and the City,” plays a wife and mother who decides to end her marriage. She stars opposite Thomas Haden Church.

Clothing is part of “the whole person in a much more subtle way. You see it in everything: in Thomas’ character, in the children’s clothing,” Parker told TV critics Saturday. “The family is isolated in a period without it being a period piece. We thought a lot about that, a lot.”

She was inspired by the look of 1970s film, Parker said, and most of what her character wears is from vintage or thrift shops. Costume designer Arjun Bhasin, who has worked with filmmaker Ang Lee, is in charge of the wardrobe.

Asked if she had to distinguish her “Divorce” character, Frances, from Carrie, Parker said it wasn’t an issue.

“Frances is so much her own person, from the moment I read the pilot. She’s so distinct from, not only Carrie, but any other character I had ever played,” the actress said.

“Divorce,” created by writer-actress Sharon Horgan (“Catastrophe”) and co-starring Molly Shannon, Talia Balsam and Tracy Letts, debuts 10 p.m. EDT Oct. 9.