Sarah Jessica Parker smitten with her Bitten fall collection

It’s payback time for Sarah Jessica Parker.\nParker, famous for her fashion-maven character Carrie Bradshaw on HBO’s “Sex and the City,” says she wouldn’t have been so successful in that role– nor had such a wonderful wardrobe –if it weren’t for the everyday women living in cities, suburbia and beyond who were her most loyal fans.\nIt’s for them, Parker explains, that she has delved into a partnership with retailer Steve & Barry’s for the budget conscious collection Bitten. The 500-piece fall collection arrived in stores this month with a houndstooth coat, trench coat with fleece lining, henley-style sweaters and suit-style separates among the offerings. No piece costs more than $19.98 and the size range goes from 0 to 22.\nThis is the second season of garments; the summer collection debuted in June.\n“I’m really cognizant of the fact that I wouldn’t have these opportunities had I not spent a lot of time on a particular show. I wouldn’t have been a success without all the women who watched. They had a commitment to me for so long, I’d like to do something for them,” Parker tells the AP.\nWomen outside the chic surroundings of certain Manhattan neighborhoods – or similar areas of Los Angeles, Miami and Chicago, for example – don’t always have access to clothes that are stylish, well-made and affordable. Bitten intends to bring all that to them and more.\nTrue, she says, she now can afford to buy designer clothes on a regular basis and simply replace them if they’re stained or out of style. But her instincts tell her it often makes no sense to do so.\n“I have the financial means to buy trendy things like sweaters and great cords, but, as a mother, when I get up to take my son to school in the morning what I need are these clothes, good basic clothes,” Parker, 42, says.\n“I still would like to pay a different price for something that is going to get paint or food on it. I like to be able to say to my son, `You can wipe your nose on my shirt.’”\nShe also says it was important to offer a full range of sizes, something you don’t see on high-fashion runways. “I don’t think it should be for us to decide what a plus-sized woman looks good in – she should decide.”\nPersonally, Parker has already taken the sheer V-neck, wool-blend sweaters, the gingham and plaid round yoke tops, ballet flats and corduroy pants – with a medium rise and double belt loops – from the fall collection for a test spin. She even wore a little bit of Bitten to a recent press event for her fragrance, Covet. “I was very proud to wear a Bitten belt to something that had a high-end fashion requirement.”\nWhen Steve & Barry’s, known more as a store of sweats and T-shirts, decided to get into the “fashion” market, Parker was the only name on the list, says Howard Schacter, the company’s chief partnership officer, who previously arranged deals with basketball player Stephon Marbury and golfer Bubba Watson.\nParker hadn’t heard of the company, according to Schacter, but she took its call seriously because she was interested in the brand’s mission to deliver quality within a certain price point. She then spent several hours in one of the stores, asking many more questions about fit, fabrics and manufacturing than Schacter expected. “She went with a team to look under the hood of Steve & Barry’s,” he says.\nHer interest in Bitten is “authentic and genuine,” he says, noting that she meets with designer director Irene Newman, several times a month. “This is not another `celebrity’ brand. This is a partnership. We would’ve hired her as a designer had she applied.”\nParker had previously been approached for more upscale deals but she did not think she had the expertise. Further, she thought doing them would be an insult to her fashion friends, such as designers Narciso Rodriguez and Alexander McQueen or “Sex and the City” stylist Patricia Field, if she pretended she could compete with them.