Friendships never go out of style.
In the Sex and the City universe, that was especially true for Stanford Blatch, the man who was always there for Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) in a New York minute.
Though Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte and Miranda took center stage throughout the series, Stanford was its beating heart. The BFF superstar of Sex and the City—played by Willie Garson, who died in September—was more than just a side character. He represented what every single girl wishes for in life: a bestie to be there in the bad times and good.
Remember when Carrie fell on the runway in front of everyone and was utterly humiliated? Stannie knew that the best thing to do was lighten the mood, calling her "fashion roadkill" as Heidi Klum walked over her. Good friends do keep you humble, but they also get on their feet and clap you on as you get back up and finish that turn on the catwalk.
A true best friend will also be bit jealous if they ever sense that he might be replaced. That was the case in season four, when Carrie starts small talk with another gay gentleman at a club. Stanford states matter–of–factly, "Carrie, don't fall for him. He's just another pretty face. He doesn't love you like I love you."
But our favorite moment between Carrie and her main man came in season six, when they were crowned the king and queen of the LGBTQ prom. The image of the two together, dancing to Chicago's "If You Leave Me Now" was as beautiful as a pair of Manolo Blahniks sitting in a window at Barneys.
"Hello, Stanford!" we declare because we never want to say goodbye. Relive the great memories bellow with Carrie's true best friend, forever.
"How can you not have a shrink? This is Manhattan. Even the shrinks have shrinks. I have three," Stanford told Carrie in the episode "Games People Play," season two, to which she replied, "No, you don't."
But as he put it, "Yes, one for when I want to be cuddled, one for when I want tough love and one for when I want to look at a beautiful man."
"That's sick!" Carrie responded as he interjected, "Which is why I see the other two."
Stanford's motto? "We all judge. That's our hobby. Some people do arts and crafts. We judge."
"Oh God, I love Sleeping Beauty! The music, the sets, the costumes! It's so romantic!" Carrie gushed in the episode "The Turtle and the Hare," season one. But Standford brought her back to reality, saying, "You only like it because she gets to sleep for a hundred years and she doesn't age."
Although this landline quote might be outdated, the sentiment still rings true. "Monogamy is on its way out again. It had a brief comeback in the '90s, but as the millennium approaches, everyone's leaving their options open," Standford explained to Carrie in the episode "The Monogamists," season one, to which she responded, "Come on, you wouldn't commit to a nice guy, given the option?"
He replied, "I can't even commit to a long-distance carrier."
"Puberty is a phase, 15 years of rejection is a lifestyle," he bluntly told Carrie in "The Turtle and the Hare," season one.
Stanford's dating life was just as complicated as everyone else's. However, he also got his own happy ending. In the second Sex and the City film, Stanford married Anthony (Mario Cantone). They are rumored to still be together in the upcoming revival series, And Just Like That.
As Standard once famously said, "A New Yorker who does not take the subway is not a New Yorker you can trust."