Sarah on her Carrie role, perfume, Oscar …

One’s a little bit country (from Nelsonville, Ohio). One’s a little bit street (from the Bronx).

But one distinction that Sarah Jessica Parker, 40, and Jennifer Lopez, 35, share is that they are two of the top trendsetters of the last decade. They’ve helped redefine glamour for women across the country, via little revolutions – from giant flower pins and Manolo Blahniks to velour sweats and, well, Manolo Blahniks.

As muses to millions, they’re case studies in carving out a style that’s true to oneself but always evolving.

Both shared a bit about their evolution during separate visits to Marshall Field’s in Chicago recently.

Parker, cover girl for Vogue’s September mega-issue, signed bottles of her new Lovely fragrance (the 3.4-ounce bottles sold out) as fans swooned at the sight of their happily-whatever-after heroine, “Sex and the City’s” Carrie Bradshaw.

“I’m a 30-something woman, just now getting married, in October,” said Elisa Taub, 34, who ducked in (for four hours) during a business trip from Toronto. “The show – it did a lot for single women every place. When I started dating my fiance, he wanted to get to know me better. I said, ‘Go rent the first season.’ It does tell men a lot about women.”

Here’s what Parker had to say about her post-Carrie life, fashion and her fragrance.

Q: How do you deal with people still thinking of you as Carrie?

A: My life has been so radically different from Carrie’s. Even when I was young and single, my life was very different. I’m a mother, I’m a wife, I’ve been in a committed relationship for 14 years. So I think people really know the difference. I just think people grew to be very fond of her, just as I did. One of the great benefits of launching this fragrance has been really having an opportunity, more than any other time in the past, to meet the people who were such a loyal audience for so many years.

Q: How did your fragrance come about?

A: I had ambitions to do a fragrance for probably 20 years. I dared not say it aloud. When I finally had the courage to do it, I mentioned it to my husband (actor Matthew Broderick). He knew I had been mixing my own for years. When he encouraged me, it was a ringing endorsement because he’s not a particularly demonstrative person. We started talking to companies, and when I met with Lancaster (the prestige division of Coty), I knew I had found the right one.

Q: Is this your own personal potion brought to the masses?

A: (Lovely) still has a little of the musk and lavender notes I had been using, but there’s more floral and a little patchouli. It’s a little more feminine. I’m really happy with it.

Q: Is the next logical pursuit a fashion line?

A: I’ve been lucky in my life to wear beautiful clothes. I don’t have those skills. My dreams of fashion are really other people’s designs. I don’t want to pretend that anyone can do what these talented people do. Fragrance is complicated, but you don’t have to have those years of skill. Smell is really personal.

Q: Has motherhood influenced your fashion preferences?

A: It’s hard to tell which came first, motherhood or age, and this isn’t some edict, but for me, there are things that aren’t appropriate anymore. I don’t feel comfortable wearing a short skirt or a low-cut blouse. I’m not a prude, but I tend to be slightly more old-fashioned. I like things that are well made, not things that are of the moment but pieces that will last a long time, especially as I get older. Mostly what women should do is dress in a way that’s comfortable for them.

Q: Which designers make you most comfortable?

A: I’m the worst at this because I don’t really shop, but I do look at magazines. And Oscar (de la Renta), every collection I love. Narciso (Rodriguez) is wonderful. I love what Alber Elbaz does at Lanvin, Stefano Pilati at YSL, and I looooove Balenciaga. I don’t always wear it, but I love the way it looks.