“Sex and the City” star Sarah Jessica Parker is determined to show her son, James Wilkie, how the other half lives. The quirky fashion icon says in a new interview that her son has more hand-me-down clothing than new duds, and that she and husband Matthew Broderick have tried to instill in him that just because mommy and daddy are rich and famous, that doesn’t mean he should ride the gravy train through life. Kathy Hilton, are you reading this?

Sarah Jessica Parker: fashionista. Her son? Not so much.

“[James Wilkie, 5,] only wears hand-me-downs because I’ve got all these older nephews,” Parker, 43, says in the newest issue of Parade magazine.

“That’s the God’s honest truth,” swears the Sex and the City star. “Plus, my mother saved all my brothers’ clothes. I am not kidding. I don’t think I’ve ever bought him any clothes. Maybe a new winter’s coat….”

But just like her footwear obsessed SATC character Carrie Bradshaw, James Wilkie gets new shoes!

“I do buy him shoes, because everybody’s feet are different,” says Parker.

Parker grew up as one of eight siblings in an impoverished family, and doesn’t want her son to be spoiled.

“I think that if I had been raised a child of privilege, I wouldn’t be the working person I am today,” she says. “I think it’s incumbent on my husband [Matthew Broderick] and me to really stress and to show James Wilkie by example what it means to owe your community something and that he is not entitled to the benefits of our hard work.

“That doesn’t mean that I’m withholding or keeping from him the joys of childhood — I’m not Joan Crawford,” she stresses. “But I also don’t want him to think the world he lives in is the real world. It’s not.”

Parker, who says she’s more comfortable in the role of James Wilkie’s mother than any other on-screen, insists on being a hands-on mother.

“I put him to bed every night. I get him dressed. I’m the one who gives him his toothbrush. I take him to school every morning,” Parker says. “He’s very small, but his personality is 6 foot 4.”

[From Us Weekly]

For all her faults, Sarah Jessica does seem like a devoted and down-to-earth mom. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a photo of James being handled by a nanny or bodyguard. I am pretty sure we will not see stories about James Wilkie in 10 or 12 years partying in night clubs or acting like a celebrity brat.

However, I have a confession- if I were rich, I would go absolutely nuts buying my two daughters new clothes. I love shopping for them, and have since they were babies! As for my two stepsons- they hate clothes shopping with a passion, and are perfectly happy in the hand-me-downs from their older cousins. If they never had to set foot in a clothing store again, they would be happy beyond belief. But I have to admit, I still can’t help picking them up a cool rugby shirt or a pair of hip jeans when I’m out shopping. Does that make me a bad mom?

Note by Celebitchy: Sarah Jessica Parker and son James Wilkie are shown on 3/7/08, thanks to Splash. My son has that exact same hat! It’s from Old Navy and is from last season because I got it in the states around October of 2007. So that’s new.

My son also wears a lot of hand me downs and second hand clothing, but I have fun buying him stuff too. I think it’s different when you only have a boy or boys, because they don’t get too fussy about their clothing and neither do you.