100 Most Influential People in Fashion

Fashion Influential #80: Patricia Field

Patricia Field at the New York premiere of Sex and the City. Getty Images.

PATRICIA FIELD
Born:
c. 1945 in New York City, NY
Boutiques:
House of Field (Greenwich Village)
Patricia Field (The Bowery)
Fans:
Sarah Jessica Parker, legions of Sex and the City fans
Fan of:
Meryl Streep
Beginnings.
Patricia Field has been part of the New York City fashion scene for years: in 1966, she opened a boutique, the House of Field, in bohemian Greenwich Village. She then became a stylist and costume designer, meeting Sarah Jessica Parker on the set of Miami Rhapsody in 1995. Parker loved Field's designs so much, she asked the producers of HBO's Sex and the City to consider Field for the crucial costume designer role.

Career Highs.
Patricia Field's award-winning work on Sex in the City has made her one of the most sought-after costumers in the business. She successfully illustrated the differences in personality between the main characters via their sartorial choices, while featuring the hippest and most daring ensembles on the market. She also worked on the gorgeously executed fashionista film The Devil Wears Prada and the upcoming Confessions of a Shopaholic.
For me, it’s like this funny formula that I figured out – actress, character, wardrobe. The actress comes to you or the actor, with a body or with a mind, they could be ten feet tall or they could be two feet tall, or they could be this or they could be that. They could be many things, plus they have their own psychology, their own securities, whatever, they’re human being. You kind of have to pay attention to that person because that’s the person that is creating the character and you’re helping them in any way you can.
- Patricia Field in a Blackfilm interview

Patricia Field channeling Grey Gardens.
Career Lows.
Before Field hit it big with Sex and the City, she worked on lower budget films like The Substitute (1996). Many of her choices have been criticized for being too outlandish, while others have pointed out there was no way SATC's Carrie Bradshaw, a freelance writer, could afford all the Manolos, Westwoods, and Dior, setting unrealistic expectations for impressionable young women.

Legacy.
With Sex and the City, high fashion became more accessible than ever before, with characters nonchalantly namedropping designers and labels in each episode. Patricia Field's iconic wardrobe choices, from Carrie's title sequence tutu dress to the jeweled ballgown she wears in the series finale, enchanted women of all ages, encouraging them to dress for themselves.

Carrie's title sequence dress.
Get the Look.
Field's style vision is about breaking the rules and dressing up one's personality. Find a signature piece - something you don't think you could live without, like a statement bag or a terrific necklace - and create a look around it. Don't be afraid of what others will think: do you think Carrie cared if people made fun of the bird she wore on her head to her own wedding?
- Alicia