Patricia Field (born February 12, 1942) is an American

costume designer A costume designer is a person who designs costumes for a film, stage production or television show. The role of the costume designer is to create the characters' outfits or costumes and balance the scenes with texture and colour, etc. The costum ...

, stylist, and

fashion designer Fashion design is the Art (skill), art of applied arts, applying design, aesthetics, clothing construction, and natural beauty to clothing and its Fashion accessory, accessories. It is influenced by diverse cultures and different trends and has va ...

working in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

Early life

Field was born in New York City to an

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...

father and a

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

mother, who emigrated from

Plomari Plomari () is a town and a former municipality on the island of Lesbos, North Aegean, Greece. Since the 2019 local government reform it is part of the municipality Mytilene, of which it is a municipal unit. It is the only sizable coastal settleme ...

Lesbos Lesbos or Lesvos ( ) is a Greek island located in the northeastern Aegean Sea. It has an area of , with approximately of coastline, making it the third largest island in Greece and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, eighth largest ...

. She was raised in

Queens Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...

, where her family owned a drycleaning store; her father died when she was 8 years old. She studied government and philosophy at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

Fashion career

With her then-partner Jo-Ann Salvucci, Field opened her first boutique, Pants Pub, in 1966 on Washington Place in

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village, or simply the Village, is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street (Manhattan), 14th Street to the north, Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the s ...

. The shop, later renamed to the eponymous Patricia Field, moved in 1971 to 8th Street, then to

West Broadway West Broadway is a north-south street in the New York City borough of Manhattan, separated into two parts by Tribeca Park. The northern part begins at Tribeca Park, near the intersection of Avenue of the Americas (Sixth Avenue), Walker Street ...

, and finally to 306

Bowery The Bowery () is a street and neighbourhood, neighborhood in Lower Manhattan in New York City, New York. The street runs from Chatham Square at Park Row (Manhattan), Park Row, Worth Street, and Mott Street in the south to Cooper Square at 4th ...

NoHo NoHo, short for "North of Houston Street, Houston Street" (as contrasted with SoHo), is a primarily residential neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded by Mercer Street (Manhattan), Mercer Street to the west, the Bowery ...

, where Field owned the property. She sold it in 2016 to concentrate on costume designing for television and film. In 2018 she opened the ARTFashion Gallery on the

Lower East Side The Lower East Side, sometimes abbreviated as LES, is a historic neighborhood in the southeastern part of Manhattan in New York City. It is located roughly between the Bowery and the East River from Canal to Houston streets. Historically, it w ...

, which sells art and hand-painted original clothing and accessories by a selected group of artists. Field is credited with originating the fashion for

leggings Leggings are several types of leg attire that have varied through the years. Modern usage from the 1960s onwards has come to refer to elastic close-fitting High-rise (fashion), high-rise garments worn over the legs typically by women, such as leg ...

in the 1970s. Her stores were popular with the

transgender A transgender (often shortened to trans) person has a gender identity different from that typically associated with the sex they were sex assignment, assigned at birth. The opposite of ''transgender'' is ''cisgender'', which describes perso ...

and underground communities; she became known for what she calls "freaky fashion". Her design influences include

John Galliano John Charles Galliano (born 28 November 1960) is a British fashion designer. He was the creative director of his eponymous label John Galliano and French fashion houses Givenchy and Dior. From 2014 to 2024, Galliano was the creative director ...

Diane von Furstenberg Diane may refer to: People *Diane (given name) Film * ''Diane'' (1929 film), a German silent film * ''Diane'' (1956 film), a historical drama film starring Lana Turner * ''Diane'' (2017 film), a mystery film directed by Michael Mongillo * ''D ...

, and

Thierry Mugler Manfred Thierry Mugler (; 21 December 1948 – 23 January 2022) was a French fashion designer, creative director and creative adviser of Mugler. In the 1970s, Mugler launched his eponymous fashion house; and quickly rose to prominence in the fol ...

. She was a mentor for fashion designer

Hushidar Mortezaie Hushidar "Hushi" Mortezaie (born 1972) is an Iranian-born American fashion designer, artist, collagist, and graphic designer. He co-founded the fashion label ''Michael and Hushi.'' Mortezaie is best known for his over-the-top Persian-aesthetic co ...

Costuming

Field was the costume designer for the 1987 film '' Lady Beware'' and the TV series '' Crime Story''. After she met

Sarah Jessica Parker Sarah Jessica Parker (born March 25, 1965) is an American actress and television producer. In a career spanning over five decades, she has performed across several productions of both Sarah Jessica Parker filmography, screen and stage. List o ...

during the filming of 1995's '' Miami Rhapsody'', they became friends and Field was engaged to design the costumes for the TV series ''

Sex and the City ''Sex and the City'' is an American romantic comedy, romantic comedy-drama television series created by Darren Star for HBO, based on Sex and the City (newspaper column), the newspaper column and 1996 book by Candace Bushnell. It premiered in th ...

''. The show became well known for its fashions, particularly for their individuality and unexpectedness. For her work on ''Sex and the City'', Field was nominated for five

Emmy Awards The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

, with one win, and nominated for six

Costume Designers Guild The Costume Designers Guild (CDG), is a labor union, union of professional costume designers, assistant designers, and illustrators working in film, television, commercials and other media. Founded in 1953, the CDG comprises over 1,200 members as ...

awards, with four wins. She is one out of six honorees of the 2008 Real Time Film Festival. She returned as costume designer for the 2008 movie ''

'' and its 2010 sequel ''

Sex and the City 2 ''Sex and the City 2'' is a 2010 American romantic comedy film written, co-produced, and directed by Michael Patrick King. It is the sequel to the 2008 film ''Sex and the City','' which was based on the 1998–2004 HBO television series of ...

'', but did not work on the 2021–2022 series reboot, '' And Just Like That…''. After the successes of the ''Sex and the City'' costumes, Field was in high demand for new projects in television and film. Her other television credits include '' Hope & Faith'', ''

Kath & Kim ''Kath & Kim'' (also written as ''Kath and Kim'') is an Australian sitcom originally airing in the prime-time slot on ABC Television from 2002 to 2005 and subsequently on the Seven Network in 2007 and 2022. The show was produced by Riley and T ...

'', ''

Ugly Betty ''Ugly Betty'' is an American comedy-drama television series developed by Silvio Horta, which aired on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from September 28, 2006, to April 14, 2010. It is based on the Colombian telenovela ''Yo soy Betty, la fea' ...

'', '' Younger'' on

TV Land TV Land is an American pay television channel owned by Paramount Global through its networks division's MTV Entertainment Group. It was originally launched as Nick at Nite’s TV Land as a spinoff of Nick at Nite programing block consisting e ...

, season 11 of ''

Murphy Brown ''Murphy Brown'' is an American television sitcom created by Diane English that premiered on November 14, 1988, on CBS. The series stars Candice Bergen as the eponymous Murphy Brown, a famous investigative journalist and news presenter, news anch ...

'', and ''

Emily in Paris '' Emily in Paris'' is an American romantic comedy drama television series created by Darren Star for Netflix. The series stars Lily Collins as aspiring marketing executive Emily Cooper, an American who moves to Paris to provide an American p ...

''. In 2011, she designed most of the outfits for the characters in a Taiwan television drama called '' Material Queen''. In film, her credits include '' The Devil Wears Prada'', for which she was nominated for the

Academy Award for Best Costume Design The Academy Award for Best Costume Design is one of the Academy Awards presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) for achievement in film costume design. The award was first given in 1949, for films made in 1948 ...

, and '' Second Act'' (2018). In the Asian market, she created the fashion behind the 2010 Chinese feature film ''

Go Lala Go! ''Go Lala Go!'' () is a 2010 Chinese romantic comedy film directed by Xu Jinglei. Film producer Patrick S. Cunningham collaborated with Xu Jinglei, and this film is considered one of the most successful collaborations between a Chinese director ...

'' (). She designed the outfits in

Namie Amuro Namie Amuro ( ; ; born September 20, 1977) is a retired Japanese singer. She rose to prominence as a Japanese idol, teen idol, and transitioned into a leading Pop music, pop artist due to her versatility across music styles and visual presentatio ...

's music videos for her three songs "New Look", "Rock Steady", and "What A Feeling" from her single 60s 70s 80s; as well as

Anna Vissi Anna Vissi (, , ; born 20 December 1957) is a Greek Cypriot singer. She studied music at conservatories and performed locally before moving to the professional scene in Athens, in 1973, where she signed with Minos EMI#Merger with Minos Matsas ...

's music videos for "Stin Pyra" and "Alitissa Psihi" from her album ''

Apagorevmeno ''Apagorevmeno'' (Greek alphabet, Greek: ''Απαγορευμένο''; English: ''Forbidden'') is Greeks, Greek singer Anna Vissi's 25th studio album, released in Greece and Cyprus on December 9, 2008, by Sony BMG, Sony BMG Greece. It is Vissi's fi ...

''. A documentary film on her career called '' Happy Clothes: A Film About Patricia Field'', directed by Michael Selditch, had its world premiere at the

Tribeca Festival The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by Tribeca Enterprises. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive programming. The festival ...

in 2023.

Television appearances

Field appeared as the first guest judge during the first season of the

Bravo Bravo(s) or The Bravo(s) may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music Groups and labels * Bravo (band), a Russian rock band * Bravo (Spanish group), represented Spain at Eurovision 1984 * Bravo Music, an American concert band music publishing compa ...

reality television series ''

Project Runway ''Project Runway'' is an American reality television series that premiered on Bravo on December 1, 2004. The series focuses on fashion design. It was created by Eli Holzman and was hosted by Heidi Klum from 2004 to 2017. It has a varied airi ...

''. Her boutique was featured in a 2007 episode of Kathy Griffin's reality show '' My Life on the D-List'' and in a 2008 episode of ''

Paris Hilton's My New BFF ''Paris Hilton's My New BFF'' (also known simply as ''My New BFF'' and other alternate titles) is an American competitive reality television series in which Paris Hilton searches for her new BFF ("best friend forever"). It was created by Michae ...

''. She also appeared as a guest judge during the third episode of the cycle 15 of ''America's Next Top Model''.

Publications

In February 2023, she published a memoir, ''Pat in the City: My Life of Fashion, Style, and Breaking All the Rules''.

Personal life

Field is a

lesbian A lesbian is a homosexual woman or girl. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate nouns with female homosexu ...

, and was in a long-term relationship with costume designer Rebecca Weinberg (Field), with whom she partnered on ''Sex and the City''. Field defended

Dior Christian Dior SE (), commonly known as Dior, is a French Multinational corporation, multinational luxury goods company that is controlled and chaired by French businessman Bernard Arnault, who also heads LVMH. , Dior controlled around 42% of ...

head designer

after he was arrested in February 2011 over alleged

anti-semitic Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

comments in a Paris bar, describing Galliano's videotaped behavior in a phone interview with '' WWD'' as "farce" and "theater".

Awards and nominations

Academy Awards

BAFTA Awards

Costume Designers Guild Awards

Primetime Emmy Awards

Satellite Awards

* 2023: FashFilmFete, Costume Design Career Achievement Award in Television

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Field, Patricia 1942 births American costume designers American women costume designers American fashion designers American people of Armenian descent American people of Greek descent American lesbian artists LGBTQ fashion designers LGBTQ people from New York (state) Living people Designers from Queens, New York New York University alumni Primetime Emmy Award winners Fashion stylists 21st-century American women artists