PATRICIA FIELD
Pat in the city
LEGENDARY COSTUME DESIGNER PATRICIA FIELD ON STYLE, SEXUALITY AND HER EXTRAORDINARY LIFE SO FAR
WORDS ROXY BOURDILLON
PHOTO JOHNNY ROZSA
Patricia Field is stalking down the runway in a belted minidress with matching hat and heels. She’s wearing red lipstick, white gloves and a faux fur coat slung nonchalantly over one shoulder. It’s the 1980s and New York’s ballroom subculture is flourishing. Pat is taking part in a competition, showing off her inimitable style and representing House of Field. The category? Best dressed gay women.
In case you haven’t gathered by now, Pat is a legend. A New Yorker through and through, she was born in Manhattan in 1942 and still lives in the city that never sleeps to this day. A costume designer, boutique owner and renowned scenester, her name is synonymous with NYC institutions like Studio 54 and Carrie Bradshaw. In the world of onscreen style, few people wield greater influence or have more vision than Pat. She is the gay woman who changed the way women of all sexualities dress. From that thrift store tutu in Sex And The City to the unapologetically bright and bonkers outfits on Emily In Paris, her awardwinning ensembles have inspired an abundance of joy and countless shopping sprees. Summing up her trademark fashion sensibility she tells me succinctly, “I do happy clothes.”