Who

An uber-stylist, fashion designer and boutique owner, Pat Field is a New York fashion legend.

Backstory

The daughter of Greek and Armenian parents, Field grew up in Queens with a family that was tangentially involved in fashion: Her parents were in the dry cleaning business. Pat studied philosophy at NYU and began her career in fashion as an assistant buyer at the department store Alexander's in 1963. A few years later, she opened her first boutique, House of Field, at 10 East 8th Street and began selling the vinyl go-go clothes so trendy at the time. Field continued to peddle her clubwear throughout the '70s and '80s, and her boutique became a haven for downtown drag queens and fashion freaks. To wit: Amanda Lepore once worked at House of Field's make-up counter.

In the mid-'80s, Field branched out as a stylist for film and TV, and it was while doing costume design for the 1995 film Miami Rhapsody that she met Sarah Jessica Parker. When the actress was tapped to star in a new HBO show called Sex and the City in 1998, she recommended that Field do the wardrobe; the outfits she created for the Sex gang made her a household name and netted her two Emmys. She also expanded her retail business in the late '90s with a second, larger boutique, Hotel Venus, on West Broadway in SoHo. The two stores remained popular with club kids and party girls looking for something outré, until rent hikes forced their closures in 2004 and 2006. But just a few months after the demise of Hotel Venus, Field opened a new boutique at an old restaurant equipment store at 302 Bowery. It carries her own line–designed with David Dalrymple–alongside other designers' clothing, shoes, accessories and lingerie, from heart-shaped nipple stickers to rhinestone-encrusted brass knuckles.

Of note

While most of the merchandise her store carries is too over-the-top for your average woman, Field's always had an uncanny talent for trend setting, which she did on a grand scale with Carrie Bradshaw's continually evolving and endlessly copied looks. Field will likely remain best known for dressing Carrie and the girls, but she's had a hand in designing quite a few other memorable outfits from the annals of pop culture. She was responsible for Britney Spears' "naked" crystal-adorned outfit for the 2000 MTV Music Awards, America Ferrera's hideously stylish clothes on Ugly Betty, and Meryl Streep's buttoned-up ensembles in The Devil Wears Prada, which landed Field an Oscar nomination. And a long list of companies have hired Field to work her design magic on their products. She created a limited edition collection with Damon Dash for Rocawear, a line of watches for Seiko Japan, and shoe collections for Pro-Keds, Payless, and Candie's. More recently, she partnered with Mattel to product a line of sportswear, handbags and jewelry for, yes, Barbie. Naturally, the collection features "Barbie" nameplate necklaces.

The look

Field is the hippest and boldest 60-something you're likely to lay eyes on. With her flame-red hair (she started going gray in her mid-'30s) and taut skin, she has a style all of her own: She'll wear ripped jeans and a fedora one day, and graffiti-print pants with a see-through, lime-green tank the next.

Personal

Field was formerly married to fellow costumier and collaborator Rebecca Field, who reverted back to Rebecca Weinberg after their romantic, but not professional, break-up. Field lives in the East Village.