Patricia Field Talks New Projects, ‘Emily in Paris,’ ‘And Just Like That…’ and Sweatpants
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Never at a loss for new projects, stylist and designer Patricia Field has a few going on currently in design and entertainment.
As a self-described “glove fan” and longtime wearer of the accessory, she has collaborated with Seymoure Gloves for a colorful capsule collection. Perennially associated with the stylish cast of actresses that she suited up as costume designer “Sex and the City,” Field has moved on to the costume consultant for the fashion-centric “Emily in Paris.”
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Although Wednesday night’s launch event for her latest design collaboration was expected to include a celebration of the sought-after creative’s career, Field would rather have her work speak for itself. Some of the new Seymoure gloves will be featured in the second season of “Emily in Paris” that will be released Dec. 22.
A third season is planned, but Field is still deciding whether she wants to return to Paris for another months-long stay. “Once the second season was over, I was more than ready to go home even though I had a beautiful apartment and blah, blah, blah,” she said in an interview Wednesday. “I was homesick. I was there for five months.”
The writer-producer-director, her friend Darren Star, who created the show and “Sex and the City,” has told her she can come and go as she likes while styling the third season in Paris. Realistic as ever, Field said, “But it really doesn’t work that way. Whatever happens continues to happen. Things come up and if you’re not there, it’s whatever.”
Field said she was was glad to work as the consultant on the series with the experienced Paris-based Marylin Fitoussi acting as the designer. Having never done a show in Paris, she said, “You need a team. It doesn’t just go snap, you’re there and you’re doing it.”
Field has committed for a second season of “Run the World,” a Starz series that focuses on a group of female professionals living and working in Harlem. Being on location again in New York is a win for Field.
The New Yorker is wrapping up book titled “Pat in the City” that will touch upon her signature store, the kids and artists like Keith Haring who hung out there. It’s being written with Rebecca Paley and will be released next year. Other artists such as Jean-Michel Basquiat and young designers like Andre Walker and Isabel Toledo would hang out at Field’s now-shuttered Bowery Street store.
“My store was like a clubhouse. They used to hang out there. We would go out at night to the regular places on St. Mark’s [Place] and to little shows. It was a very creative time,” she said. “That’s in my book with interviews with people from then and now. I’m excited it’s coming to a head.”
Reviewing the final chapters, she spoke of the project’s speed. Unlike styling, where “you put a garment on an actress, and done. But books? Forget it. It never ends. But we have to get used to the world we live in. What can I say?”
A documentary about her life is also in the works with filmmaker Michael Selditch. In addition, she hopes to fulfill a dream of developing a musical. “Let’s see. Once the book comes out, there will be material to make the next step. It would be great. The kids in my story, and the ones that worked in my store, are so colorful, talented and creative,” Field said. “I never took fashion in a serious way. I just put things together, and if it looks good, I go, ‘Yes.’ I’m not precious about my work at all. As long as it stays fun, enjoyable and creative, I’m happy. What more could I ask for?”
Her intentionally off-the-beaten path ArtFashion gallery on East Broadway is still happening, and its e-commerce site is going strong, Field said. She and her team skipped Art Basel in Miami this year.
Asked if she has watched the “Sex and the City” reboot “And Just Like That…” Field said, “Of course. Molly Rogers was my assistant on ‘Sex and the City.’” adding that she recommended Rogers for the new series, since she she was tied up at that time with the first season of “Emily in Paris.”
As for whether she likes what she has seen, Field said, “I do. But I wanted to say because there is so much on social media about ‘Where’s Patricia Field?’ With all new projects, it takes time to get your feet wet. Even though Molly had had that experience, she was on her own. I keep my eyes on her. She’s looking better and better. In the beginning, it was a little tricky but it’s looking really good. I’m happy to see it.”
Field is working on her own “Sex and the City” flashback piece — a tulle tutu-type dress reminiscent of the one that Sarah Jessica Parker wore in the opener for the original HBO Series. Parker introduced Field to Star, after the two women had worked together on “Miami Rhapsody,” a 1995 film by director and producer David Frankel. (Frankel later hired Field for another one of his films, “The Devil Wears Prada.”)
Field said she found the original tulle skirt that Parker wore in the opening of “Sex and the City” in “a bargain basket in some showroom” and showed it to Star. “He’s brilliant but he’s not fashion. He couldn’t understand it. I told him it would be timeless.” Field said. “It wasn’t from 1990s or whenever. It was an original idea that would stay timeless. Thank God he let us go with it.”
The stylist will soon be launching on her site “the new Carrie skirt and dress 2.0.” Designer David Dalrymple, a longtime collaborator with Field, is working on the style. The pair handled styling for Payless for six or seven years. Noting how Dalrymple started out designing for drag queens and later for the Brooklyn Nets dancers, Field said, “I’m so happy for him. His business has really blossomed and he so deserves it.”
Asked about recent coverage of Kim Cattrall’s absence from “And Just Like That…,” Field said she preferred to not get into the politics, adding they have developed a close relationship through the years.
Seymoure Gloves’ Melissa Meister approached Field about the glove collaboration. The line offers a fresh take on gloves, including fingerless styles with cutouts, as well as armwear — leather coverings from the wrist to the elbow without hands. The way Field sees it, “It’s time to bring gloves out of vintage shops. It’s a new time. It’s girls on bicycles and Vespas. It’s a different mentality and a different era.” she said.
Although gloves can be a wise choice for health concerns, Field said she wasn’t thinking along those lines. “I just wanted to keep it happy and up-to-date. I didn’t really think about the pandemic, because [at this point] I’m like, ‘Ugh, the pandemic.’ Even though I take a test every week and am very careful. I’m just wishing this pandemic will disappear somewhere.”
Asked what’s driving fashion now, Field said, “I think the depression is driving fashion right now — sneakers, sweatshirts, hoodies. I hate to say it because everybody’s wearing it. But I have a very hard time with it. I don’t like one look that everybody wears. It just becomes a trend. We know it and we get sick of it. We’ll get sick of that.”
Fashion as an art form is indicative of the culture of the time, Field said. “For example, after World War I, it was the flappers. They got away from that Victorian thing…They were wearing little shifts, dancing and kicking their legs up in the air. That was a positive, optimistic time. Then came The [Great] Depression and the colors became very faded.”
She continued, “All I’m trying to say is that fashion reflects the zeitgeist and right now it’s sweatshirts and sneakers. I’m not a fan. I have said it before. I have sweatpants. I wear them at home. I don’t go to work in them. I like fashion to be expressive and an opportunity for people to be creative with themselves and enjoy that.”
Recalling a visit to Paris to see the Jean-Paul Gaultier show before she started working on “Emily in Paris,” Field said she phoned Starr to say, “‘I’m here in Paris. I’m going to go check out all the chic Parisienne women.’ Everybody was in sneakers, sweatshirts, hoodies and sweatpants — and of course jeans, which were ripped,” she said. “I just do what I do. If you want to wear your sweatpants, please wear them. Enjoy them.”
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