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The Age (Melbourne, Australia)
March 16, 2013 Saturday
First Edition
Serially stylish;
EXHIBITION
by JUSTINE COSTIGAN
Fifteen years after Sex and the City first appeared on HBO, the love
for the iconic TV show and its costumes is as fervent as ever.
A global television phenomenon, the show ran for six seasons and
though the friendship between four thirtysomething female characters
was at the core of the show, the high-fashion costumes ran a close
second. In a comedy-drama that made household names of the lead
actors, costume designer Patricia Field was given due credit for
making fashion - at its wittiest and most engaging - another star of
the show.
Field has been in Melbourne to promote the New York City Style
exhibition at the Chadstone Shopping Centre, featuring a collection of
20 outstanding costumes from the show. Her presence attracts the
attention of a small group of SATC devotees, who interrupt our
interview to tell her how much they admire her work. Field tells one
lovely young man how much she likes his shoes. She has clearly made
his day.
Petite, with long, red hair and a voice husky from a lifetime of
smoking, Field is wearing striped red-and-black leggings and biker
boots, and at 71 is happy to call herself a "rocker". She's not the
haute couture princess fans might expect, but then, Field is the first
to admit fashion was never her passion.
Half Armenian and half Greek, she grew up in New York and "used to run
around the streets of Madison Avenue and the Upper East Side". Her
parents ran a dry-cleaning business and her uncles had restaurants.
Business was in her DNA. Field says her move into the fashion industry
was a means to an end. "I never had a passion for fashion. I had a
passion to have an independent career, not work for anyone, make my
way in life, be my own boss and not listen to anybody.
"I'm glad I made a living in fashion - it's a nice way to make a
living. People look pretty, it's nice, it's a pleasant experience."
Before the TV show, Field was already a New York fashion identity with
a following for her eponymous New York store, which she opened in
1966. She won an Emmy in 1990 for costume design for Mother Goose Rock
'n' Rhyme.
But for many of her fans, SATC is where Field's career begins and
ends. She is philosophical about being pigeonholed. "I'd built a
reputation in New York and with the fashion crowd in Europe. I'd been
doing costume design since 1985, so there was more than 10 years of
good work. I came with a full book but, of course, SATC just sent it
out there like a whirlwind, a bomb exploding. It put me out in the
world."
Field has a businesswoman's perspective about the industry she has
made her own. "It can be very frivolous," she says. It can also
encourage the odd sartorial faux pas. "If they're five-foot-two (157
centimetres) and they have fat legs and they want to wear a skirt
that's split up to here, that's when the trend goes to a point where
it dies a horrible death."
But can fashion be art? "Yes, in some cases it is - Chanel or John
Galliano - it's an art form, but when you talk about the apparel
industry, well, that's another slice of the pizza pie," she drawls in
her broad New York accent. "And that's valid as well, but it's not the
same."
Field's work on SATC elevated a show about female friendship to a
fashionista's fantasy, in which a freelance magazine columnist could
afford to pay rent and wear Manolo Blahnik shoes. It helped create a
culture of high-fashion name-dropping: even if you couldn't afford to
buy their clothes, you knew who Christian Louboutin, Chanel and
Versace were.
Field admits she helped create this designer culture, but it's not one
she subscribes to personally. "To buy ... a handbag that costs
$40,000? I think that's insane. I mean, shoes for $1000? ... You
shouldn't have to get a mortgage to buy a pair of shoes."
Although Field chose the show's most iconic costumes for the
exhibition, she doesn't have a favourite. "There are so many. You know
the truth - the fans know the costumes better than I do. I can tell by
the questions they ask - they get really specific about it. They'll
ask who ... designed the dress that Carrie wore when she was in the
monkey bar? And I'm like, 'What? I don't remember. What episode was
that?"'
Field estimates each episode required several hundred costumes. With
25 episodes a season and six seasons plus two feature films, much of
the show is now a blur. But some costumes stand out.
Among those on display at Chadstone is the Vivienne Westwood wedding
dress from SATC: The Movie, complete with the controversial bird
headdress - an example of Field's mischievous sense of humour. "I 'd
worked with Sarah Jessica Parker before and she was on my side, so
that helped. It's a costume, not a wardrobe, so basically you have to
push it as far as you can without it becoming a parody. I like to make
comical characters - it's my commentary."
Since SATC, Field has worked on TV series Ugly Betty and The Devil
Wears Prada , but recently she has been taking a break from costume
design, turning down requests to replicate the SATC magic. She has
worked in China and Taiwan and has become enamoured of the energy of
south-east Asia. Openly gay, Field supports AIDS charities and
children's educational charities in Armenia and Greece.
Still a smoker at 71, she says her doctor insists her lungs are still
in good shape.
"I have one life to live, and I want to live it and enjoy it. I don't
want to kill myself, but on the other hand I want to do what I want to
and make myself happy, because when it's over, it's all over."
Carrie Bradshaw couldn't have written a better exit line.
"New York City Style is at the Chadstone Shopping Centre until March 31.
From: Baghdasarian
March 16, 2013 Saturday
First Edition
Serially stylish;
EXHIBITION
by JUSTINE COSTIGAN
Fifteen years after Sex and the City first appeared on HBO, the love
for the iconic TV show and its costumes is as fervent as ever.
A global television phenomenon, the show ran for six seasons and
though the friendship between four thirtysomething female characters
was at the core of the show, the high-fashion costumes ran a close
second. In a comedy-drama that made household names of the lead
actors, costume designer Patricia Field was given due credit for
making fashion - at its wittiest and most engaging - another star of
the show.
Field has been in Melbourne to promote the New York City Style
exhibition at the Chadstone Shopping Centre, featuring a collection of
20 outstanding costumes from the show. Her presence attracts the
attention of a small group of SATC devotees, who interrupt our
interview to tell her how much they admire her work. Field tells one
lovely young man how much she likes his shoes. She has clearly made
his day.
Petite, with long, red hair and a voice husky from a lifetime of
smoking, Field is wearing striped red-and-black leggings and biker
boots, and at 71 is happy to call herself a "rocker". She's not the
haute couture princess fans might expect, but then, Field is the first
to admit fashion was never her passion.
Half Armenian and half Greek, she grew up in New York and "used to run
around the streets of Madison Avenue and the Upper East Side". Her
parents ran a dry-cleaning business and her uncles had restaurants.
Business was in her DNA. Field says her move into the fashion industry
was a means to an end. "I never had a passion for fashion. I had a
passion to have an independent career, not work for anyone, make my
way in life, be my own boss and not listen to anybody.
"I'm glad I made a living in fashion - it's a nice way to make a
living. People look pretty, it's nice, it's a pleasant experience."
Before the TV show, Field was already a New York fashion identity with
a following for her eponymous New York store, which she opened in
1966. She won an Emmy in 1990 for costume design for Mother Goose Rock
'n' Rhyme.
But for many of her fans, SATC is where Field's career begins and
ends. She is philosophical about being pigeonholed. "I'd built a
reputation in New York and with the fashion crowd in Europe. I'd been
doing costume design since 1985, so there was more than 10 years of
good work. I came with a full book but, of course, SATC just sent it
out there like a whirlwind, a bomb exploding. It put me out in the
world."
Field has a businesswoman's perspective about the industry she has
made her own. "It can be very frivolous," she says. It can also
encourage the odd sartorial faux pas. "If they're five-foot-two (157
centimetres) and they have fat legs and they want to wear a skirt
that's split up to here, that's when the trend goes to a point where
it dies a horrible death."
But can fashion be art? "Yes, in some cases it is - Chanel or John
Galliano - it's an art form, but when you talk about the apparel
industry, well, that's another slice of the pizza pie," she drawls in
her broad New York accent. "And that's valid as well, but it's not the
same."
Field's work on SATC elevated a show about female friendship to a
fashionista's fantasy, in which a freelance magazine columnist could
afford to pay rent and wear Manolo Blahnik shoes. It helped create a
culture of high-fashion name-dropping: even if you couldn't afford to
buy their clothes, you knew who Christian Louboutin, Chanel and
Versace were.
Field admits she helped create this designer culture, but it's not one
she subscribes to personally. "To buy ... a handbag that costs
$40,000? I think that's insane. I mean, shoes for $1000? ... You
shouldn't have to get a mortgage to buy a pair of shoes."
Although Field chose the show's most iconic costumes for the
exhibition, she doesn't have a favourite. "There are so many. You know
the truth - the fans know the costumes better than I do. I can tell by
the questions they ask - they get really specific about it. They'll
ask who ... designed the dress that Carrie wore when she was in the
monkey bar? And I'm like, 'What? I don't remember. What episode was
that?"'
Field estimates each episode required several hundred costumes. With
25 episodes a season and six seasons plus two feature films, much of
the show is now a blur. But some costumes stand out.
Among those on display at Chadstone is the Vivienne Westwood wedding
dress from SATC: The Movie, complete with the controversial bird
headdress - an example of Field's mischievous sense of humour. "I 'd
worked with Sarah Jessica Parker before and she was on my side, so
that helped. It's a costume, not a wardrobe, so basically you have to
push it as far as you can without it becoming a parody. I like to make
comical characters - it's my commentary."
Since SATC, Field has worked on TV series Ugly Betty and The Devil
Wears Prada , but recently she has been taking a break from costume
design, turning down requests to replicate the SATC magic. She has
worked in China and Taiwan and has become enamoured of the energy of
south-east Asia. Openly gay, Field supports AIDS charities and
children's educational charities in Armenia and Greece.
Still a smoker at 71, she says her doctor insists her lungs are still
in good shape.
"I have one life to live, and I want to live it and enjoy it. I don't
want to kill myself, but on the other hand I want to do what I want to
and make myself happy, because when it's over, it's all over."
Carrie Bradshaw couldn't have written a better exit line.
"New York City Style is at the Chadstone Shopping Centre until March 31.
From: Baghdasarian