We Talked To Patricia Field About Some Of Her Most Iconic TV Looks

Taking Inspiration From Experience

At the gallery, Field serves as a curator alongside a group of visual artists who use their own one-of-a-kind aesthetics to hand paint clothing. Everything around us is textured, colorful, and energetic, which happens to be the perfect backdrop for the interview.

The title Happy Clothes actually came when the team was in post-production and realized that Field says the phrase multiple times throughout the movie.

"Pat is a happy person," says director Michael Selditch. "There's two moments actually where Pat raises a glass. There's one at her birthday party and there's one in the Plaza Hotel when she's talking about her her relatives. And that's just a very that's a that's a Pat thing to raise her glass, to make a cheer and be happy. Pat is happy, happy, happy."

"Mostly happy, happy, happy," Field interjects.

Her designs seem to sing when you see them onscreen, and provide what I’ve always referred to as “brain candy” — an aesthetic that has a carefree and celebratory spirit, rather than a vapid one. Field relies on her instincts and her imagination to create these iconic looks, a fact for which we can thank her Greek heritage.

“I can think in terms of thousands of years,” she says in the documentary. That timeless, otherworldly approach fits right in with the lore of characters like Miranda Priestly or Carrie Bradshaw. They feel like demigods: still human, but with an otherworldly air we can't help but crave.

"I had strong references to my upbringing," Field says. "Mainly from a standpoint of love, number one and culture, number two, not in any more important order. But I guess love always comes first, right? It opens the door."

"I think Pat also achieves timelessness over and over again because she's not concerned with trends," Selditch says. "She goes towards something, gravitates towards a design that feels like it will always be good."

Patricia Field On Trusting Her Instincts

Field has something stronger than a sixth sense dictating her moves. She knows what will look good or become iconic, even if the people around her don’t understand it. Field got her start as a costume designer on titles like Crime Story and Lady Beware, and it didn't take long for her to set the tone.

This was a time when there were very little — if any — expectations for television costumes. As someone who dresses up for specific occasions in mind, my favorite part of Happy Clothes was the discussion around Carrie’s picnic outfit in season two of Sex and the City. When Field was asked why Carrie was dressed like Heidi, she responded, “Because she’s doing a picnic!”

That kind of open-hearted approach to clothes is what's made the last few years of bold colors and dopamine dressing so fun. It's the moment when fashion becomes a true art form and you're dressing purely for the joy of creating something that's never been seen before.

Not only does it provide some serious creative fuel, but playing with different pieces also gives you the chance to learn how to accept things that don’t make sense to you, or that you have an initial negative reaction to. Trying new combinations bonds the creative spirit in all of us, and offers the chance to take a risk in a low-stakes way.

From oversized silhouettes to crazy pattern matching to color combinations you would never pair together otherwise, the self-proclaimed "exaggeration queen" has made a name for herself doing literally whatever she wants. Field's philosophy on clothes can be summed up in one sentiment: “[The pieces] could be different, but they have to be happy together.”

"Pat goes with her gut," Selditch tells me. "And then just is very confident that her gut is making sense to her. So why shouldn't it make sense to everybody else?"

"There's a reasoning behind the gut and if I think and I know what my reason is, I have to do that," Field adds. "Otherwise it's meaningless."