Patricia Field's Secrets of Success:

Posted By: Martha Buffett

Lauren David PedenThu Mar 30, 10:08 PM ET

But to an entire generation of New York City hipsters - e.g., anyone over 30 - the raven haired stylist's original claim to fame was her infamous and eponymous basement store on Eighth Street, which opened in 1971 and relocated three decades later to Soho's West Broadway, under the name Hotel Venus. Here, one could find cutting-edged clothing by local designers (and, of course, her own House of Field line), along with friendly cross-dressing makeup artists working the cosmetics counter and sales help like Ice-Capades-skater-turned-club-kid Richie Rich, who is now famous for his own line, Heatherette.

And to a certain segment in Hollywood, Field was known, pre-"Sex," as the costume designer on several feature films and TV shows like "Crime Story," "Wiseguy" and "Spin City."

With the April opening of her new East Village store on the Bowery (once again called, simply, Patricia Field), the June 30th release of "The Devil Wears Prada" and her booming online biz (www.patriciafield.com), FWD sat down with the native New Yorker in her spacious subterranean, brick-walled East Village loft - which was filled with Chinoiserie details and had a warm and sexy nightclub-like vibe - to get the lowdown on her enviable career, which has taken more twists and turns than a Scott Turow novel.

Surrounded by gold Buddha statues, lacquered Chinese tables, Batik-print settees, smoked-mirror room dividers, baby grand piano, a huge Madame Butterfly painting - and accompanied by her beloved two-year-old white poodles, Sultana and Putana - Field (clad in Miss Sixty jeans, a baby blue hoodie, Robert Cavalli watch and Ugg boots) poured herself a cup of coffee, lit the first of many Winston Wins cigarettes, and let us in on the secrets of her success.

Lesson #1: Learn the Ropes

I opened my first store on Washington Place in 1966, then I moved to Eighth Street in '71. It was always kind of young and 'of the moment' because it was basically on the NYU campus. Running a store was something that I thought I could do easily. I mean, it was always in my mind to be in business, because I grew up in a family of independent business people. My parents had a dry cleaning business, my uncles are in the restaurant business, my grandfather had his own business. So when I got out of school [Field has a degree in Liberal Arts from NYU], I went to work in a little discount department store and then a chain store for three or four years. I needed to learn about retail fashion before I went into my own business, because I didn't really have experience in that. Once I felt that I could do it, I opened my own store with my partner when I was about 24.

Lesson #2: When Opportunity Knocks, Answer

I got into styling midway in my career, in the mid-80's, because of Candy Pratts Price. She's a friend of mine and she was working on a movie called "Lady Beware" starring Diane Lane, who was very young at the time. Lane was [playing] a window trimmer in a department store; it was a psychodrama. Candy had been one of the premier window trimmers in the '70s at Bloomingdale's and Charles Jourdan, and she was consulting on the movie. The director asked her for a recommendation for a costume designer because she wanted somebody from fashion as opposed to somebody from film. Candy recommended me, and I met with the director, and she hired me without any movie experience. And I really liked it for many reasons. I was, like, 20 years into my own business, I had done a lot of different things within the business. I was getting to that point of 'now what?' And also, I was getting paid a lot more money than I was used to making in the retail business, for doing a lot less. The first experience had its scary moments because I had no experience. But all in all, it was like they're paying me for a service that I give to my customers all the time, and I'm getting paid money that I wasn't used to making. So I had a second career in my life, which was good because I needed it. [The retail store] was getting too repetitious, and I was beginning to get a little crazy from it. So it came just at the right time for me.

Lesson #3: Sometimes, Less Is More

In terms of the store, I felt I had taken it as far as I wanted to take it. It wasn't really what I enjoyed, you know, getting more stores. I tried it for a while, but I didn't really like that. I was just running around [like crazy]. And when you start multiplying, you lose the specialness. You can't maintain it, it's impossible. And your job changes. You become an administrator. So I tried it for a while and then I went back to just the one store. And I had starting making things for my store in the late '70s, and that developed into a small wholesale business. So it just kept branching and developing. I worked with a friend of mine who was a designer, a young guy. Because I never really wanted to be a designer. I make clothes for my store if I need them. So with the wholesale business, it's kind of like I found myself in that position. I never really planned it. I consider myself a stylist and a fashion designer, but not a clothing designer. I design in the world of fashion.

Lesson #4: Thank Your Lucky Stars For "Sex"

In the '90s I worked on this movie called "Miami Rhapsody" and Sarah Jessica Parker was the female lead in it. And then when "Sex and the City" came along, Sarah Jessica and the line producer from "Miami Rhapsody" told ["Sex" executive producer] Darren Star about me, so I met Darren and on their recommendation he hired me. And, you know, it all clicked. I always say it was like a good hand of cards. You sit down and you get dealt the Royal Flush and there is no way you're going to lose. You know, you had those four girls, you had this up-to-date story; the timing was right. Because a few years before that Darren did a similar show called "Central Park West" and it flopped. So I think with "Sex and the City" it was just one of those Royal Flushes, it was like everything clicked in; and when the fashion started clicking in, the producers and the writers started writing to it because they saw that people liked that aspect. But I couldn't have made that show a success just by virtue of the wardrobe, though they gave a nod - or more than a nod - to it. But you can't plan those things. Every time you do a new project, you know, you hope for the best. But to a certain degree you can't control it. It either works or it doesn't, and that one did.

Lesson #5: The Devil Doesn't Always Wear Prada

People think I take fashion and tell [the actors] what to wear, but it doesn't really work that way. I consider myself there to support the actor and to help the actor develop his or her character [through wardrobe]. Because the actor is there in front of the camera, not you. Everybody is individual and you have to treat everybody on an individual basis. And everybody comes with their body. Sometimes the body is slim and tall, sometimes it's short. Sometimes the posture is great and sometimes it's not so great. And the actor also comes with a brain and how they see themselves, and they have to feel comfortable in front of that camera. They can't be thinking 'Oh, I can't move right in this.' They can't be thinking about their clothing when they're doing their job as an actor. They need to be feeling good and confident and comfortable. So the relationship with the actor has to be one of trust and confidence and respect. I mean, now I know Sarah Jessica inside-out. But when I started with Meryl Streep [on "Prada"] I had never met her before. I didn't really even know her body. My main thing was to try and make Meryl look good, and the only rule that I was strict about was to make her look expensive. But it wasn't about any particular designer or trend or time. So you're going to see a little Prada - I'm going to open with a Prada bag, and she wears a Prada suit in a big important scene and a Prada coat somewhere along the line. But I wasn't trying to go Anna Wintour. I just thought of her as a famous, powerful fashion editor. She could have been Diana Vreeland or a dozen different women. So I used some 1980 Donna Karan vintage because it fits beautifully and it looked really good. I used a lot of Bill Blass because that line uses the most expensive fabrics you can find. I just wanted nice clothes on her, not a name that you would necessarily recognize. My goal was to make her look good. So I hope I achieved that. Anne Hathaway's character starts off as a college graduate who's not into fashion at all - she wants to be a writer and is very J. Crew-ish - so I used a lot of Chanel on her because [in the movie] she dressed from the [fashion department] closet, and it was one of those brands that would be in that closet and that she could wear with her personality. And I used some Calvin Klein on her, as well. So she was more a signature type of dresser, much more like 'It's from this collection' and not so original, let's say. Emily Blunt plays the other assistant, and I dressed her in a lot of Rick Owens and Vivienne Westwood, because she's a more offbeat, fashion type of dresser. And with Stanley Tucci, who plays the male assistant, I dressed him a little eccentrically but with a conservative base. I used a lot of vests but tucked them into the pants so you saw the belt. And most of the times the vest didn't match the suit or the jacket or pants; I kind of mixed it up. And I used some big, eccentric jewelry on him - a ring and lapel pins or something on his tie. Stanley is a very expressive, explosive actor. So when you have somebody who does that kind of characterization, you can explode them in clothes, too. He was totally enjoying it. I love dressing men, actually. I don't dress enough men.

Lesson #6: Keep Those Creative Juices Flowing

After "Sex and the City" ended, I needed some new inspiration. "Hope and Faith" really provided it. I love that job because, first of all, my inspiration is completely comedy. [The show] is in its third year and I hope it lasts forever because it's the nicest job that you could find. It's not a high profile job, but I don't really care. I don't need to have a high profile every minute of my life. I also collaborated with Candies shoes last spring, and I designed a bag for the movie ["The Devil Wears Prada"] - it's the assistant's bag - that is being produced by a bag company this summer. I styled two seasons of DKNY during Fashion Week with mannequins instead of runway, and I did their advertising campaign that followed up on those seasons, which I'm actually very, very happy with because I think I gave them a new image. One of my best clients is Payless. They're really a company that is on the move. I've been doing their advertising campaigns and TV commercials. So they keep me pretty busy, very happily. And then I do other things, like art direction for a Japanese brand and I have a client in Korea, and I've done some work for Revlon. It's fun because it enables you to have different outlets. And I'm closing the Soho store and moving my business over here [to 302 Bowery in the East Village]. I liked the Soho scene and West Broadway was a very good location for me, but I've learned in life that when you sit someplace too long it gets stale and you get stale. I've learned from my experience on Eighth Street that when you make a change the juices start flowing again and everybody gets excited. I think it's just good for your health to keep it stirring.

Lesson #7: Take It As It Comes

I'd like to make a movie. You know, produce, write and direct it; be an Alfred Hitchcock. I was going to do that with DKNY but it didn't pan out. I'd also to travel more. I'm not much of a planner on that stage. I just kind of sit on the beach and the wave comes in and whatever the wave brings, I kind of just select from that. I want to just keep living, having a good life. My 10 Year Plan? Just to be alive!

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