Patricia Field’s House of Sin
Even though Manhattan keeps providing me with thrills, I don’t recall when was the last time that a mere visit to a store pleased me so much as the one I made a couple of days ago. I went inside because my attention was caught by some very colorful and slightly campy items displayed outside. That, together with a mannequin (a woman-umbrella) next to the entrance. Of course, I needed to check out what awaited me inside!
The inside of the store was beyond anything I could imagine. It’s a sheer cascade of color, weird items and… amazing shop clerks. I immediately started talking to one of them. I told him he’s the best possible emblem of the place I could wish for. He was wearing a fantastic wig, Pierrot-like pants, shades, and a rainbow-colored vest. In fact, he looked like a rainbow himself! I told him that to my eyes the whole store looks like a ready-made film set (he confirmed that it often becomes just that). May I add: a film set with a strong sexual subtext.
Yet another clerk was a drag queen: clad in black, with bobbing black feathers on his head. The whole store is so full of curiosities and surprising costumes that the place looks like a candy store designed strictly for drag queens. Some items look like they belong in an S/M fan’s closet, while others simply… take you by surprise. After a while, I asked the clerk how is this house of sin called, to which he replied: „We’re known as the House of Field”. I nodded and maybe even said something along the lines of: „Cool”, just as he added: „Stil, most people know us as Patricia Field…”
That’s when my moment of happiness happened (how is it possible that I didn’t immediately connect „The House of Field” to THAT FIELD?!). Patricia Field is a true icon – not only of NYC but of the fashion world in general. Her most widely know achievement is the costume design she did for „Sex & the City”. She was the one responsible for the main characters’ wardrobe! She’s both a fashion designer and a stylist. She’s a very colorful, as well as openly gay, character. As soon as I heard the words „Patricia Field”, I immediately noticed her portraits hanging all around the store. She looks at the customers from several corners, with her red hair and a provocative, come-hither look.
I won’t lie: one of my first questions to myself was „I wonder who buys this stuff?”, but after a couple of minutes, I already found a couple of things I would love to wear myself (well, maybe except the „nipple caps”…). The leggings I spotted were $120, so I decided to just look this time.
Will a so-called „regular person” find anything for themselves here…? You can bay variuous, crazy accesories here. There’s also a large variety of shoes and wigs (not that this particular item would interest a „regular person”…). There are also clothes, of course – designed by Field herself. Downstairs, theres a small hair salon, where I managed to witess try-ons of some pink and blue wigs.
Prices vary, although I suspect that in this particular case it’s not really the price that is the deciding factor in whether you will get what you want or not 🙂 I’m sure I will be coming back! At the very least, to simply look at these fatntastic shopping clerks!
