Costumes on ‘Sex and the City’ Have a Personality of Their Own

It’s only fitting that Sarah Jessica Parker’s lead character Carrie in the HBO series “Sex and the City” is dressed for sex-cess. After all, she is a newspaper sex columnist. Her clothes are chosen by N.Y. costume designers and business partners Patricia Field and Rebecca Field (who are not related).

Although the show stars a quartet of single Manhattan women on the make, the costumes are practically a fifth character. Now in its third season, the show is drooled over by style lovers who watch it for its zany fashions. The half-hour show airs Sundays at 9 p.m., which is why people compare notes about the clothes on Monday mornings the way others talk about how the home team did over the weekend.

This week, they were talking about the dress Carrie wore to a party with a date with a bisexual past. Parker, who is 5 feet 4 and wears a size zero, had on a tight, black, single strap mini-dress with a huge white chrysanthemum pinned to her shoulder. With it, she wore a white jacket and gold leather boots. (The episode, “Boy, Girl, Boy, Girl . . .,” turned to the question of gender and sexuality and featured a character played by singer Alanis Morissette kissing a very uncomfortable Carrie in a game of spin the bottle.)

Carrie’s fun dress style is a collaborative effort between the Field partners and Parker, 35, who also produces the show. Patricia Field said Carrie is fun to watch because her clothes are spontaneous, eclectic and original. “The style defies a category,” said Field, “and that is what makes her a trendsetter.”

Last Sunday’s black dress, an Ette label, by a New York City designer, is made of “pleather,” a synthetic fabric that looks like leather. (“Is that pleather?” asks one of the party hosts. “Yes,” replies Carrie, “and thank you so much for noticing.”) It was Parker’s idea to add the huge faux fleur. She keeps a bin of silk flowers at the Silver Cup Studios in Long Island City where the show is based. Her funky white jacket was a Chanel nylon bomber, a few seasons old. Patricia Field picked it up at a Soho store called Ina, one of her favorite consignment shops. Carrie’s gold Cassadei leather boots have 4-inch metal heels and retail at department stores for about $450.

Field, who also designed Heather Locklear’s costumes last season on the ABC sitcom “Spin City,” owns a Greenwich Village store, Patrica Field. (Her Web site is at https://www.patriciafield.com)

Parker and the two Fields brainstormed on the outfits, which are bought all over New York City--from uptown’s Saks Fifth Avenue to downtown’s vintage store Resurrection. (which also has a branch on Melrose Avenue). In fact, said Patricia Field, if she had to shop in L.A., she’d go to Melrose’s Red Balls on Fire for new things and Wetlands for vintage.) Field says she’s been so successful with the show because its star is willing to try almost anything.

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Candace Wedlan can be reached at [email protected].