Greek of the Week Features Patricia Field

The recipient of the 2013 Gabby Visionary Award and named one of the most stylish 2013 New Yorkers by Time Out New York, Field is universally known for her stylist success on Sex and the City. She has two Emmy Awards, five Costume Designer Guild Awards and a Satellite Award under her belt for The Devil Wears Prada, Ugly Betty, Sex and the City and Mother Goose Rock 'n' Rhyme, for her unique styling techniques.

Born and bred in New York City, Field's strong Greek heritage was given to her by her yiayia. "As a little girl, I would take a taxi to my grandmother's in Astoria. I used to sleep there; thank God my parents didn't have money to hire a nanny", she explains. Her grandmother Sultana taught her to speak Greek and throughout her life she has spoken and tried to improve it. Field's mother was born on the island of Lesvos, while her Armenian father was born in Istanbul.

Field attributes her individualism and strong belief in herself to her yiayia who paid a ton of attention to her. As she speaks fondly of her grandmother, her eyes light up. "Whatever I did was fabulous so I learned confidence. I never heard a negative word from her. If I took my kaka and put it on the walls finger-painting, I was an artist".

All of Field's family were entrepreneurs and as a child, she would work in her mother's dry cleaning stores as a substitute for people on vacation. "I would go and run the stores. I went to NYU and studied liberal arts and enjoyed it, but when I graduated I didn't want an office job."

The creative Greek-American opened her internationally acclaimed Patricia Field store at the young age of twenty-four-years-old. "Fashion always came to me easy. I didn't even have a consciousness that it was easy. I just knew I wanted my own business, that's what I knew". Field expanded her larger than life boutique, when the property bordering hers came up for sale. "I feel much more secure because I own the property that my business is on. The opportunity came and I ate it".

Field features various Greek inspired items in her shop. Aside from her edgy pieces, she carries the Greek beauty line Apivita. "They make the absolute best products. You put those products to your body and you feel it immediately." She uses the shampoos in her store's beauty salon and costumers can't get enough of it. Field also offers a flashy evil eye necklace and Greek name plate necklaces. "I didn't always incorporate them. But now Greek is much more pervasive for me so sometimes I get an inspiration to do something".

The designer's best fashion advice? "The easy one is to make sure your clothes fit, that's half the battle. Don't wear them too tight. But the real good one is, know who you are. Take some time out for yourself. Express yourself and what you feel. So carve out your style, it's yours." She believes that an individual's style is theirs and doesn't belong to anyone else. The stylist states, "don't look at magazines for what to dress".

Field travels to Greece at least three times per year for over the past 10 years and credits her rapid increase in visits to her instant connection with best friend, TV personality Fotis Sergoulopoulos. "I met him here in New York at a dinner party through friends and we just hit it off immediately". The Greeks are big fans of Patricia and her House of Field fashion line and boutique, which she attributes to her close friendship with Fotis and Anna Vissi.

The gifted Greek-American's favorite place to relax in Greece is Athens. "I love Athens. In twenty minutes you are at the sea; the most beautiful swimming. I love it over there. There is nightlife over there and it's Greek. I don't go to Greece to do what I do here in New York City".

For a long period of time, Field didn't really publicize that she was Greek. "But at one point and I can't remember what the reason was, at one point I decided ok now I'm going to let everyone know I am Greek. I don't know why. Something hit me. Once people started knowing I was Greek, all these things converged. I am very happy people like me in Greece, very very happy, it's wonderful. What could I say, when people like you, that's the best thing you can be".