‘Happy Clothes: A Film About Patricia Field’ Review: An Occasionally Satisfying Doc on ‘Sex and The City’ Costume Designer
thewrap.comWhen she won a Golden Globe for “The Devil Wears Prada,” Meryl Streep said it best about what the role of costume design could be in moving pictures while thanking costume designer Patricia Field: “That was like special effects for our movie.”Indeed, “special effects” is what the effervescent Pat Field touch brings to any project that she signs her name under, the most popular among them undoubtedly being HBO’s “Sex and the City.” With perhaps the exception of “Mad Men” has there been another culturally iconic TV series in the last quarter century that informed, even evolved how people dressed in their daily lives?So it’s no easy task to do justice to the life and legacy of Field, a colorful New York City personality with a recently published book about her life. (Field doesn’t call it a memoir, as that word sounds too final to her.) But more versed in episodic outputs such as CNN’s four-part docuseries “American Style” than feature-length films, director Michael Selditch gives this gigantic task a shot anyway in “Happy Clothes: A Film About Patricia Field” with mixed results. “Happy Clothes” gives us an intriguing snapshot of a creative force who can mix patterns and colors more fearlessly than anyone in the business.
But it ultimately leaves us craving move. The plot is meandering and unfocused on the whole with a register that feels haphazardly episodic.
It satisfies occasionally when it zeroes in on Field’s storied past and on-the-job personality, Field’s shopping process for the second season of “Run the World” bookends “Happy Clothes,” a title that refers to Field’s sweet spot when it comes to happily harmonious colors that allow her to “f*ck with mismatched patterns.” In between, we get a lavish parade of.
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