Patricia Field Hangs Up Her Retail Wig

“Do you mind if I have a cigarette?” Patricia Field asked, though the deep gravel of her voice indicated that the question was rhetorical. She was sitting in the basement office of her eponymous boutique at 306 Bowery, wearing a black tank-top, dark capri pants and heavy blue mascara that complemented her trademark vermilion hair: a punk knockout at 73.


Three days earlier, the “Sex and the City” costumer had made a startling announcement: She will close her store early next year, a half-century after opening her first shop. No more bedazzled hoodies. No more rhinestone bustiers.

Her decision, she said, was a matter of personal privilege, though some would call it cultural hara-kiri. Thanks to “Sex and the City,” Ms. Field has been in high demand for television and film projects, among them “Ugly Betty,” “The Devil Wears Prada” and, most recently, the TV Land series “Younger,” for which she is a consultant.

All that has taken her away from her retail operation, which she said has suffered from her absences with unpaid bills and depleted inventories. “I’m simply no longer interested in devoting the time necessary to operating this place,” she said. “I wish I could, because I love it. But it’s either me or the store.”