Buena Vista is releasing a Blu-ray Disc edition of Confessions of a Shopaholic from director P.J. Hogan (Muriel's Wedding, My Best Friend's Wedding) on Tuesday, and we here at DVDFile have just received a set of intrgiuing factoids about the film that we couldn't keep to ourselves:  

• The film was shot inside of some of the most exclusive stores and boutiques in New York, including Barneys New York flagship store on Madison Avenue, Henri Bendel on Fifth Avenue, Scoop and Catherine Malandrino in the Meat Packing District, Alessi (upscale housewares) in Soho, and Kleinfeld (elaborate bridal shop) in Chelsea. 

 

• The film also shot inside some of the most historic buildings in NYC, including legendary British architect Lord Norman Foster's Hearst Tower (the only film to ever be allowed to shoot there) on 57th Street and 8th Avenue; 45 Rockefeller Center (the building that features the statue of Atlas holding up the world at its entrance); the Grand Salon inside of the 1931 Jumeirah Essex House hotel on Central Park South; inside and out of St. James Church (1884) on Madison Avenue between 71st and 72nd Streets; inside of the Beaux Arts and Art Nouveau styled Emigrant Industrial Savings Bank Building (1908-12) on Chambers Street in the Wall Street district; utilizing the exterior of St. Anthony of Padua on Sullivan Street at the intersection of Greenwich Village, Tribeca and Soho, founded in 1866. 

• The production spent two all-nighters dressing the beautiful atrium of Henri Bendel with a Midsummer Night's Dream themed design, as well as the aviator-themed window displays. They also created window displays for the Hearst Tower with faux stores by Valentino, Anna Sui, Catherine Malandrino and Alberto Ferretti.  Excited New Yorkers thought that actual stores had opned on the ground level of the Tower and were sorely disappointed to discover that they were only for the movie. 

• Across the street from St. James Church, windows were re-dressed in actual Yves St. Laurent, Asprey and Sonia Rykiel stores for the film's climax. 

• In the film, costume designer Patricia Field selected clothing and accessories to adorn Isla Fisher's Becky Bloomwood, including Balenciaga, Marc Jacobs, Christian Louboutin, Alexander McQueen, Zac Posen, Miu Miu, Salvatore Ferragamo, Prada, Christian Dior, Todd Oldham, Gucci and Matthew Williamson, among others.