The Good Wife comes to an end tonight. In
addition to being an excellent program, the show served as style inspiration
for professionals, proving how fashionable "work" clothes can be. I
lived out a fan's dream when I was cast as a reporter in the series finale.
Even as a lowly background actor, I experienced the incredible level of detail
the wardrobe and costume designers put in to dress every single person on set.
As a
result, I got to chat with Daniele Hollywood, a key member of The Good Wife's Emmy-nominated costume team. She
gave us an exclusive interview where she dishes on The Good Wife's favorite
designers, secrets on dressing their favorite characters and what not to wear as an extra:
Ms. Fabulous: The
Good Wife has a reputation for being one of the best-dressed programs on
television. Did your team set out to make such a fashion statement when setting
the look of the show?
Daniele Hollywood: Yes! Dan Lawson, the Costume Designer
for The Good Wife, wanted it to look chic and stylish right from the
start. We didn't want it to look like a typical law show. So from
the beginning, we were shopping and creating looks that were on very
elegant, modern and suitable for an upscale law firm. Dan's vision was to make
the women look feminine. He didn't want the women dressed in boring
suits that emulated men's suiting. For example, we never used pinstripes or
plain navy, or gray suiting. We searched for feminine shapes, with design
detail that accentuated the female figure.
Ms.
F: Was there a specific plan
for dressing each major character? Certain cuts or colors? (We always loved
Lemond Bishop and Kalinda's look!)
D.W.: Early on we found the peplum shaped jacket
was very useful in accentuating Julianna's figure and so we sought that out for
quite a few seasons. Julianna
Margulies looks amazing
in architectural suiting so it was our job to find designers who were
manufacturing that look. We found that Akris,
Giorgio Armani, Christian Dior, Escada to
name a few were our go-to labels for creating that her ultra
feminine silhouette.
Diane
(Lockhart) played by Christine
Baranski looks amazing in
everything! She's so tall and lean there's nothing that she can't pull off. At
the beginning of the season, we'd have three solid racks of clothes and two,
and we'd end up with two and a half racks that we wanted to keep. Christine
loves fashion, so it was always fun to shop, and have fittings with her.
 |
| Mike Coulter as Lemond Bishop |
Lemond Bishop (played by Mike
Coulter) was usually dressed in very steely, silvery tones. I think
that really supported his icy, drug lord character. Dan costumed him in peaked
lapel suits. In the beginning, we weren't sure how long his character
would be on the show, and due to budget constraints, we put him in Sean
John suits which looked great on him and were very reasonably priced. As his
character evolved and became a serious plot point, we started dressing him in
Canali suits which just happened to be making peak lapel suits that season. As
the shopper for the show I was always thrilled when I could find the perfect
suit or outfit to solve the requests of the Costume Designer, the script, and
the requirements of the character.
Dan really trail-blazed with Kalinda
Sharma's look (played by Archie
Panjabi). No one ever looked so sexy and provocative yet professional
on TV in my opinion. Dan wanted her look to be seductive yet professional. She
was dressed in leather and lace. Soft and hard. So we set out to shop leather
jackets in rich colors worn over form-fitting tops, and usually a black mini
skirt and her signature black knee hi boots. She's dressed kind of like a
superhero.
Ms. F: How much of a character's look was created directly from what
was happening in the script for a scene?
D.W.: It's
essential that we derive the look of the characters based on what's written in
the script. The design team which consists of the Costume Designer, and two
assistants all read the script. It informs all our decisions. There are also
meetings between the Costume Designer, and the director, and a production
meeting which also inform us on what needs to be addressed for the characters
in each episode.
 |
| Me, in jewel-toned dresses (both Byron Lars) |
Ms.
F: Among
background actors, The Good Wife is known for having the strictest wardrobe
standards. Were there
general policies for dressing a large group? (I overheard that all jackets had
to be closed, certain colors would be consistent for the same scenes, etc.)
D.W.: Yes, we did have
strict standards for the background. We wanted to the background actors to
always look polished, except when we did bond court. We asked that the women
wear dresses or pencil skirts, well fitting jackets with pumps. We avoided
men's shirts with collars on women and preferred a smooth shell or blouse
under a jacket with a statement necklace instead. We dressed the background
actors in jewel tones so that they had some color, and we avoided
black because it makes the actors disappear onscreen. We were
very particular about making sure men's shirts fit well at the neck, and
we avoided out of date three button suits on the men.
Ms. F: What was your favorite
look or creative accomplishment for your work on the series?
 |
| Karolina Zmarlak Suit on Julianna Margulies |
D.W.: This is a tough one because there were so many. Working on The
Good Wife for seven seasons has been the crowning jewel of my career so
far. But there are a couple of very key moments. We got nominated for best
Costume Design Emmy in season two. CBS flew our whole team to Los Angeles for
the Emmy's. It was an amazing experience to be included and honored for our
work on the show.
I loved working with the talented Karolina
Zmarlak, who created the green suit that Alicia wears when she finds
out Will has been killed. We found a beautiful mossy green stand collar jacket
at Saks by Karolina. We contacted her, and she made a matching pencil skirt. I
loved working with Karolina. She is such a generous and talented lady. I'm sure
she's going to become a household name one day.
Ms. F: Were there any favorite fashion designers or particular labels
that The Good Wife team loved to use?
D.W.: We used many fashion labels, but we really did well for the
women with Dan Lawson's label DL35,
Akris, Armani, Escada, Karolina Zmarlak, Dior, Roland Mouret, Antonio Berardi, Lafayette 148 and Ferragamo to name a few.
For the men, we had custom made suits from Isaiah for Will Gardner, Brooks Brothers for Peter Florrick, and Paul Smith for Eli Gold. Carey Ago's suits were
custom-made by Martin
Greenfield. We used a lot of Canali and Z Zegna on our visiting guest stars.
It's important to mention here that at the very beginning
of the series our budget was tight, so we bought less expensive designers and
tailored the heck out of them. When you have the luxury of having an amazing
tailor you can transform the most inexpensive garment into a truly flattering
ensemble.
Ms. F: What projects are you working on next?
D.W.: We're currently working on
CBS's new comic thriller "BrainDead" set in the world of Washington
Politics. Created by Robert and Michelle King, who are Executive producers, and
creators of "The Good Wife". The series
airs June 13th at 10/9c.
Ms. F: Thanks Daniele!
Watch the series finale of The
Good Wife tonight
Sunday May 8, 2016 at
9 PM/8PM Central on CBS.
Stills from The Good Wife from CBS
Check out The Most Stylish Work Places on TV
by Ms. Fabulous at Mode
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