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LIFE | STYLE & FASHION | FASHION

‘The Good Wife’ and Its Lessons for
Dressing

As influential show winds down, the costume designer who outfitted its TV attorneys offers
style tips for executive women

Julianna Margulies’s character, Alicia Florrick, on the ‘The Good Wife’ PHOTO: CBS
By TERI AGINS

Updated May 4, 2016 3:24 p.m. ET

When “The Good Wife” airs its final episode this Sunday after seven
seasons, fashionable executive women will lose two influential
standard-bearers.

The show’s principal characters, well-dressed lawyers played by
Julianna Margulies, age 49, and Christine Baranski, 64, exemplified
business chic. Fans zeroed in on the zip-front peplum jackets worn by
Alicia Florrick, played by Ms. Margulies, and the signature brooches
and elegant jacquard dresses worn by Diane Lockhart, played by Ms.
Baranski.

Brooches became a signature for Diane Lockhart, played by Christine Baranski. PHOTO: CBS

Fashion that works on TV can work in real life, too. The Good Wife’s
lawyers were outfitted by the show’s thrice-Emmy-nominated
costume designer, Daniel Lawson. Mr. Lawson’s career includes
daytime soap operas and the theater—and will continue with his work
as the costume designer on “BrainDead,” a new CBS political series
airing next month. Many of the fashion tricks he’s honed for TV
amount to real solutions for mature women.

Other TV actresses portraying well-dressed, powerful women have
developed cult followings on blogs and social media: Robin Wright on
Netflix’s “House of Cards,” Téa Leoni on CBS’s “Madame Secretary”
and Kerry Washington on ABC’s “Scandal.” Even the designer frocks
and status handbags on Bravo’s “Housewives” reality series have
influenced middle-aged women’s sense of style.

“The impact of these shows is that they’ve taught women over 50 that
clothes are a powerful part of their identity—not to be so shy about
clothes, to put themselves out there further and try new things,” says
Betsy Fisher, whose namesake Washington, D.C., specialty store caters
to executive women.

Executive women need a full range of social clothes, from smart suits
to dressy casual ensembles for weekends and travel. “Dressy casual is
the most difficult category for women to understand,” says Ms. Fisher.
“You’ve got to get them out of the athletic look and step it up a notch
to achieve polish so that you look as powerful at a weekend party as
what you wear to the office.”

Zip-front jackets are a staple for Julianna Margulies’s character, Alicia Florrick, on the ‘The Good
Wife.’ PHOTO: CBS

Just like regular consumers, Mr. Lawson had a clothing budget. Each
episode of “The Good Wife” required a total of 100 to 250 costumes.
Wardrobe expenses for each show—including clothing and all the
trimmings that Mr. Lawson bought or rented—amounted to “the low
tens of thousands of dollars for everybody,” he says.

Rarely splurging, Mr. Lawson tried to get the most bang out of staples
such as pencil skirts, pants and pumps, “workhorses that we could use
and rework again.” Mr. Lawson says he shopped with an eagle eye for
unique silhouettes, textured fabrics and “expensive-looking prints.”
Women’s garments came from an eclectic mix of low and high labels,
from Lafayette 148, Zara and Ann Taylor to Narciso Rodriguez, Etro
and Giorgio Armani.

Mr. Lawson’s top cheap-chic hits: Kenneth Jay Lane costume jewelry
and Arthur S. Levine for Tahari women’s suits, which sell for about
$120. “We used three or four of those suits on Julianna in the first
season,” Mr. Lawson says.

The costume designer’s fashion team included a secret weapon for any
shopper: Brian Turpin, a skilled tailor. Mr. Turpin redesigned a
bargain find—a tiny size 2 cream-colored Narciso Rodriguez sheath
dress—to fit the size 4 Ms. Margulies by adding black color-block
panels to the side seams and black trim to its sleeves.

Mr. Lawson admits to his share of fashion misses in dressing actors for
TV. “On Julianna, there was this Narciso Rodriguez jacket and dress in
color block that looked so good on her in real life” but didn’t read well
on camera, he says.

Daniel Lawson, wardrobe designer for ‘The Good Wife,’ with seven seasons’ worth of clothes for
the characters. PHOTO: CBS

Broadway Stages in Brooklyn, N.Y., the principal set where the show
films, warehouses seven seasons’ worth of clothes, hung with markers
for each character. As Mr. Lawson talked about the outfits he pulled
together, he spilled some tricks of his trade.

Camera-test tricky garments in advance. At weddings and reunions,
everybody is taking pictures and videos. “Take a selfie and blow it up
on a computer screen to scrutinize how you’ll really look on camera,”
he says.

Choose a two-way zipper. On a dress, “you can adjust the zipper to
create a back vent to show as much leg as you want and for ease of
walking.” Two-way zip functions for suit jackets, too. “On ‘The Good
Wife,’ my lawyers are sitting all the time,” he says. A character “can zip
it open a bit from the bottom, and her jacket doesn’t ride up.”

Ruching and gathers at the waist, so forgiving on most women, can
look “like a million wrinkles” on camera, he says. He also steers away
from all-black clothes that turn “to nothing on camera—you can’t see

any of the details, the seaming or belting.”

Peg hems on boxy straight skirts. “When you pull in that straight
skirt to be narrower at the hem, you emphasize the hips, the waist, the
shoulder line, creating the hourglass silhouette.”

Jacquard fabrics and brocades often have visually interesting textures that camouflage bulges.

PHOTO: CBS

Consider jacquard fabric, such as a teal and black jacquard sheath
dress and jacket in matching colors but subtly different textures.
“This is one of those illusions. The pattern takes your eye away from
what’s going on underneath and hides wrinkles, giant muscles” and
bulges, he says.

An A-shaped tank top is most flattering “because it skims—and
doesn’t cling to your body,” he says. Ideally, it’s not too long, cropped
right below the waist, so it can be “worn tucked out with the illusion of
being tucked in.”

Cap sleeves extend the shoulder line to create the illusion that your
waist is smaller.

Soft shoulder pads offer structure and a better line to loose jackets,
dresses and blouses.

Peplums and seams “with curves and angles that come in at the waist
make your waist smaller,” he says. “A peplum skirt on a jacket creates
a waistline on everybody.”

Choose one “star” focal point. Margo Martindale, who plays Ruth
Eastman, a political strategist on “The Good Wife,” is a size 18. Mr.
Lawson dressed her to look svelte in a flowing navy jacket, narrow
navy pants and a “star” blouse: a $100 pale gray flared top in polyester,
with an asymmetrical color-block of charcoal satin along the pointed
front hem.

Ditch your old suit jackets. You can’t recycle them into dressy casual

Peplums on jackets and seams that come in at the waist help define a woman’s waistline. PHOTO:
CBS

components. “Let’s say that your favorite jacket is from 1993. It’s
Armani, and I know you looked great, but let it go. The fabric, the
lapels the shape are from the past. It doesn’t look modern. Plus, you
aren’t the same person you were 20 years ago, you’ve changed too,”
says Mr. Lawson.

A play of lengths “is extremely modern on an older woman. Such as a
blouse, top or T-shirt that hangs out below your jacket—and what if it
hangs out lower asymmetrically, that’s even cooler. And mix dressy
fabrics (such as jacquard or brocade) with denim—that’s modern too.”

Cropped pants are for everybody, whether you’re tall or short. “The
variable is getting the right proportion...which depends on the width
of the leg,” he says.

At fast-fashion stores like H&M and Zara where clothes aren’t
grouped by category, he says: “Shop with a plan—focus on one item at
a time—and only look at dresses or jackets, for example. You’re looking
for that silhouette, that shape. You can’t look for everything at once;
otherwise you are paralyzed with choice.”

Choose a ‘star’ focal point for your outfit. In this case, Ruth Eastman, a political strategist played
by Margo Martindale, wears a pale gray top with an asymmetrical color-block of charcoal satin
and a pointed front hem. PHOTO: CBS

At mass discounters like TJ Maxx and factory outlet malls, “shop
without a plan.” You’re on a treasure hunt. You don’t know what you’ll
find. “Shop the clearance racks for the past season for those dressy
casual pieces,” he says. “They are giving them away for 80% off—and
they don’t go out of style.”

Write to Teri Agins at askteri@wsj.com

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