Last week Olivia ditched the swimwear and beach location for her old Washington D.C. haunts and while there are no white hats in sight just yet (metaphorical or physical), Olivia did put on her white suit to show that she is back and ready to work once again on Scandal. The focus of this week’s Scandal post is once again on the costuming and “The State of the Union” features the first piece from The Limited’s Scandal collection.
One color is repeated throughout the episode with variations of purple being worn by pretty much everyone who isn’t Olivia and burgundy symbolizes a connection between two characters who in the past have shared very little beyond the same surname and a treasure trove of animosity.
Let’s start with the an item that’s not going to break the bank; it’s Olivia’s first proper interaction with Fitz this season – yes they were in close proximity last week, but they refrained from any contact – and she is wearing the tweed peplum jacket from The Limited collection. It’s pretty neutral and even though the strains of Olivia and Fitz music plays nothing goes on here except speech advice.
Olivia spends the first half of the episode in her ‘fix it’ uniform wearing a double breasted Armani jacket and her trusty Prada purse. There is a similar looking jacket from The Limited collection that’s probably not equivalent to your entire paycheck. For the full Olivia effect make sure you have your cell phone at the ready to give off good serious face. So many problems to fix. Olivia wears this outfit as she’s settling down with her customary bowl of popcorn and glass of red wine; where is the wine cardigan at this vital time.
Part of Olivia’s pensive phone face is a result of a ‘booty call’ debate with Jake and really who uses this phrase in 2014? Jake is getting a little uppity about everything and there’s a whole standoff about who tells the other what to do. Jake is less fun when he’s being all bratty, but he must be doing something right as Olivia shows up at his hotel room wearing nothing but a coat and pair of knee highs.
Cyrus tries to get a rise out of Olivia by telling her that she looks like crap, she knows she doesn’t and even her jogging attire is super polished; courtesy of Lululemon.
Getting a slight wardrobe overhaul is Abby as her White House threads have sharper, more precise tailoring than her OPA ensembles and now her peplum on the season 4 cast promo shots makes sense. There are still the Abby flourishes like the jewelry and the patterns, they’re just slightly muted now and this stunning Armani diamond print jacket is a clear indicator of how Abby’s style has evolved since she left her last job. Abby’s always gravitated towards a purple palette from wine and burgundy coats to DVF wrap dresses.
Ditching her leather jacket this week is Quinn and she ends up mirroring Huck’s plaid shirt in Rails, drawing parallels once again between these characters. I might consider it cute if all the face licking hadn’t occurred last season and now Olivia has been made of aware of their torrid love affair – the way Olivia looked at the conference table was an accurate representation of the face I make when I think of the shenanigans that went on with these two.
Beginning the episode as she spent all of last week is Mellie in her bathrobe and Uggs. There’s also a big plate of chicken and not giving any fucks about what the media think of her attitude/mental state. I doubt Mellie is picking out Fitz’s ties at the moment, but it is worth noting that the one he is wearing in this scene matches the burgundy of her bathrobe; despite Mellie not wanting to do as Fitz asks there is a level of intimacy between this pair unlike anything we have seen before.
Mellie does end up at the State of the Union (thanks to the lack of sugar coating from Abby’s) wearing her power color of red – she wanted to wear blue, but that’s what Lisa Elliot is wearing – and while she manages to keep it together in front of the cameras in private she throws off her shoes and rips her pearls from her neck collapsing in devastating sobs. Bellamy Young is giving a tour de force performance as the grieving mother and there’s no solace in the clothes that in the past have acted as armor.
TV Ate My Wardrobe 
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