It’s “Look of the Week” time! Once again there has been a rich amount of different costumes across various shows this week. This is a snapshot of what I have been watching and each pick is for a variety of reasons including; what it adds to the storyline, what it tells us about the characters involved or simply because it looks good. I’m mixing it up with this edition as I’m including a look from the red carpet. Near misses included the Pat Benatar-like girl and her epically high waisted jeans on The Americans and Stan’s amazing fringe jacket (plus his beard) on Mad Men.
Winner: Elizabeth Jennings and Claudia/Grannie on The Americans “The Oath”
This is the second week that Elizabeth Jennings has been included on this list and thanks to the many costume changes and wigs that The Americans showcases this isn’t a surprise. In this scene Elizabeth and her handler Claudia (who she despises and doesn’t trust) are attending the wedding of “Clark” posing as his mother and sister. “Clark” is of course Philip Jennings and this wedding to Martha is just so he can manipulate her into getting more information on the FBI. It’s a real wedding involving a fake character and it turns out that his marriage to Elizabeth could be considered even more of a sham as they never actually had a wedding.
The scene begins in an amusing way thanks to all of these contradictions but this quickly turns into something sad; Elizabeth is finally realizing what her relationship with Philip means and it’s clear that Martha is going to get her heart broken (or something much worse will befall her). They really do look like they could be mother and sister in this scene in wedding attire that features a similar washed out color palette and those oh so amazing big glasses. Also how does all of Elizabeth’s incredible hair fit in that wig?
Runner Up: Hannibal Lecter and Will Graham in Hannibal “Potage”
So this is technically from last week, but I haven’t seen the newest episode yet and so I’m including this one instead (the rules of “Look of the Week” are flexible) and I really wanted to mention the costuming in Hannibal as it has been excellent so far. I also resisted the urge to include Will in his bedtime wear of t-shirt and boxers. Hannibal’s costuming is particularly intriguing as there has been a lot of power clashing; plaid jackets with patterned ties being a signature look. This demonstrates Hannibal’s sophistication and because his clothes look expensive it shows that he is good at his job as people probably pay a lot for his service. Whereas Will’s style is a more muted, it’s as if he wants to blend into the background. In the scene above he takes off his glasses (if anyone knows what brand they are can they let me know, thanks) to make himself seem more approachable perhaps, a hard task in this moment as he has just been referred to as “insane.” There’s a clear difference in how there two characters operate and their costuming is a constant reminder of this.
Runner Up: Kiernan Shipka at The Paley Center Mad Men Presentation
Kiernan Shipka who plays Sally Draper has long been serving up red carpet hits (which as a statement sounds weird because she’s only 13 years old) over the past six seasons of Mad Men red carpet events. Shipka always wears age appropriate outfits on the red carpet and this can be something hard to navigate when you’re going from childhood to teendom in the public eye. This is a slightly more mature look for Shipka and her heels are adding inches as she gets older, but it’s still a fun outfit and is a perfect for a Mad Men event as it captures the essence of the 60s without looking like she’s come straight from set. I’m looking forward to seeing more of Sally on Mad Men this season as we got a glimpse of a brattier Sally in the premiere and I’m intrigued as to how Betty will deal with the perils of having a teenage daughter.
Who would you choose as your look of the week?
TV Ate My Wardrobe 