Vanity Fair’s new cover story adds to the impromptu Scandal/Kerry Washington week here at TV Ate My Wardrobe. This is the second high profile cover that Washington has featured on in the past few months and Jezebel has an article explaining the importance of this Washington feature. In this August issue (on newsstands July 9) Washington discusses the reception to her character Olivia Pope and says that “one of the most profound things for me about the show is the number of white women of all ages who come up to me and say, ‘I want to be Olivia Pope.””
Washington also discusses the feminine qualities of Olivia as a fixer and how Olivia uses her gender in a positive way “What I think is cool about Olivia is that she fully owns being a woman. There’s a very nurturing sense of ‘I’m going to take care of you—don’t worry about it. I’m gonna be your mom in this situation. You come stay in my office, have a cup of tea, and let my gladiators take care of you.’ There’s something very maternal about it. But there’s also something very executive about her, and I mean ‘executive’ in a presidential way.”
Olivia can be more than one thing and from what I’ve seen (I’ve just finished season 1) Olivia’s gender doesn’t restrict how she behaves on the show.
I don’t think anyone will be shocked to hear that I really want the lipstick Washington is wearing, but probably not her white attire.
For more of this Kerry Washington cover story head here.
I’ve just finished watching the first season of Scandal as part of my summer catch up project and while it is unusual to have such a short season from a network show (that hasn’t been canceled) it works as an introduction to the world of these characters featuring an overall season long arc and a case of the week format. I’m totally hooked but before I begin season 2 I have a confession of sorts about Olivia Pope’s costuming.
One of the reasons I started TV Ate My Wardrobe was thanks to my incessant mentions of TV costuming and Olivia Pope has a highly covetable collection of clothes. This is one factor that is often mentioned in articles/posts I have mostly avoided reading about Scandal (so I could be as spoiler free as possible) and both Kerry Washington and her character Olivia Pope often feature in ‘best dressed‘ lists. One thing is clear about Olivia’s outfits in season 1 is they lack any bright color and work on a scale of white through grey, with some other neutrals thrown in the mix. The term “white hat” is often tossed around between David and Olivia with both of these characters operating under the assumption that they are the ‘good guys,’ with Olivia using her gut as a resource and working outside the law while David is restricted by it. Olivia is referred to as the “best guy” in the pilot even though we see her doing some questionable things and she definitely works within the moral grey area at times.
The lack of any bright color works in Olivia’s favor as she can blend into the background when she opts for the grey end of the color spectrum. Olivia has a selection of white coats (like the trench above) that tend to signal when Olivia wants to take control of a situation; she is the beacon of hope when it looks like the proverbial might hit the fan. Normally when a character wears this much white I assume they are going to get blood on them in some capacity (see 24), this has yet to happen in Scandal with Olivia, but it’s not outside the realm of possibility.
Now the reason why this article is called “Olivia Pope’s Wardrobe and Me” is because while I think these clothing choices are amazing for this character there is no way I would ever own this many white items. This is because I am a not so secret food and drink spiller; some might call it careless, I just call it my unfortunate clumsy gene as it’s not just food that I have a habit of dropping (or tripping over things which can lead to more spilling). The truth is I probably don’t even drop that much, but the fear is there.
White clothing is at the forefront of fashion at the moment as it tends to be over the summer (in the same way that floral patterns are popular at this time of year) and I’ve been watching a lot of Wimbledon over the past week. There is also this collection of amazing white clothes over at The Cut that I will only ever look at and not purchase. The few white clothes I do own tend to have some kind of pattern whether it be stripes or polka dots and the one amazing skirt that I have in white sits sadly in my wardrobe. I know it’s terrible to have such an aversion to white clothes but it’s the price I pay for having such terrible co-ordination. So while I love what Olivia Pope wears, it’s never going to be for me sadly.
Summer isn’t just for catching up on old shows like the The Comebackand I’ll be using the hiatus to finally start watching one of the most talked about shows of the last year and that’s Scandal (much like my Freaks and Geeksdiscussion partner Julie Hammerle – her catch up list is pretty great). I’d also like to squeeze in Enlightened and finally crack open my Parenthood DVDs before the next batch of shows like Ray Donovan, TheBridge, Dexterand Breaking Bad start, but I’m not sure how likely this will be (especially with my ever growing book pile, work and seeing people).
Be warned I’m about to become obsessed with everything Olivia Pope is doing and wearing.
Considering how much Scandal is talked about on my Twitter feed I’ve managed to remain spoiler free so I went into the pilot knowing very little beyond the fact that it is set in Washington, Olivia has a past relationship with the President and they work in some sort of crisis management. I’ve only ever seen one episode of Grey’s Anatomy (randomly when I was on holiday in New Zealand) so this is also my first real experience of a Shonda Rhimes show.
Scandal has received a lot of positive endorsements and I’m totally all in from the pilot episode; it sets up the high stakes of the show, introduces a vast amount of characters in a succinct manner and presents several interesting conflicts all within 42 minutes. This can be the problem with pilots as they have very little time to create a whole new world (now I’m singing the song from The Little Mermaid) but Scandal balances the short term pilot plot (the Sully murder case) and what I’m guessing is the season long arc (the President’s affair with his aide).
Our point of entry is Quinn, who has just been hired to work for Olivia – but not at a law firm like we are used to seeing on this type of procedural. Certain points are reinforced – they work for their client and no one else, they are the “good guys” with Olivia as their “best guy” and they’re “Gladiators in suits.” As with Joan’s statement in the Mad Men pilot “This is why I don’t allow crying in the break room,” Quinn is told the same as it’s not something Olivia believes in (she’s not impervious to emotion as we see later in the restaurant after her confrontation with Fitz). The decades might be different but office politics are still the same.
The show that Scandal most reminds me of from the pilot is The Good Wife with its mixture of politics, sex and law – this is by no means a bad thing as The Good Wife is one of my favorite shows. Like Alicia Florrick, Olivia Pope is working in the moral grey area as we see her negotiating in a variety of styles. This includes visiting the District Attorney (played by Joshua Malina!) in the middle of the night and casually mentioning that she’ll get the media involved and put an unfavorable spin on things, threatening to ruin Amanda, a young women who claims that she has been having an affair with the President and getting her co-worker Stephen (who I might be calling Desmond in my notes) to propose to his girlfriend. One repeated notion is Olivia’s gut instinct is never wrong, except it is in the case of Amanda as it turns out the President has been having an affair. It’s important for the protagonist to have a flaw and Olivia’s weak spot is President Fitz and while they both clearly have feelings for each other, the scene in the Oval Office is incredibly uncomfortable and instantly makes me dislike his character.
With such a large cast it’s not surprising that I spent half the episode going “hey it’s that guy” – I’ve only just realized that Tony Goldwyn who plays Fitz was in Ghost and played a dodgy judge in The GoodWife. I spent half of the episode trying to place Abbey (who feels like Scandal’s less mysterious Kalinda) and halfway through I pretty much yelled Mad Men at the screen as I remembered that she plays Glen Bishop’s mother Helen. Have Wes Brown (Sully) and Kerr Smith (Dawson’s Creek’s Jack McPhee) ever played brothers?
The standout performance is of course from Kerry Washington who manages to convey Olivia’s heartbreak at Fitz’s betrayal in such an astounding way; from the moment Quinn mentions “Sweet Baby” to her anger and disappointment when she confronts Fitz. Washington commands the rooms she is in, whether dealing with a kidnapped baby or her client’s refusal to reveal the truth about his sexuality. Olivia’s only weakness seems to be the President but by the end of the episode she has found a way to regain control of this situation as she takes on Amanda as a client.
I’m looking forward to watching more and finally being caught up on this much talked about show. Plus I’m already dreaming of a job where I can dress like Olivia Pope.
It’s been a Mad Men heavy week here at TV Ate My Wardrobe and this continues with today’s edition of “Look of the Week.” There are no real rules to this weekly feature and as always it is a snapshot of what I have been watching (and looking at online) 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. One person who would have been included is Diane Kruger but her street style was discussed in an earlier post and with The Bridge nearing its premiere date expect to see more Kruger on here (and hopefully more Joshua Jackson).
Winner: Bob Benson on Mad Men “The Better Half”
There could only be one winner really and it’s Bob Benson in his short shorts as he prepares to spend the day at the beach with Joan and her son Kevin. It’s a hard look to pull off and James Wolk does just that as he moves about with ease in Joan’s apartment, he even manages to look not too awkward when Roger drops by unannounced. This week has been a big one for Mad Men conspiracy theories (for more on Megan’s t-shirt head here) and Bob is at the center of these as his intentions are still unclear; is he a good guy trying to get his career going or is there something more nefarious going on? It’s been a fun game to play so far and I’m glad that even in the warm weather and a trip to the beach Bob still has his cup of coffee from Anthora. Bob doesn’t need an amphetamine laced injection as long as he has a cup of coffee then he has boundless energy.
Runner Up: Elisabeth Moss and Kerry Washington in The Hollywood Reporter Magazine
This is the second week in a row that Elisabeth Moss has appeared in a non Mad Men related capacity (last week was all about her new haircut) and this photo is part of The Hollywood Reporter’s drama actress roundtable. There is a variety of styling on this front cover ranging from casual to fancy; Scandal’s Kerry Washington looks relaxed and chic in black vest and white trousers (with a stripe of black to add to the monochromatic theme) and Elisabeth Moss could rock up to a cocktail party in this black and white dress and towering heels. This shoot is much better than last year’s all gown theme and they’ve picked styles that suit each actress. The hair and make-up is similar enough without looking like they’ve matched everyone in a Stepford Wives manner (and I’ve started a lipstick treasure hunt to find out Elisabeth Moss’ shade/brand. There will be updates).
Runner Up: Dr Alana Bloom on Hannibal “Trou Normand”
First of all I want to say how happy I am that Hannibal has been renewed for a second season as I was starting to worry about the fate of the show and now I can get back to worrying about the fate of Dr. Alana Bloom. These photos are from last week’s episode and I wanted to feature this colorful costuming that stands out amongst the dark attire of all around her. The skirt is a deep red and paired with the patterned red blouse Dr Bloom is a striking figure in the gloom. It’s a pretty good representation of how Alana fits into the shows narrative as she has become a figure of light for Will as their relationship has developed – a kiss occurred in the previous episode and Alana admitted that she has feelings for Will but she can’t act on them yet while he is unstable. Alana is also the character who is the most in the dark when it comes to Abigail Hobbs; Jack rightly doesn’t trust Abigail and Will has figured out that Abigail is a killer. Alana implicitly trusts Hannibal and this could be her downfall as she tells Jack “He has no reason to lie about any of this.” The audience knows this isn’t the case and I’m going to spend the rest of the season worrying about what will happen to Dr Bloom. She does provide balance and reason to the team and her costuming is functional but still fashionable; wrap around dresses are a favorite. It’s this balance that I hope will keep this character around for season 2 (it’s so nice to write that knowing there is going to be a season 2).
It’s the time of year when The Hollywood Reporterproduces Emmy related TV roundtable discussions and while the quality of the conversations varies, the drama actress one is always lively and is generally my favourite of the bunch. Once again they have a group of women from shows that cover both network and cable, with the added new platform of Netflix to discuss their roles on TV, the industry and their past experiences. This year the participants are Monica Potter (Parenthood), Kerry Washington (Scandal), Kate Mara (House of Cards), Connie Britton (Nashville), Anna Gunn (Breaking Bad) and Elisabeth Moss (Mad Men, Top of the Lake).
The nature of this kind of roundtable discussion means that some candid remarks are made, but the participants are also guarded as they tell stories of bad experiences but don’t fill in all of the details. Monica Potter discusses her first post-baby audition where she was considered “too fat” for the role and body image is a topic that comes up more than once (I’m intrigued as to whether the guys will cover this area, doubtful but you never know as Hollywood has body issues with both genders). Elisabeth Moss rightly mentions that “It’s not just actresses, it’s all women. We all have this perception of what we’re supposed to look like.”
Expectations of how an actress should look comes up later but in a different way as they mention the backhanded compliments that people give such as they look “younger/skinnier” in real life. So don’t ever say this, it’s bad. This is part of the notion of intimacy between the viewer and the characters that come into our living rooms on a weekly basis and how the relationship is different between movies and TV; there is an investment in TV that doesn’t exist in the same way as in movies that generally have a beginning, a middle and end (depending on how long running the franchise is).
One aspect that I enjoy about these discussions is how they try to dispel the idea that everyone hates each other and it’s a relentless competition; while I’m sure there are those factions they make a point of mentioning how supportive actresses can be. Monica Potter mentions that having successful women on TV “should be fun and celebrated” and Connie Britton reiterates this by saying that “It’s a lot more fun if you can share stories and make friends, and be in it together with people as opposed to if you isolate yourself.”
Several topics are covered including other audition woes (Kerry Washington talks about the lack of roles for women of color), social media, political involvement and if they contribute to the creative process of their character. One thing I would like to see with these roundtables is a change in some of the questions as I feel like the best advice/worst advice comes up every single time. The penultimate question is a fun one as they are asked if they could be on any show in history what would it be? I love that both Kate Mara and Elisabeth Moss geek out over My So-Called Life (and earlier Moss is very open about her love of Parenthood).
With any group discussion there are always some participants that are more vocal than the rest but at no point does it feel like one person is railroading the conversation. Elisabeth Moss comes across as very funny, something we don’t get to see that often on Mad Men and Connie Britton seems as wise as Tami Taylor. This is definitely a group of women I would like to go for drinks with.
Watch the whole interview below and head over to The Hollywood Reporterfor behind the scenes photos of the group. The monochromatic styling of the cover is on trend and I much prefer this more casual approach they over last year’s gown affair. In unsurprising news I really want to find out the shades/brands of lipstick they are wearing (especially Elisabeth Moss’).
TV Ate My Wardrobe 