TV Ate My Wardrobe

Welcome to TV Ate My Wardrobe’s “Best of 2014″ costuming series and rather than doing a straightforward countdown we’re going to do a variety of posts that look at which costumes and shows have made a huge impact this year. From items that we want in our own wardrobe to pieces that got everyone talking, we want to look at this year’s TV through the prism of costume.

Clothing confession time – I have never owned a leather jacket; in fact I don’t think I have ever tried one on. Or anything made of leather aside from bags or shoes. It is one of those items (much like my fear of jumpsuits, which is a story for another day) that has always intimidated me because my style is more Sandy pre makeover than post (the leather jumpsuit in Grease is the perfect combination of my clothing fears). Leather jackets have been so ubiquitous on TV this year that Vulture compiled a slideshow of all the women who had worn them at the start of the fall season. We’re going back a little further and compiling a list of the Top 5 leather jacket wearers this year and maybe 2015 will be the year I try one on. I will probably settle for a leather pleated skirt.

In no particular order here are the women who make me want to wear leather and what is really great about this list is it covers sitcom, drama and genre shows. Leather is not bound by one type of storytelling.

Kalinda Sharma wears several shades of leather on The Good Wife including this stunning collarless zipped peplum oxblood number (from episode 5.18 “All Tapped Out) and I’d say a good 93% of her wardrobe includes some form of leather. Even her dresses that aren’t all leather have leather accents.

Leather jackets are to Abbie Mills’ attire as Ichabod’s trusty colonial coat (and his new replicas) is to his wardrobe on Sleepy Hollow. Abbie’s costuming is relatively fuss free; it is both practical and it is still classically stylish. There is also an air of authority when wearing this type of outerwear and gives the impression of someone who is not easily intimidated, which is why characters from law enforcement have a tendency to rock this look.

Such as Rosa Diaz from Brooklyn Nine-Nine. It is a trope of sorts to have a character like Diaz in this attire and it is also used to distinguish her look from Amy Santiago’s softer, tailored wardrobe but the show has fun with what could become a cliche.

On Elementary, Kitty is wearing the same All Saints biker jacket as Diaz’s one from the shot above and while her character isn’t strictly a police officer she does work in this arena. Kitty’s attire is nothing like Joan’s for a reason; she is not simply a Joan carbon copy Sherlock is trying to recreate. Instead her penchant for leather (including her Doc Marten boots) is a way to project an image of strength after everything she has been through.

Elizabeth doesn’t look all that thrilled by her coat choice considering the way her hands are stuffed into the pockets and the snow on the ground behind her. From the season 2 finale of The Americans Elizabeth is dressed in the way I think she is most comfortable in (aside from the weather) as she appears as herself and not in her mom attire or work clothes. This is spy Elizabeth. And what do we have here, but a new shot from the season 3 promo shoot revealing that leather comes in both his and hers:

Any other favorite leather jacket wearers from 2014?

Tags: Archie Panjabi, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Elementary, Keri Russell, Matthew Rhys, Nicole Beharie, Ophelia Lovibond, Sleepy Hollow, Stephanie Beatriz, The Americans, The Good Wife