The best costume design on TV keeping our love of fashion alive: From I Hate Suzie to The Crown

Fashion-forward TV shows are giving us a much-needed dose of escapism
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Nicole Kidman’s never-ending parade of incredible power trenches in Sky Atlantic’s The Undoing.  Villanelle sauntering through Barcelona in an electric blue dress from The Vampire’s Wife. The fluffy faux fur jackets and colourful statement knits of Michaela Coel’s I May Destroy You. Princess Diana’s uncannily contemporary Australian tour wardrobe, painstakingly replicated in The Crown’s upcoming fourth season. ‘Non-essential’ window shopping may be off the agenda right now, but it’s all too easy to curate a dream shopping list just by flicking through the channels on your television.

The past few months have seen an explosion of brilliant outfits onto our screens, ironically timed to coincide with a period when, for many of us, getting dressed up hasn’t exactly been a top priority. TV has been a much-needed source of escapism during the pandemic, providing us with moments of respite from our locked-down lives - and with fancy events off the cards and workwear replaced  with a steady stream of WFH hoodies, leggings and pyjama bottoms, its immaculately turned out characters have helped us keep our love of fashion alive. As Kevin Freeman, a designer who leads Wimbledon College of Arts’ Costume for Theatre and Screen undergraduate course, puts it, “with the rise of streaming channels and Netflix, there’s such an emphasis on good design that we’re seeing a lot more mainstream recognition for costume.”

Thanks to the plethora of programmes available in the age of peak TV, there’s something to appeal to even the most eclectic of personal styles. Big on outré headbands and slogan t-shirts? Look at Katherine Ryan’s wardrobe in her recent sit-com, The Duchess.  Wondering how Carrie Bradshaw would dress in the age of Instagram? Sex and the City’s original costume designer Patricia Field has the answers in Emily in Paris. Obsessed with 1940s glamour? May we direct you to Ratched, the latest Netflix offering from Ryan Murphy, which, as Freeman puts it “feels like the rebirth of Technicolor - these monochrome palettes working together to create this really strong aesthetic.”

“There’s so much content being made that everyone’s stepped up a gear to make it the best version possible,” says Grace Snell, the costume designer for I Hate Suzie, the brilliant - and yes, incredibly outfitted - Sky series from Billie Piper and Lucy Prebble. She adds that lockdown has helped fuel our love affair with on-screen fashion as it “gave us time to pause. There’s incredible drama being made at the moment and now we’ve actually had time to watch it.”

The Crown S4
The Crown’s costume designer sought to recreate the essence of Diana’s style
Ollie UptonNetflix

Shows like Ratched and The Crown prove the continuing allure of period design, especially when it’s refracted through the prism of contemporary style. Amy Roberts, who has served as costume designer for the past two series of Netflix’s royal saga, doesn’t always exactly replicate Lady Di’s famous outfits in the new season; instead, she has worked with similar colour palettes and shapes (80s shoulder pads and asymmetric necklines make an appearance, naturally) to recreate the essence of the princess’s style in a way that’s more palatable to modern viewers - one pleated wrap dress in cornflower blue looks uncannily similar to recent offerings from cult Danish brand Ganni. And if Diana’s cosy sheep-print sweater catches your eye, you’re in luck: in a stroke of suspiciously good timing, US label Rowing Blazers has just re-issued the original 80s design.

I Hate Suzie
Snell made Suzie’s faux fur coat by sewing seven other coats together
Sky

Given the technical intricacy required in recreating past fashions, period costuming has historically taken the lion’s share of acclaim and awards - but ever since Jodie Comer donned that flouncy, highlighter-pink Molly Goddard party dress in Killing Eve’s first series, shows that spotlight brilliant contemporary design have been setting the on-screen style agenda. “You  could argue that contemporary is the hardest, because we’re all living in it - we all have an opinion,” says Snell, who started her research process for I Hate Suzie by “people watching” and trawling social media.

While a programme like Killing Eve, she explains, uses “fashion that pushes forward the script,” she, Piper and Prebble wanted something different for their show, which follows a former child star weathering a compromising photo hack. “We didn’t want to make it a Carrie Bradshaw fashion show - what I really tried to do was to make her clothing choices incidental to her character,” she says. The result is a brilliantly eclectic wardrobe - comprising Shrimps beaded bags, off-the-shoulder dresses and a surprising lockdown-friendly pair of Olivia Von Halle leopard print pyjamas - that never overshadows Piper’s bravura performance.

Michaela Coel’s I May Destroy You wardrobe featured clashing prints and textures
BBC/Various Artists Ltd and FALKNA/Natalie Seery

While a huge name like Field was able to call on the likes of Chanel and Chloe when filling Emily (Lily Collins)’s Parisian wardrobe, Snell didn’t have it quite as easy. “Not a huge tonne [of brands] replied because it was this unknown show,” she says. “But it was quite nice that I wasn’t just given two rails of free clothes - I had to get creative with other means. We made custom designs, then there were vintage, charity shop finds too.” Though there’s been no talk of a second series yet, Snell still finds herself adding potential looks for Piper’s character to her Pinterest board.

Emily’s Parisian wardrobe featured brands like Chanel 
CAROLE BETHUEL/NETFLIX

Social media isn’t just a source of inspiration for designers - it’s also helped feed viewers’ obsession with on-screen style. Twitter may have torn apart Emily in Paris’ storylines, but it’s also pinpointed some of Collins’ best outfits too. “Everyone is getting more involved, more invested in the process,” Snell explains, revealing that she’s had an influx of Instagram messages about her designs since I Hate Suzie started earlier this autumn, asking about everything from those patterned pyjamas to a hand-painted t-shirt.

It’s all part of a sea change in attitude about fashion on television. Freeman says his students used to cite big screen stalwarts like Sandy Powell and Colleen Atwood as their inspirations; now, he reckons, TV design is “viewed very much more on a par with working in film.” Big names are moving into telly, too: two-time Oscar winner Jacqueline Durran recently designed the costumes for two films in Steve McQueen’s upcoming BBC anthology series, Small Axe. If TV costume designers were, as Freeman puts it, “often the unsung heroes of production,” it seems that they are finally having their moment in the spotlight.