Costumes That Define TV’s Best Detectives

Four intrepid sleuths crack case after case with their unconventional investigative approaches — and illusive fashion, from distracting hats to reassuring blazers. Each week, the costume designers of Elsbeth, High Potential, Matlock and Poker Face drop scintillating wardrobe clues to help create compelling, one-of-a-kind protagonists and intriguing mysteries that have viewers flocking back to network (or network-adjacent) television.

Elsbeth

In this howcatchem mystery, Chicago attorney and NYPD observer Elsbeth Tascioni (Carrie Preston) leverages her astute powers of deduction, boosted by a secret weapon: her vibrant, chaotic style.

“People, particularly the episode’s murderer, always underestimate her because not only does she act a little goofy or a little flighty, but she also looks like it,” says series costume designer Daniel Lawson.

Elsbeth’s clash of colorful outerwear, kaleidoscopic blazers, bow-adorned blouses and furry winter accessories also take a cue from the playbook of a kindred gumshoe: Peter Falk’s Columbo. “You saw [his signature raincoat] coming a mile away, and it was always totally annoying to the person whom he kept badgering,” says Lawson. “I wanted people to see her coming from a mile away.”

To counter, the perps and co-conspirators wear “sophisticated, cool-toned” and very New York City palettes to telegraph their misguided confidence in successfully deceiving Elsbeth, dressed as she is in her dizzying print and color combinations “as if she’s still working it out,” says Lawson. “But we all know she really does have her act together.”

For instance, murderous socialite Roslyn Bridwell (Vanessa Williams) — in severe black monochrome — feigns innocence as she orchestrates a jewelry heist in season two’s fourth episode. “I wanted to really play Elsbeth’s cacophony of pattern, color and the goofy hat against the just-so-sleek and elegant Vanessa,” says Lawson. Even the metallic pink brocade Valentino blazer Elsbeth wears as she closes in on Roslyn reflects the case of the week, notes Lawson, “to fancy herself as the personification of a jewel.”

High Potential

Janitor turned LAPD consultant Morgan Gillory (Kaitlin Olson) harnesses her exceptional IQ of 160 to decipher complex and sometimes simultaneous mysteries at a lightning-fast speed. Her sartorial formula of bold animal prints, striking patterns and maximalist faux-fur coats conveys her constantly active problem-solving and abstract-thinking skills.

“Morgan’s looks show that she’s really looking at and analyzing things — even in her own wardrobe,” says costume designer Sandra Burns. “Her clothes mirror the chaos, and then finding order, in her brain.” (Samantha Hawkins designed the pilot.)

Morgan’s workwear of audacious miniskirts and impressively high heels, not meant for hiking up a trail during a deadly scavenger hunt, also serves as a rebuke to those who dare doubt her abilities.

“She knows that people are making these assumptions, and she just does not care,” says Burns. “She is this fish out of water and is inappropriately dressed for all these scenarios, yet she still proves everyone wrong. Everyone’s underestimating her, like, ‘Oh, she can’t walk in those boots.’ Oh yes, she can. ‘She can’t do her work in those miniskirts.’ Yes, she can!”

By the season finale cliff-hanger, Morgan’s boss, Lieutenant Selena Soto (Judy Reyes), and colleague, Detective Daphne Forrester (Javicia Leslie), have embraced her quirky methods — and manifest it by infusing more color and pattern into their officewear. “There’s this idea that Morgan has this power,” says Burns. “Instead of her team influencing her, she is ultimately influencing the team.”

Matlock

Wealthy Connecticut septuagenarian and former attorney Madeline Kingston (Kathy Bates) goes undercover as a junior associate at a Manhattan law firm to avenge her daughter’s death. Masquerading as Madeline “Matty” Matlock, a budget-strapped widow and unassuming grandma, she wears intentionally dated department store-procured fare: classic blazers in cozy hues, modestly printed blouses and conservative slacks.

“There’s a sweetness that aligns with the persona that she’s presenting,” says costume designer Hope Hanafin. (Laura Montgomery designed the pilot.) Matty’s inconspicuous wardrobe helps diffuse suspicion as she stealthily uncovers the culprit who concealed documents that could have led to withdrawing opioids from the market — and would have prevented her daughter’s overdose.

Madeline is relentless and determined, as is her alter ego Matty, who becomes an indispensable team member to powerhouse lawyer — and suspect — Olympia (Skye P. Marshall). Matty unfailingly extracts case-winning information from witnesses, who readily fall for the harmless-elder ruse. “She can also be a little more raucous and upfront,” says Hanafin. “The sweetness of her clothes helps people relax, so she doesn’t come off as aggressive.”

In “Pregame,” Matty teams with her 12-year-old grandson Alfie (Aaron D. Harris) to procure crucial evidence to help the family’s investigation — and concurrently vindicates Olympia’s client by triumphantly pinpointing the true offender. Matty’s Easter egg blue Lafayette 148 blazer and whimsical paw-print shirt by MNG act as a double agent, and her Clarks flats both enhance a deceptive shuffle and allow for covert, nimble movement.

Adds Hanafin, “She can both fade into the background and take center court when required.”

Poker Face

On the run in season two, human lie detector and accidental detective Charlie Cale (Natasha Lyonne) continues living out of her 1969 Plymouth Barracuda. The trunk doubles as her closet, stowing her effortless, devil-may-care rotation of jeans, vintage graphic-print shirts and Southwestern accessories.

“There’s repetition and ease in how she dresses,” says costume designer Leah Katznelson, taking over from season one’s Trayce Gigi Field. Katznelson “pushed much harder” into Charlie’s neo-noir ’70s motif to illustrate creator Rian Johnson’s nods to Robert Altman’s The Long Goodbye and the decade’s influential detective series like Columbo and The Rockford Files. For inspiration, Katznelson referenced imagery of icons Jane Birkin, Serge Gainsbourg and their daughter, Charlotte, plus Lyonne’s “obscure film references” from the decade.

On the road, Charlie picks up odd jobs and a twisty mystery-of-the-week to solve. Her free-spirited capsule wardrobe helps her seamlessly shape-shift in each new environment while maintaining her signature style. In the season two premiere, Charlie, in a vintage Harley-Davidson T-shirt and vertical-stripe flares, uncovers the misdeeds of a quintuplet played by a studded-black-leather-clad Cynthia Erivo. “The key is finding some really strong visual images,” says Katznelson, who dressed Charlie in approximately 70 percent vintage.

“Is Charlie a lunch lady? Is she the ball girl? Is she a parking lot attendant?” continues Katznelson, who also tailored utilitarian uniform shirts into shrunken ’70s silhouettes for Charlie’s chameleonic adventures. “It’s figuring out what’s the version of that job that’s the most Charlie.”

This story first appeared in a May stand-alone issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.