Coming into the third season of a show to design the wardrobe can be a daunting task, but The Diplomat costume designer Jenny Gering was up for the challenge. Here, in an interview with The Contending, she details how she was still able to put her own stamp on things even with these established characters. She shares how her history working on many shows gives her an almost sixth sense into how to differentiate men in their suits. Plus, she reveals what it’s like to work with Keri Russell and Rufus Sewell again: the differences from their previous work and joys that brings.
The Contending: With Kate, while she is a diplomat and she has to look professional, her personality leads her to not wanting to look particularly dressed up. How do you find the balance to give her the relaxed but still professional look?
Jenny Gering: I don’t know if it’s that she doesn’t want to look too dressed up. I think she tries to avoid looking too frou-frou or overly girly, would be my guess. I joined the show in season 3 so we maintained the look that had already been established. When she became the second lady that was a chance for me to upgrade and bring in more luxurious fabrics. Just taking it from a no-nonsense basic look to a more refined, more tactile, and (I’m so sick of this phrase) but, quiet luxury. So that’s how it happened where I stayed true to the character but had to help her evolve a bit and step into the new role.
The Contending: Speaking of stepping into a new role coming into the third season of a show, where a lot of the looks have already been established, what challenges does that present you with?
Jenny Gering: It’s really tough to jump into an established aesthetic and try to honor what the actors are used to, but also to listen and hear from the showrunner and from the actors on things they’d like to improve or adjust. So that was my goal, not to come in and say all right, you’re used to looking one way, but guess what we’re talking about. It was much more about staying true to the look and character traits and the point of view of all the characters. While still being able to put my own stamp on things, bringing in things that matter to me, just in the look of the show. I felt that comprehensively there were improvements to be made, so I just dug in and did things the way I know how to do them.
The Contending: When Grace is going to be sworn in as president, there’s a lot of conversation in the show about how she’s going to look. Including a big scene where Kate is helping her dress. So what was it like for you trying to come up with how Grace was supposed to look?
Jenny Gering: That was so much fun! Debora Cahn, the showrunner, loves throwing in these costume gags into the scripts. So sometimes they’re more challenging than others but this one was pretty direct. We just asked her, is this based on experience? Do you happen to know if this works? She assured us that it did. We ran a couple ideas around that it would be a piece of fabric that we would fake and make it look like a sports top, but in the end what was really the best way to do it and execute it was to use an actual sports top, because it had the right sheen and drape and was the perfect size. And it works, so feel free to try it! It was right there on the page, so it was pretty direct.
The Contending: Grace’s outfits were some of the ones I found the most interesting, especially when she’s relaxing. She wears these sweaters with distinct collars that give her a sense of power even when she’s supposed to be on her down time. What was behind the choices there?
Jenny Gering: You know, you said it. It was very important to always maintain the roles and she is the president of the United States. So in episode 6 when they are at her beach home in Amagansett, New York, this is her down time and a chance to relax but she is never alone. Todd mentions she is surrounded by staff, Secret Service, and she really does need to maintain a certain level of respect and authority. So it took a minute to figure out how to show that she is comfortable and relaxed but maintains that powerful vibe. It managed to come across by using jeans, but they are also very nice and crisp looking, and then the tops, there was nothing that was too messy. It was the difference between wearing a collared shirt and a t-shirt, you send a different message, so that really was the evolution of that decision. But of course Debora is totally involved because she knows more than anyone what needs to be said in these moments.
The Contending: When it comes to the men they are all generally in suits, but there are still subtle differences in everyone’s suit. The UK foreign secretary Austin Dennison always seems to have a bit darker of a suit. Or Hal, who has nice suits but there’s always a little bit of a rumple to them. What goes into trying to create these subtle differences in the men’s wardrobe.
Jenny Gering: Fortunately for me I’ve done many, many shows that involve a lot of people in suits where you really need to help distinguish each person. It is the same on this show. Each person has their own point of view. They ostensibly wake up in the morning and make decisions about what to wear, which tie to wear. I find that it’s very clear that when Hal becomes the vice president he now has a very narrow look and is very prescribed. He is in the navy suit, the nice tie that doesn’t offend anyone, it’s affable, somewhat conservative but not uptight. It’s all about being inclusive and not alienating anyone. So that’s how I approach him. When it comes to people like Todd Penn, who has become the first gentleman rather reluctantly, he will play the game but also is not willing to adjust too much and will maintain who he is. So that’s across the board with each of these characters. And again these characters were established before I joined. I was lucky enough to put my own stamp on things like ties, tailoring, and some of the color palette. To me it is something I’m used to doing, but it is also very clear because they exist in my mind so I don’t really run into that issue of too much crossover.
The Contending: One scene where the outfits really stood out to me is the final shot of the season. Where we have the leaders of the world in their very dark outfits looking very professional, and we know that something very sinister has happened. Then we cut back to Kate and she’s just wearing this gray coat, which is nice but not the same elegance of the people she is looking at, and the intensity of what she now knows creates this great contrast between her and everyone else around her. Even the staff people look more well-dressed than her. How did that scene come about?
Jenny Gering: It wasn’t by design. I think it came about organically, because for each episode I discussed the palette of each of the actors and they have their own closets, so we are able to pick and choose what feels right. We usually start with either Kate or Grace and then build it out from there. I think it was very important to have Grace look the way she did, so in order to not compete or have the women in the same look it just followed organically that Kate would look less fancy. I think we were all aware as a composite, a beautiful vignette that just made sense and told the story very well.
The Contending: I saw that you also worked on The Americans, so you are coming back to working with Keri Russell. What is that like? How has it been different?
Jenny Gering: Sometimes I’ll be speaking to my crew and I’ll accidentally call her Elizabeth. But she and I have always had a great chemistry and we work very well together. So it was very natural to come in here and work with her. It’s just one of those things where I know how to dress her; it’s second nature to me at this point. It’s been a joy and I just recently worked with Rufus Sewell on Kaleidoscope. So working with both of them and having them come together here has been perfection for me. We already have that short hand, that language between us. Elizabeth was a little bit more into fashion and showing off her femininity then Kate. So that has been the biggest difference, but it’s still very much about quality and presenting a certain image of not upscale but refined elegance. That applies to both of the characters.
The Contending: This season we got to see them in flashback when they first meet in Baghdad, where everyone is differently dressed than we usually see them in the show. What was that contrast like for you?
Jenny Gering: That was a lot of fun! Whenever I’m doing anything period I try to be very specific and true to that time. So, as an example, we found a suit from that period that we rented for Rufus. Both of them are on their journey professionally so Hal is much more casual, and didn’t have the strong point of view that he has in the future. Before he was vice president he dressed in a very specific and true to himself kind of way. He rarely wore ties or suits for that matter, but everything that he owned was of a certain quality. So this was much more simplistic and basic. It was also important to be aware of the location they were meant to be in Baghdad where there’s a lot of heat and dust and the need to be on the move at any given moment. All of those things came into play.
