TV Costume Designers Spill Secrets in Stylish New Book, “Dressing the Part”

Former 'InStyle' editor Hal Rubenstein goes behind the scenes on shows like 'Gossip Girl,' 'Sex and the City' and more in his eye-candy-filled tome

Do you remember Olivia Pope's white trench coat? Serena van der Woodsen's gilded wedding gown? Basically everything Carrie Bradshaw wore?

The outfits so closely aligned with some of television's most beloved characters have fascinating stories behind them, as told in Hal Rubenstein's colorful new book, Dressing the Part: Television's Most Stylish Shows.

Full of fashion eye candy, the book walks through Scandal, Gossip Girl, Sex and the City and beyond, exploring the sartorial choices behind major moments on series from Bridgerton and Friends to Keeping Up with the Kardashians and RuPaul's Drag Race, not to mention older favorites like That Girl and The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour.

As he writes in his introduction, former InStyle editor Rubenstein says that for 75 years, television has "wielded the greatest sway over what we've zipped up the back, buttoned down the front, pulled over, wrapped around, stepped into, and tied up."

Before the book publishes on Oct. 31, take a sneak peek at what's inside.

'Sex and the City'

It wouldn't be a book on fashion without Sex and the City. In a section about female friendships on TV, costume designer Patricia Field says New York City was a big inspiration in styling Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte and Samantha (a.k.a Sarah Jessica Parker, Cynthia Nixon, Kristin Davis and Kim Cattrall).

'Sex and the City'

Another fun fact: Field and Parker initially went shopping for Carrie together, finding gems in resale shops and at end-of-season sales.

'Sex and the City'

Of working with the show's stars, Field shares, "The actor's job is to come in with a strong idea of who she or he is: how they're going to walk, speak, wear their hair, look; in the end, they're the ones in front of the camera, not me."

'Gossip Girl'

A friendship-themed section of the book puts the spotlight on series like Gossip Girl. Costume designer Eric Daman says he stood outside of a private all-girls school in N.Y.C. to get inspiration for his show's leads, including Blake Lively's Serena van der Woodsen and Leighton Meester's Blair Waldorf.

'Gossip Girl'

The script's take on Serena's "lost childhood" led Daman to put her in "babydoll shapes," he reveals.

'Gossip Girl'

"It's not a style seminar," Daman adds of some of the show's more outlandish looks. "It's entertainment."

'Scandal'

A section of the book on working women focuses in part on Kerry Washington's Olivia Pope of Scandal. Costume designer Lyn Paolo says that within hours of meeting the actress, they decided "we were going all in on using white, starting with the opening shot of her in the white trench and suit."

'Scandal'

The pair also ruled that "Olivia is a pants girl, not a skirt girl," Paolo adds.

'The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel'

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel features in a section on period dramas; costume designer Donna Zakowska shares in an interview with Rubenstein that she put Rachel Brosnahan's Midge Maisel in red when she was "standing up to the male world," and green "when I felt Midge did something heroic." Pink, as seen here, "is reminiscent of her past."

'The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel'

Of the series' rainbow palette, Zakowska shares that she was trained as a painter. "I get color visions," she says, "and that's how it begins."

'Dressing the Part'

Pick up Rubenstein's new book, Dressing the Part: Television's Most Stylish Shows, beginning Oct. 31.

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