Kerry Washington Counts on THIS Accessory to Transform Into Olivia Pope

By Leah Melby

Amy Graves

Kerry Washington is accepting honors tonight at the Accessories Council’s ACE Awards and, in advance, spilled some on the bags and shoes that make Olivia Pope’s outfits. “From our very first phone call, we’ve been so on the same page and so passionate about this idea of reclaiming what power dressing looks like for a woman,” she told WWD, the “we” being her and costume designer Lyn Paolo, also being honored with the Influencer award. “We were taking it very seriously because we are passionate about fashion and passionate about storytelling, and passionate about how identity is expressed through clothing.”

“We were also extremely specific from Day One that [Olivia’s shoe] had to be a grounded shoe. It had to have weight and resonance and hit the ground running,” Lyn said. “In the early stages of the storytelling, Olivia was always in a platform with a cubed heel, and as she is a bit wobbly or uncertain with her relationship with Fitz, then she’d be in boots with stilettos.”

Kerry sounds completely on board with shoes-as-plot-vehicles too. “I am never 100 percent clear about who a character is until I know what shoes she is wearing. I literally will come to work and rehearse in sweatpants, a T-shirt, and Manolo pumps, because I don’t feel like the character unless I’m in their heels.”

See more: 10 Things He’s Thinking When You’re Naked

With all the attention on and thought going into Olivia’s shoes, there’s not a whole lot of symbolism or plot to be revealed by checking out her bags. Kerry said her character “exclusively wears Prada bags, unless it’s an evening bag” and it turns out that life’s imitated art on the accessory front.

“Over the break, I got this gorgeous new Prada handbag, but in a totally not Olivia Pope color—a bright emerald green. I think I Instagrammed it, and all the fans were so confused, like ‘Wait, is Olivia Pope going to wear bright color in the next season?’ I was like, ‘No, that’s my bag!’”

And, yes, Kerry, you totally Instagrammed it.

Any favorite Olivia Pope fashion moments? I like random ones best, like that snow-white zip-up she wore to go jogging at the end of last season.

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