High-Powered crisis management requires quick thinking and, it turns out, a killer wardrobe.
That’s why, when Olivia Pope — the lead character in “Scandal” played by Kerry Washington — does battle as Washington DC’s top crisis PR expert, she is dressed in primetime’s most beautiful body armor — fashioned by the likes of Armani, Valentino, Gucci, Prada and Movado.
There is nothing ordinary — and certainly nothing that screams inside-the-Beltway conservative — about Olivia Pope’s style.
“How do you express that you’re very powerful and strong in a very male-oriented world — which DC is — without wearing what all the women there tend to wear, which is red, blue and dark tones?” says “Scandal” costume designer Lyn Paolo.
“How do you make someone the focus in a room full of men wearing suits? It’s very simple: You put her in something white.”
Or taupe, or soft gray.
Paolo hints that starting next week, fans will see a shift in Pope’s style as she begins a new relationship: a little more color, a little flirtier.
The shoes reflecting the change will be by Manolo Blahnik, the designer made famous by “Sex and the City.”
“They will have much more of a kitten heel,” says Paolo, “about 2 1⁄2″, with a pointed toe. Very 1950s.”