If you’re wondering just what it is that has you so gaga for Joan Watson’s (Lucy Liu) Elementary style, it’s probably because you can actually picture most of Joan’s threads in your own closet. And that’s exactly what costume designer Rebecca Hoferr was hoping for.
“When I first started the show, Lucy and I talked about the character, and we both decided we should make her accessible so that real people could shop for her clothes, and also so that it makes her look like a New Yorker,” Rebecca told OSS in an interview. “We wanted her to be really realistic. Like most women, she wears a skirt one day, wears jeans one day… I wouldn’t call it professional, I would just call it casual, but stylish at the same time.”
Below, the stylist gives OSS readers a closer peek into Watson’s versatile wardrobe and offers some great sartorial hints as to what’s in store for season 2.
ON SCREEN STYLE: How will Joan’s style evolve in season 2?
REBECCA HOFHERR: Joan has become more comfortable living in the brownstone with Sherlock and becoming more comfortable dealing with all these crimes and crazy wild goose chases. Her style is going is going to reflect that. I think that it’s a little more jeans and t-shirts, skirts and t-shirts. It’s a little more relaxed than last season.
She’s more relaxed, but does that mean we won’t ever see her more glammed up?
I also wondered the same thing (laughs), and so far, we won’t. They find themselves in so many different settings all the time. Sometimes they’re at a bar. Sometimes they’re at a more upscale Upper Westside apartment. Sometimes they’re in a warehouses in Queens. Throughout the course of the first season, we saw Joan going on a couple of dates and meeting the man who they thought was Sherlock’s father, but as of right now, in season 2, Joan’s concentrating the most on her honing in on her detective skills. So we won’t see her glammed up yet, but we have a lot of episodes to go!
So, Joan’s clothes reflect her personality, but do they ever reflect the plot of the episode or the scene she’s investigating?
I would say that maybe it’s the opposite. I try to have the clothes not reflect the plot, so that it doesn’t look like an obvious choice. Every time we do a fitting, it doesn’t mean that we always have the script that’s actually completed. So, we just try to do outfits that can go anywhere.
Where are your favorite places to shop for Lucy’s wardrobe?
We really try and keep her resembling women who live in New York City, so there’s a big range of stores. One shirt she wore last year that was really popular came from Zara. And then something else she wore that was really popular came from Rag & Bone. She wears a white jacket a lot in the show, which is her only sort of “uniform,” and one of them came from Barney’s and [the new one came from] DKNY. It’s a great reflection of the character that she’ll wear an H&M or Zara t-shirt and then throw a cool jacket over the top of it.
My favorite store to shop for her is All Saints.
Why do you like shopping at All Saints so much for this character?
I hate to say this, but because we’re a crime show — you know if we have to get stuck in a “genre” — it is a little gritty. The humor between Joan and Sherlock is always there, but the subject matter is gritty, and it’s a bit of a darker show. I think that All Saints and Rag & Bone don’t fall into the seasonal category of clothing as much where when you walk into, say, J. Crew in the middle of summer, you can’t find anything navy or black, it’s all pastel and bright colors. Their style is a little more beaten up and gritty, so it fits the theme of our show more than other stores who are constantly changing their look.
Do you also shop for Sherlock at All Saints?
Yes, absolutely! A lot of his blazers and vests come from All Saints.
What about his socks?
A lot of his socks come from Happy Socks. A lot of his socks are also Paul Smith, which is great because it’s a little bit of an ode to the Sherlock character, who is mostly known as a British character. All Saints and Paul Smith are British brands, so it’s nice to incorporate them into the show. Anywhere I go, like Bloomingdales, or H&M, or novelty stores, if they have cool socks that I haven’t seen before, I’ll pick them up just to put them in the mix.
Are there ways in which you try to match or echo Joan’s looks with Sherlock’s?
If it happens, it’s completely coincidental. I try to make them as different as possible. After I do the fittings — say they have five outfits in the episode — I’ll line up all of them, and I’ll try to put two together for each script day. Sometimes they end up on the same color, which is just a fluke, but most of the time I try to change them up.
Joan’s Rag & Bone Lara Dress
What was your favorite Joan Watson look from season 1?
She wore a black and white colorblock dress that was from Rag & Bone that we got a lot of questions about. I think it was interesting because a lot of women in TV wear really tight, fitted clothing, and Joan can sort of pull off that she has a dress on, and she throws a denim jacket on, and it just looks like something you can wear every day.
I think in the season finale, she actually wore this great abstract black and white t-shirt that I got from Century 21, and she wore it backward as a dress. That was one of my favorite things, too, because during the sitting, we were like, “we really like this but how do we make it work?” And Lucy was like, “Well, let me put it on backward,” and it actually looked really cool and different.
Joan’s abstract t-shirt, worn backward as a dress in the season 1 finale
She was in a scene with Natalie Dormer, who was waiting outside for her and took her into a limo. I thought it was a great contrast to Natalie, who was wearing this super-chic, skintight outfit. Then they went to this fancy restaurant, and Joan’s there in her backward t-shirt looking just as good as Natalie in her crazy suit. That was a great outfit.
We’ve seen Joan re-wear a few of her key items (grey coat, white cardigan, booties) in season 2?
Yes, definitely. The white cardigan, sort of jacket is something she’s going to wear a lot. We started out about two months ago during the heat wave, so we switched over a little bit. You will see the black booties. I don’t know if you’ll see the grey coat anymore, we might change that. But the white jacket and the booties will definitely come into play. At the beginning of the second season she’s going to be wearing more neutral booties because she’s not going to be wearing the black tights that she wore a lot last season because of the heat. But, we’ll get into that when we start to get into fall and winter.
Joan’s season 2 cardigan from DKNY
Will she be wearing the same exact white cardigan in season 2?
The first season one was from Barney’s, but the one that I got for the second season is DKNY. It’s a different one even though it looks very similar. I actually didn’t know that it would work for the character so well when I bought the original one, and that Lucy would like it so much for Joan. White is really hard to keep clean and we didn’t have a double of it. For season 2 I found one that was very similar that we can order more of just so that we have a spare in case one gets dirty.
One of my readers wanted to know if Joan’s red cardigan is supposed be like a security blanket for her?
We call it the “house sweater.” A lot of times she’s scripted wearing a robe, but not a lot of people wear a robe. I know it’s a television thing because if you’re in a room, it’s like, I’m at home. It’s just that weird connotation we have with a robe. But robes are sometimes silly, so both she and I agreed that it would be better to have this really cozy sweater that when you come home, that’s what you put on to make you feel comfortable. So, it’s her version of a robe.
Joan’s “robe” in season 1
Will we see that same red “robe” then in season 2?
I’m actually looking for a new one right now, so that one will change, but we haven’t found it yet. The first one was from Net-A-Porter. It’s actually a men’s sweater.
It seemed to have been eternally cold in NYC during season 1, are we going to see more summer clothes than we saw last year?
We will definitely see more summer this season. As we speak right now, going from episode 204 to 205, we’re making the transition right now to people wearing sweaters and jackets so that when it airs in October, it’ll make more sense. I think you’re going to get a sold four episodes of would be considered “spring wardrobe” with Joan and Sherlock where he’s not wearing his peacoat and she’s not wearing a bunch of layers.
So basically, we’re going to be seeing more of Lucy’s legs is what you’re saying?
Oh, you will see a lot of legs [laughs], I promise!
JOAN’S SEASON 2 WHITE OPEN CARDIGAN:
DKNY Slub Cozy Cardigan (no longer available)
GET THE LOOK:
DKNY Pure Cozy Cardigan
Velvet Luxe Slub Fly Away Cardigan
JOAN’S WHITE DOG/WOLF “HARD TIMES” SHIRT:
All Saints Snarl Tarot T-shirt (no longer available)
GET THE LOOK:
Mango Wolf Print T-Shirt
JOAN’S TAN BOOTIES/ANKLE BOOTS:
Rag & Bone Harrow Booties in Camel Nubuck
GET THE LOOK FOR LESS:
DV by Dolce Vita Jaxen Boot in Taupe
Sole Society Skylar Ankle Bootie (join by clicking this invite link)
Mossimo Kiriana Ankle Boot with Leather Wrap
Check out more on Elementary on OSS by clicking right here, and come back for more during season 2 because I’ll be covering the looks each week!
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