The cult TV series, House of Cards, has a huge fan base, and it’s not just for the intense political drama. Claire Underwood, played by Robin Wright (the Princess Bride!) is probably the coolest Ice Queen ever to hit our small screen and has a wardrobe of such wonderful finesse that even those not well-versed in fashion recognize as special.
The beauty is in its sheer simplicity. Superbly fitted sheath dresses with clean lines and interesting cuts. Perhaps an assymetrical neckline or a texture in the fabric. A structured silhouette combined with a sharp heel. Claire is always “dressed”. The only time we see her in relaxed clothing, is when she’s in running gear, cutting a fine form in full length tights and an elasticized hood, Cathy Freeman-style. Ideal for the climate in Washington (both indoors and out).
Each piece is meticulously chosen for her role as the perfect wife. Stylist for the show, Tom Broecker (who also cultivated Liz Lemon’s look on 30 Rock and has styled Saturday Night Live for 20 years), has scored a double nomination at the Costume Designers Guild Awards this year, for both House of Cards and Saturday Night Live.
Broecker talks Claire’s custom, fitted look.
“With her character we really wanted to have this armored, tailored, tight, nothing out of place feel. She also needed to look different from everyone else on the show. On some level, too, we wanted her to be the female equivalent of Francis [Kevin Spacey, her husband on the show]. To have as much power as Francis did. It was more about which designers really reinforcedher silhouette and which designers we could tailor to have that precision and that armored feel.”
I, for one, can’t wrench my eyes away from Claire when she is on the screen. It’s not just her beauty or arresting presence, it’s those clothes. They are, quite simply, phenomenal. It’s the way I always thought I’d dress, when I was a grown up.
“A lot of her skirts were either Prada or L’Wren Scott,” Broecker reveals. Her shirts were Theory, those sort of man-tailored shirts. With dresses we would do Gucci, Armani, Ralph Lauren, and Narciso Rodriguez. Burberry coats. That gave it the tailored strength for her. I had an amazing tailor, too, who would tailor everything to her body.
That explains the superior fit then.
She carries a YSL Muse bag throughout the first series, which Broecker explains, was purposely chosen.
“The thing with Washington DC is that people find that showing your wealth is vulgar. If you have money, you can’t show you have money. Everyone wants to think that they’re equal so we wanted to go with a bag that wasn’t so current that it wouldn’t be like, “Oh my God, she just spent that much money on that bag!” We wanted a bag that was a season or two over. And a bag that she could throw her computer in and just carry on her arm without having to think about it. So part of it was practical as well as character-driven.”
With Season Two now over, and the show being completely addictive, it’s not just the next lot of storylines we’re holding out for, it’s to drink up more of Claire Underwood’s understated wardrobe, and see how her look evolves through the White House.
This last shot, where she wears the leather gloves in the last episode of season 2, is so indicative of Claire and Francis’ intentions here. I feel like the fashion is telling a story, a grand one at that. It was the perfect outfit for this scene. Don’t you just love it when fashion and fiction get together?
