‘The Diplomat’ Asks—And Masterfully Answers—The Question Of How A Female President Should Dress
Fashion
Jenny Gering, the costume designer for the third season of the hit Netflix show, guides us through the politics of power dressing the stellar cast.
Few costume designers would take on the challenge of dressing both the fictional inhabitants of the White House and Downing Street, let alone one in which the president is a woman. Enter the tenacious Jenny Gering. The third season of Netflix’s Emmy-nominated drama “The Diplomat” picks up after the truly shocking events of season two that saw VP Grace Penn (Allison Janney) become president, a storyline that prompts the deceptively simple question: what does power look like when a woman wears it? The Set Set spoke with Gering about crafting a visual vocabulary for leadership—and the subtle codes stitched into every look.
“When Grace Penn was first lady, we dressed her in softer silhouettes and used more color. Once she became president, it was important to show that shift,” Gering explains. With a team of 18, she built Penn’s wardrobe from her new job from the ground up. “We had to build all of her suits, and the cut became more angular and the color more sober.”
“If you look at female heads of state, many wear a lot of color,” Gering explains. “There’s a big difference between what a second lady wears and what a president or prime minister wears. We try to stay truthful, but costume design is also about storytelling—getting a message across almost subliminally.”
Day to day, Penn wears said pant suits paired with more fluid layers: silk shirts and chiffon blouses with flat court shoes: “Alison is so naturally elegant and graceful, but I did want to show her level of sophistication as a woman. I think that those softer, very pretty, more tactile fabrics allowed me to do that,” she adds. However, when necessary, Gering also stepped out of this sartorial comfort zone. For the funeral scene in episode three, Janney’s character enters wearing a long buttoned jacket with velvet finishes: ”I liked that it had a semi-military vibe to it. It was very linear and very precise, yet it played into the heaviness and the emotion of the moment,” says Gering.
Meanwhile, life outside of the oval reveals a different side to Penn: soft cashmere knitwear, casual jeans, and a scene in her pajamas and slippers humanises her to be even more relatable: “She's a very disciplined woman and that needs to come across, but at the same time, the sweaters we put on her are cozy and comfortable; they have a certain quality.
For Kate’s husband Hal (Rufus Sewell), the transformation into vice president demanded visual restraint. “Once he steps into that role, his individuality has to recede,” Gering says, citing Joe Biden as inspiration for the archetype. “It's a very prescribed look. So I looked to Joe Biden, who did such a brilliant job of that.” She adds: “It's about a Vice President who needs to fit in and not frighten anyone, but still have a respectable vibe. His ties are Aramés and Ferragamo that have cute little animals or symbols on.” Other men telegraph their identities through tailoring codes: British official Nicol Trowbridge (Rory Kinnear) is never without braces, while Austin Dennison (David Gyasi) favors three-piece suits.
So how do Washington and Westminster differ? “UK government wardrobes have a bit more whimsy. In the U.S., it feels more like a uniform,” Gering says. “The goal is to make it look correct, but never to distract.” Ambassador Kate Wyler’s (Keri Russell) wardrobe choices serve more function over fashion for the most part: a uniform of a tailored pant suit, with a silk shirt and a pair of boots. “With Kate, we were able to maintain what we had established already, but everything about her look had to be elevated. That meant building a whole new wardrobe for her.” Audiences therefore see her graduate from Theory to vintage Saint Laurent to Nili Lotan shirts, plus “many trips to Joules to find the most stunning fabrics that still felt appropriate,” Gering notes.
As with Grace’s wardrobe, Gering founder herself drawing inspiration from former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power.“I found images of her looking pretty sassy in some lower-cut blouses and things like that. There's something so kinetic about her. That's just how Keri is and how I saw Kate's character to be. Always on the go, full of energy, but there's a vulnerability.”
In one particular scene with her new love interest, British negotiator Callum Ellis (Aidan Turner), Kate appears in a striking white Toteme dress—a rare departure. “She was in love. She was feeling youthful and alive again,” Gering says. “It was really important to show the lightness and the excitement; that she felt like a teenager." Further down the hierarchy, characters like Billie Appiah (Nana Mensah) and Nora Koriem (Rosaline Elbay) lean into trend-aware silhouettes: knit wrap dresses, skirt sets, knee-high boots. Gering resists rigid rules. “It’s never about formulas. We’re creating real people—and that means getting inside their heads.”
Further down the chain of command, female characters like Billie Appiah (Nana Mensah) and Nora Koriem (Rosaline Elbay) opt for elegant, trend-led styles—a soft knit wrap dress, skirt co-ords, and on-trend knee-high boots. When asked if Gering plays by any rules for power dressing, she says she resists rigid guidelines. “I never have prescribed rules for anything because it's not about that. Otherwise, everything would look the same. What we're trying to do is create believable, real people. And the only way to do that is to try to get inside the character's head,” she explains.
If the series has a fashion crescendo, it arrives in the season three finale in which a state dinner is depicted. For the occasion, Penn wears a Bardot-neckline Jenny Packham gown encrusted with Swarovski crystals—augmented with extra crystals for maximum on-camera impact. Kate counters in a sculptural Roksanda cape dress and a sequined black Max Mara look for cocktails. Jewelry came courtesy of Cartier. “When the show first came to me, I thought, it's just a lot of suits. But it's honestly been one of the most creatively interesting and sometimes challenging shows I've worked on,” says Gering.
