Top 10 fashion moments from ‘Madam Secretary’ episode “Whisper of the Ax’

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On last Sunday’s Madam Secretary episode, “Whisper of the Ax,” the color teal finds its way into t he characters’ costumes, unifying the characters even when they’re divided. Madam Secretary Elizabeth McCord’s Microloans program is hit by scandal and everything seems to be falling apart, but teal stands strong like a guardian angel.

The color is there when Secretary of State Elizabeth McCord’s Microloans program is called into question by congress. The color is also there when Elizabeth’s oldest daughter Stevie may have found her calling.

Teal even makes it onto the ties of congressmen. Like a versatile actor, teal plays many roles: cupid, prep school student, upscale socialite and politician.

The episode rides on the theme of independence, especially female independence, and in an America where it’s easy to drift without realizing dreams, the color teal symbolizes hope. Check out my list of the top teal costume moments from “Whisper of the Ax.”

10. Male congressman wears a teal striped tie, which links him with Elizabeth and others. This is a bold color for a stern-looking man in a dull suit.

9. Isabelle’s teal cashmere sweater that she wears while talking to Elizabeth in her apartment. Shortly after, Isabelle’s home is raided due to Elizabeth suspecting her as a leak.

8. Elizabeth wears a teal suit jacket in order to look strong, but she’s soon humiliated when the Congress tells her that the head of the Microloans program created fake Microloans to pay for gambling and prostitution.

7. Kyle Feeney—the guy who discovered the scandalous hotel photos of Microloans head— wears a teal-striped tie at the Congress meeting, which he thinks will be the downfall of Microloans.

6. The teal vest dress that Elizabeth wears resembles a school jumper, a nod to her prep style. 

5.  Stevie wears a teal heart print scarf while eating lunch at café with her dad, who tells her she needs to find something she’s passionate about or else she will drift her way through life. The hearts predict a potential romance.

4. Stevie decides she’s passionate about Microloans, so she goes to volunteer for the program and she meets Arthur Gilroy who needs help fielding calls. She wears a teal mohair coat that screams money, like a socialite.

3. A teal cross print shift dress is worn underneath Stevie’s mohair coat. The crosses speak to faith and hope.

2. Arthur Gilroy matches Stevie’s teal outfit with his teal print tie. Is it a sign that they’re both wearing teal? Especially since teal is not the most common color.

1. Jay Whitman, the policy advisor to Elizabeth, seemed to have turned on his boss in a drunken rant witnessed by Kyle Feeney, but the next day at the Congress meeting he shows up in a sharp suit and teal/gray striped tie. He wears teal as a badge of confidence when he shows that he was faking out Feeney.

Good Wife's 'Dark Money' is all about tweed and green

Alicia in red-and-black plaid suit
(credit: WornOnTV.com)

Episode 13 of The Good Wife called “Dark Money” features its leading ladies in some green and lots and lots of tweed.

Alicia Florrick and Diane Lockhart are two sides of the same coin on many levels, but especially their fashion sense. They’re conservative dressers overall, but they wear their tasteful suits like gazelles, managing to glide through space.

Alicia begins the episode in a tweed red and black-stenciled plaid skirt suit with black tights are undeniably preppy, but those towering Louboutin pumps give her an Amazonian edge. Think of this as her Clueless outfit.

Diane stays decked out in tweed suits including a suit skirt with a cropped jacket, but throws in a red satin blazer to keep things fresh.

Just as Alicia is influenced by Diane’s style, Eli Gold’s daughter Marissa has started to wear body-con dresses and tights, like the embroidered paisley red and black dress she wears with black tights and heels; it’s a sophisticated look that’s less severe than a suit. Interestingly, Marissa’ s body-con dresses are worn when she’s chatting with Colin Sweeney’s wife Renata who stays wrapped in body-con dresses with ruched bodices and see-through chiffons.

Kalinda’s obsessed with evergreen in this episode possibly because she’s in an unfamiliar situation with Lamont Bishop: escorting Lamont’s son to school and coming into his house, which is sort of like playing house since there is no mom in the picture. The color green is applied to Kalinda’s usual shapes of body-con dresses and asymmetric lines that reflect her contradictions.  Her various moto-jackets and trench coats are her version of noir, which reflect her mysteriousness. 

There’s a skirt suit that Alicia wears when she’s talking to Colin Sweeney that I call the “French Window” dress because the white stitching looks like a French window pane made out of a spider’s silk. Alicia is surprisingly more open-minded with Colin as opposed to their earlier scene in her guarded plaid.

By the end of the episode, Alicia’s sitting on her living room sofa having an emotional moment with her daughter Grace, while dressed in a cream cashmere sweater with ribbed front; Alicia looks comfortable instead of the high-fashion armor she wears to work.

A standout of the episode is Renata’s maroon halter bodice body-con dress with chiffon sleeves that she wears while making sexual expressions at Colin in court. It’s a dress that is pure sex, all tight and see-through, and perfect for an exhibitionist like Renata.