Dressing the Part: ‘Veep’ Costume Designer on the Challenges of Political Style
Kathleen Felix-Hager shares her thoughts on Kamala Harris, too.
Who else was a super fan of Veep back in the day? Because I sure was! The HBO show, which aired from 2012 to 2019, followed Julia Louis-Dreyfus as the fictional first female vice president. Having met my husband while covering a presidential campaign, Veep and its hilarious, brash take on politics was a must-watch for us. (Matt and I still repeat one of our favorite quotes: “The level of incompetence in this office is staggering!” complete with the desk slap).
So I was delighted when Veep memes popped back up in my feed this summer, as Kamala Harris became a presidential candidate in a delicious life-imitates art moment. It was enough to make me take another look at Veep, with a new focus on the costumes. What did this imagined female politician dress like?
I reached out to Kathleen Felix-Hager, who stepped into the role of costume designer for Veep’s third season and saw the series through to the close. (She has since won an Emmy and is working her magic on Hacks, another fabulous show.) We had a fascinating conversation about how, and why, she leaned into extremely feminine fashion for Louis-Dreyfus’s character. She explained how color, especially red, and form-fitting tailoring played a big part, too. And I couldn’t resist asking for Felix-Hager’s take on the very real campaign playing out now. We unpacked the idea of “seriousness” in Harris’s style and the double standard that persists.
PS: Veep fans! The cast is reuniting this Sunday, Sept. 29 for a livestream table read hosted by Stephen Colbert. The proceeds benefit the Democratic Party of Wisconsin. More information here.
ICYMI: I loved hearing all about what YOU are wearing this election cycle to support an issue or a candidate — click here for a dozen style standouts.
Veep’s Kathleen Felix-Hager on the Challenges of Political Style
Please note: Our conversation has been edited and condensed.
Let’s start with Veep, which was on the air before we had a female vice president. I am curious where you started when you joined the show in Season 3?
Kathleen Felix-Hager: There was definitely a shift in tone when I came on for Julia Louis-Dreyfus’s character, Selina Meyer. Since there was no template, we decided to make up our own rules. I loved leaning into: She’s a woman of means, she has style, she has taste. We embraced her physical form, the feminine part of her, and used that as her power move, so to speak. I took her out of suits. I never put her in a suit. The dress was the new suit. We just called it the Power Dress instead of a Power Suit. It really set her apart from the world of men that she was in.
We liked the idea of just leaning into — not fighting against — being the first female. It’s nothing to shy away from. There’s power in that. In one of the scripts, they wanted her to say: “As a woman, blah, blah, blah.” And she said, “I don’t want to say ‘As a woman.’” But her physicalness was enough to tell you that she was a woman.