In ‘Watson' The Costumes Help Make A Medical Mystery Unlike Any Other
CBS
'We're visual storytellers, Kerry Weinrauch told me when we met to talk about her work on Watson, a new series for CBS/Paramount by Craig Sweeny, which is connected to Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes universe. 'When you're helping to tell a story, before an actor even opens their mouth and says a line, the audience is already deciding who that person is by what they're wearing, like what their social standing is, whether they're good or bad. It's like all these little nuances that you can put into a costume to help tell that story.'
If you've read my past articles about costume design, then you'll know how much I appreciate this perspective. Because costumes are so important, beyond being tools for the actors who wear them, wardrobe is a communication tool with the audience. Watson is a series that spans a couple of genres, it is, at its stylish heart, a mystery or thriller. But it is also a medical show, after all, this version of the Sherlock Holmes mythology focuses on Dr. Watson.
'There are so many medical procedurals out there and it's all just white lab coats and scrubs,' Weinrauch said. I had asked her how she made this series visually different from the other content in the medical genre. It could have blended in with its landscape, but this show stands out. 'It gets a little drab. We wanted to do something different and make this a different version of it because it's not only a medical procedural, but it's a detective show too.'
A scene from 'Patient Question Mark' featuring Dr. Ingrid Derian (Eve Harlow), Dr. John Watson (Morris Chestnut) and Dr. Sasha Lubbock (Inga Schlingmann). Photo By: Ed Araquel/CBS ©2024 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
CBS
From the start, the designer knew she had to differentiate her cast from the other physicians who share their hospital workplace. 'We really wanted to separate Watson and the rest of the team from the other doctors at the UHOP medical facility,' Weinrauch explained. 'So we chose grays for all of them, but Watson's is actually a little bit darker of a gray than the rest of the other team members, just to give him a little bit more separation.'
Watson, the character for whom the series is named, and who is portrayed by Morris Chestnut, is objectively a beautiful man.
'Right from the beginning,' Weinrauch told me, 'we really wanted to make sure Watson's looks and his suits were aspirational. We didn't want him to look like the classic doctor in a doctor show with a tie and striped shirts. We wanted it to be special so we went with more of an Italian cut for suits. Morris himself, he lends his body shape. He's that perfect triangle. He fits better into the classic Italian and European cuts. There's just a certain level of the quality of the tailoring. Italy just does it so well.'
This sounded like a truly interesting challenge to me; how to make Watson and his team appear separate from the medical practitioners we see milling about in the background, how to make them feel like a group, but without sacrificing the details which make each character unique. All while staying far, far away from the tropes and cliches associated with your typical medical drama.
Dr. John Watson (Morris Chestnut), in an excellent plaid suit, works in his unconventional doctor's office. Photo By: Sergei Bachlakov/CBS ©2024 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
CBS
'We really wanted to make Watson stand out from the rest of the doctors and detectives you see on TV and we did that stylistically,' the designer explained. 'It was very lucky for me to have Morris, who is not scared of colors or patterns or bold style choices. Being able to put him in those bright colors and using some really great color combinations, finding some really interesting plaids tone on tone was really great because we can make the character really pop that way.'
I had to ask about the lab coats, not because they are special or different, but because we see them so rarely.
'When they are back at the Holmes clinic,' Weinrauch said, 'they never wear their lab coats unless they're in the actual lab. I was really happy when we discussed this in the beginning. Because I'm like, I really don't want to just do lab coats.' The designer laughed, and I could understand completely how dull that would have been. 'Especially with an ensemble cast, you really want to separate each of the characters visually and stylistically.'
Dr. Mary Morstan plays Rochelle Aytes, Watson's almost-ex-wife, and she gets to wear some of the most beautiful apparel.
'Rochelle,' the designer explained, 'she was a dancer. I don't know if she still dances, but she is so poised and elegant. So dressing her is a literal dream. With her position at the hospital, we really wanted to give her a strong look, but we didn't want to go with super-male power suits. We did want some masculine elements, but with a soft drapey-ness to the rest, with the fabrication and to the cut of the suits, to keep her strong, but feminine at the same time.'
A shot of a costume Dr. Mary Morstan (Rochelle Aytes) wears in the episode, 'Take a Family History.' Photo By: Sergei Bachlakov/CBS ©2024 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
CBS
The character looks and feels powerful, and it is a glorious example of what is possible when designer and actor work in concert. The dancer part doesn't hurt either, Dr. Morstan is easily the most graceful person in the entire hospital, and this lends her character a unique type of feminine power.
'The way she walks across the U-hop,' Weinrauch explained, 'even when I'm on set watching, it's so amazing. Then the interactions between her and Watson, we were intentional with our colors; when they're not getting along, using opposite colors. And when there seems to be some kind of truce or commonality, we really bring their color palettes closer together.'
In the labs or at the offices, Watson's professional life (sometimes also his personal life) is Shinwell Johnson (Ritchie Coster), an incredible stylish character whose appearance almost serves as a foil against the quiet elegance of our main character.
'Richie, the character playing him is amazing,' Weinrauch told me. 'I had pitched it, his looks being influenced by East End gangsters from the past. I'm talking the 1800s, 1700s, all the way back through to the 1960s and the craze and all that kind of thing. Then, when I talked to Richie about my thoughts, he had his own boards and they were almost identical.'
Shinwell Johnson (Ritchie Coster), in the episode'The Man With the Glowing Chest,' wears one of his carefully curated costumes; layers arranged in a very specific way. Photo By: Ed Araquel/CBS ©2024 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
CBS
As I've doubtless told my lovely readers before, a well designed costume helps an actor to, very literally, step into a character. Imagine changing your clothes and seeing someone else in the mirror. It helps an actor to stand differently, to move as the character would.
'Richie has an amazing way of dressing,' Weinrauch said, 'but we really did want to lean into Sherlock Holmes. The classic tweeds and cuts, and very British dressing for him. Shinwell goes from being Sherlock's assistant to being Watson's assistant and we really wanted to keep those key elements of his style there to connect him to both Britain and to Sherlock Holmes. You can't go too far. It has to be natural and organic. And really, Richie is, we were very thoughtful about his looks, because I love pairing different patterns together. We could get away with it by doing it subtly, which gives a nice depth to the costume.'
I asked the designer about working with an actor who had input on his character. 'He's really fun to dress,' she told me. 'He loves clothing, Richie himself. The shopper that was sourcing his looks, she dove deep into all these brands and a lot of them coming out of Europe and England. They do the classic styling like that you would see in the 1800s or 1900s. Some of them were Olderbest,Relwen, Bronson Manufacturing, Billy Reed, House of Bruar. She did an amazing job.'
A still jam packed with drama - from the episode 'The Man With the Glowing Chest.' Dr. John Watson (Morris Chestnut) and Shinwell Johnson (Ritchie Coster). Photo By: Ed Araquel/CBS ©2024 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
CBS
One of the biggest surprises, and don't worry, this is something that comes up almost immediately in episode one, is when a character's appearance and voice don't exactly match up to our preconceptions.
'Sasha,' the designer told me, 'she's a classic all American girl from the South, very much the debutante. We really intentionally kept her, for lack of a better word, girly, very feminine. But stylish, like with the classic hourglass silhouettes, kind of like Dior's new look or Audrey Hepburn and Breakfast at Tiffany's. And quite honestly, Inga Schlingmann was perfect for that. She could just wear it so well. She was the only one we used bright spring colors with, like she's more happy, optimistic of the group.'
It is true, we don't see a lot of pastels in Watson, not a lot of brightness, its much more a world of high contrast. 'And she's the only one we use prints and florals with too,' Weinrauch told me. ' I worked in New Orleans for seven months and I saw a lot of Southern bells. And there is a different way of dressing. It's very soft, feminine and very girly. Also very tailored and very well put together.'
Dr. Sasha Lubbock (Inga Schlingmann ) and Dr. Stephens Croft (Peter Mark Kendall) in the episode, 'Take a Family History.' Photo: Sergei Bachlakov/CBS ©2024 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
CBS
There are twins in this story, Stephens and Adams Croft, two characters played by the same actor, Peter Mark Kendall. When I was watching the episodes, I had to pause and look that up. I was not sure at first if they were actual twins, you know, in real life.
'It's impressive,' Weinrauch said, and I agree. 'I mean, doing two roles, especially when they're shooting them at the same time. And the bickering, It's seamless. Like you believe it's, but it's magic of like, because of course we have photo doubles, a photo double that would switch back and forth, but it's so believable. It was amazing.'
Suspension of disbelief is so important, audiences today are more sophisticated than ever before, and if we start seeing things that don't seem to fit on screen, it is hard for us to not pick at the edges.
'You want to forget that you're watching a TV show or a movie,' Weinrauch told me. 'When you're watching, it's fantasy, it's escapism and you need the characters to be believable. And that includes what they're wearing. You don't want to second guess or feel like anybody's ever wearing a costume.'
Best case scenario, it will seem like the clothing is what the character happened to put on that day.
Dr. John Watson (Morris Chestnut) and Dr. Mary Morstan (Rochelle Aytes) discuss a case as they walk through the hospital. Photo By: Sergei Bachlakov/CBS ©2024 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
CBS
'It was really good, and it was fascinating,' Weinrauch said about watching the transformation from actor into a set of characters. 'With Peter playing the roles, he is so thoughtful and very specific. We had big conversations on how we were going to separate the two. I had already done boards for what I thought the look should be. Then he and I dove deeper together and figured out everything, like, what kind of music do these guys listen to? What hobbies would they have? That helped us to differentiate the two characters, especially when dressing them. With Adam, we were going for more of a hipper street style, more of an indie music, laid back vibe, which goes along with his character. And then with Stevens, it's much more uptight, closed off, more clinical and a practical way of dressing. Keeping him stoic and then the hair department changing his hair every time.'
Little details matter, and they all add up. And across a series all the bits of information began to coalesce, perhaps especially in a mystery. It's that whole snowball business at work, as the narrative reaches its climax, all the puzzle pieces, many of them in the form of costume, come together in perfect syncopation. 'I think one really fun thing about not only costumes, but even just dressing yourself,' Weinrauch said, 'is you can kind of create any persona that you want with your clothes.'
The first season of Watson is available now to stream on Paramount Plus.
Watson, on CBS and Paramount Prime
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