There are a lot of reasons to love Morning Wars – or The Morning Show as it’s known internationally – from the incredibly talented cast to the high-stakes topical storylines and of course, to the impeccable fashion.
Starring the likes of Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon, Billy Crudup and Karen Pittman, just to name a few, the series has returned for a third season to deliver more fierce and fabulous fashion ensembles this year. It’s currently airing now on Apple TV+.
We sat down with series costume designers Beth Lancaster and Sophie de Rakoff, who worked with the cast to create memorable and anchor-worthy outfits this season, to pick their brains on the ins and outs of putting together the most elite of workwear wardrobes.
“The question is always how many iterations of workwear can you do?” Beth muses. “Because we have so many characters who come in at work and you can’t just do theory suit, theory suit, theory suit over and over and over again – you have to go through and try and figure out what is the individuality for each of these characters.”
Sophie adds, “For the anchors, their workwear is performative, they are on camera, so they have to dress a certain way within certain parameters appropriate to their character.”
However, with the rest of the Morning Wars cast, they could lean into a different palette.
“We call it the upstairs, downstairs,” Sophie explains. “You’ve got the anchors at the top that are upstairs, and then you’ve got all the producers and the executives who are the downstairs of it all. And so, balancing all of those within the hierarchy of the network itself.”
The echelons of power that differentiate the anchors from the rest of the cast are echoed in the costume design, Beth points out, with an instantly recognisable forwardness of colour for the anchors contrasting against those who are behind the camera on the support crew.
“There’s this idea of professionalism – perfectionism in a sense – when they are up there and that’s part of the performative that Soph’s talking about,” Beth adds.
With that in mind, there is a suite of stand-out looks throughout the season brought across by the show’s female protagonists, which we take a look at with the help of Beth and Sophie.
And, for the resourceful shoppers who are looking to re-create (or rework for their own aesthetic), we’ve also found some of the best Morning Wars-inspired looks to shop for down below.
The 8 Most Iconic Fashion Moments From ‘Morning Wars’ Season 3
Bradley’s Ice Blue Suit
“I love the David Koma ice blue suit that she wears in the first episode; the strapless dress with the oversized blazer over the top, and then she adds the navy coat. I just think that looked great on [Reese Witherspoon] and was perfect for Bradley at that moment and was a departure colour-wise. I love that,” Sophie says.
Shop similar looks here:
- Shona Joy Irena Collarless Oversized Blazer, $340 at The Iconic
- Calvin Klein V-Neck Midi Dress, $350 at Farfetch
Alex’s Take On Casual
“Alex (Jennifer Anniston) has an arc in this season,” says Sophie, “she’s much more formalised and structured in the first season. In the second season, she’s in the pandemic so she’s opening up and becomes much more open. And what [Debra McGuire, Jennifer’s designer] was doing with Jen for Alex in this third season was about making her even more open in the way that you see her in the sheath dresses that you haven’t seen before.
“You see a lot more skin, you see more arm. She’s out, she’s casual. She’s wearing jeans, she’s wearing boots. There’s this more relaxed, relatable side to her that is a progression from the other seasons that then works in with her elevated luxe.”
Shop similar looks here:
Stella’s Grey Hoodie Suit
“The grey Loewe suit on Stella (Greta Lee), with the Loewe hoodie underneath, is just killer. Absolutely fabulous,” Beth says. “It’s a very silky piece.”
“What’s really interesting about this particular costume at that moment is knowing what was going on in that scene that she was going to go head-to-head with these male douchebags, and it wasn’t about going with the deconstructed skirt suit. It was her riff on what it was like to be a man in a man’s world and behave and take the femininity out of it and de-gender her,” Sophie adds.
Shop similar looks here:
- Hooded Shirt In Silk, $2,650 at Loewe
- Morningstar Wool Blazer, $299 (usually $750) at Viktoria & Woods
Laura’s Pinstripes
“An outfit that I love for Laura (Julianna Margulies), which is in episode two, is the black type vest with the man’s pinstripe shirt underneath it and the black culottes and she has high Bottega boots that come to the knee that go all the way up under the culottes. I love that. That’s delicious,” Sophie says.
Shop similar looks here:
- Anine Bing Braxton Striped Cotton-Jacquard Shirt, $511 at Net-A-Porter
- Clemence Vest, $290 at Sir The Label
Alex & Bradley’s Matching Moment
An unintentional moment of sisterhood for the two anchors, you’ll notice Alex and Bradley sporting matching gold chain link necklaces this season, which Sophie says was pure coincidence.
“It wasn’t intentional in that way,” says Sophie. “But that’s the necklace of the moment. That is the chain at the moment.
“There are things that are in the fashion subconscious and sometimes, you meet your girlfriend for dinner and you’re both wearing the same pair of jeans – you have the signature things. So that was just one of those weird coincidences that happened and we just went with it.”
Shop similar looks here:
- Ripples Chain Necklace Gold, $135 at Bonito
- Boyfriend Bold Chain Necklace, $450 at Mejuri
- Petite Staple Chain, $440 at Sarah & Sebastian
Bradley’s Burgundy Suit
“Lafayette 148 made us custom suits for her, and in episode seven she’s got a burgundy suit with a burgundy shirt underneath that’s just monochromatic from head to toe. And that’s a really sleek and interesting look for the anchor wear for Bradley in this season,” says Sophie.
Shop similar looks here:
- Silk Charmeuse Blouse, $1,300 at Lafayette 148
- Responsible Wool Nouveau Crepe Dalton Pant, $1,500 at Lafayette 148
- Responsible Wool Nouveau Crepe Collarless Jacket, $2,200 at Lafayette 148
Isabella’s Vintage/80s-Inspired Looks
“It’s really fun to do a character like Isabella (Hannah Leder) who dresses nearly entirely in vintage. That’s one spin on [workwear]. So, you get a lot of eighties mixed in there,” Beth says.
Shop similar looks here:
- David Lawrence Mercier Longline Blazer in Grey Multi, $129 (usually $279) at Myer
- Monogram Printed Scarf, $250 at Camilla And Marc
Mia’s Tactical Take
“Mia (Karen Pittman) plays around a lot with a very tactile look. She’s doing a lot more cashmere and high-end leathers this season. She does a lot of IRO knitwear, and a lot of pieces like that are a little bit more deconstructed from what you’ve seen her wear in past seasons. Much more open in a sense than what you’ve seen her in. So just these high-low mixes of what that workwear idea could be,” Beth says.
Shop similar looks here:
- IRO Cut-Out Detailing Wool Jumper, $816 at Farfetch
- Lisa Yang Kael Bouclé Cashmere Midi Skirt, $1,055 at Mytheresa
Stream Morning Wars now on Apple TV+ with a 7-day free trial. Subscribe here.
