.jpg)
What would a casino worker on the run (who is also an uncanny human lie detector) wear? Answering this question for Poker Face, a murder-of-the-week series on Peacock, was a fun challenge for costume designer Trayce Gigi Field and actor Natasha Lyonne. Together, the two fleshed out the wardrobe of Lyonne’s freewheeling character Charlie Cale, who is the beating heart of the show, created by Rian Johnson. The critically-acclaimed program combines Law and Order-style episodic storytelling with high antics and a packed cast of guest stars, including Joseph Gordon-Levitt (who plays a white collar criminal on house arrest), Chloë Sevigny (a has-been rock star), Stephanie Hsu (a kleptomaniac), and others.
, A retro, Southwestern aesthetic pulses throughout the first season, as Charlie travels from state-to-state and crisis-to-crisis. To achieve the throwback vibe (which makes sense for a show heavily inspired by the ’70s hit Columbo), Lyonne dresses in what Field describes as “Stevie Nicks from the late ’70s” garb. Field then rounded things out with “clothes that [Charlie] could’ve gotten at a thrift store wherever she’s living at the time,” she says.
Field, whose past credits include The Comeback, 2 Broke Girls, and Dead to Me, says she became involved with the breakthrough hit after previously working with Lyonne on a Netflilx special. She was asked to showcase a moodboard to Johnson and other key members of the show’s production. What Field presented was both remarkably fleshed out and exactly what Johnson wanted. “That brown YSL jacket that Charlie wears throughout the series?” Field recalls. “That was on my original moodboard.” Field justified such a knockout piece of luxury wear for a cash-strapped and unpretentious character like Charlie with tidbits from her backstory: “The reason she got in trouble in the first place was she was out there grifting [at casinos]. I figured she took some of the money she made and bought some awesome staples, and the YSL jacket was one of those pieces.”
Another challenge came through the show’s ever-changing locales and characters—each episode features, essentially, a fresh slate of actors. “I had to basically think of them as ten mini movies,” Field says of the unique experience. “It was not easy. But I want to rise to the challenge. I didn’t sleep a lot!”
Below, Field dives into her approach on the hit show, shares what happened behind-the-scenes, and divulges where viewers can find some of Charlie’s best looks for themselves.
Field: She’s in Dolce and Gabbana here. The story behind this dress… Let me tell you. You read the script right. You know how crazy this episode is. She is jumping off a boat, crawling under a house, and doing all sorts of crazy stuff. And she’s in a dress. So you’re wondering to yourself, okay, well what dress is this going to be. I was like, alright, long-sleeves. It should have a spark of color and some sparkle, because it’s casino-inspired, especially because it’s something [the casino boss] would have given to her and chosen. It has to have some stretch, and it’s jumping in water so it can’t float up or be see-through. Honestly this is the first dress that I bought—I think the first place I found it was Farfetch. I was like this is the one! We ended up trying on 50 other dresses and circling back around to this one. That dress is sold out now—so I guess people liked it.
Field: She probably grabbed this hat from a gas station. She’s trying to be incognito—she’s on the run at this point—but she still needs to look like Charlie, with that cool vibe. That hat is actually from Amazon. We’re bringing back checkered vests and hats. People love this look. That shirt is, believe or not, from Urban Outfitters. It was a random find; I was walking through the mall shopping for another character.
We were in upstate New York—mostly near the Hudson Valley. Towards the end we did go to Nevada and New Mexico. We were in the middle of nowhere, the closest thing to us was Woodbury Commons, an outlet mall. I was like how am I going to do this! I was always online finding whatever I could, and driving out to Connecticut. I was just doing whatever I could. I also went to a lot of antique markets. I would spend a lot of time going to each booth and finding things.
Field: You know he’s super rich, this character [Joseph Gordon Levitt as Trey Nelson]. One of my ultimate favorite brands of all-time is Brunello Cucinelli. It’s that quiet luxury. If you know, you know. And if you don’t, you certainly do not. It’s just the epitome of rich-chic relaxed wear for that particular character. I searched high-low, but I knew exactly what I wanted. We had to have six of those. That was not easy to acquire but we did—he had a stunt double, he bleeds, and he’s in snow and gets dirty. That’s one of our creepier episodes. There’s just a lot of physical stuff happening. A single set was like $6,000. And his shoes are made by Aurelian, which my assistant found.
Field: That is Cherry Jones, she played Laura. She’s a very evil woman. This character is kind of a little off her rocker, but also is very chic and has a ton of money. I needed it to be beautiful and age-appropriate. This is for a huge event for her company that she owns and she’s on stage and giving a speech. That is Carolina Herrera and it’s so beautifully constructed. We actually had to have two of them because she had a stunt double—which was very hard to find. The dress itself almost looks like a painting. I love how the floral print throughout the front of the dress is so eye-catching. We found that at Bergdorf’s.
Field: I love this character. As soon as I read the script for this episode, I was like, oh my god, I can’t wait. We didn’t really get casting ahead of time, I would get people like the day before they worked. That does not make acquiring the clothes very easy. If they were just talking about hiring someone, I would call all my costume friends and be like, “What size is this person?” I’m just gonna pre-shop them. So I kind of got wind that Lil Rel Howery would be playing Taffy Boyle. This is basically high-end Western. That vest is from Schlepper’s, which is a Western site that sells different vendors. I sent my assistant three hours aways to go to a Boot Barn in Pennsylvania. It literally was like a treasure hunt—this whole job was treasure hunting. \