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By Reyhan Harmanci

For Scandal costume designer Lyn Paolo, defining female power was also crucial. It was a big part of her work on The West Wing, where she dressed fictional White House press secretary C.J. Cregg (“the highest ranking woman”) played by Allison Janney in Calvin Klein and Armani. “At the time I chose much more masculine silhouettes for C.J.,” Paolo writes in an email, noting that Janney’s height made “a longer drape” possible. Olivia Pope is an altogether different creature — in her world, there’s a male president who basically owes his job to her. “In my very first fitting with Kerry Washington, we agreed together that Olivia is a Pants Person,” Paolo writes. “Olivia literally ‘wears the pants.’”