There is a scene in the first season of Apple TV+ drama Morning Wars in which Reese Witherspoon’s character, Bradley Jackson, tries on a medley of outfits, desperate to find the perfect ensemble for her new career as the glamorous, assured anchor of ratings juggernaut The Morning Show. It’s almost a play-within-a-play, wherein Bradley, a gutsy but gruff journalist who has earned her chops reporting on gritty stories from regional America, enters the shiny, sparkly world of Manhattan television, where clothes really do maketh the woman.

“Bradley is a renegade journalist from the Midwest when she comes to New York,” says costume designer Sophie de Rakoff. “She doesn’t particularly care about clothes, it’s all [about] function for her. And we had this idea to have a scene where she is literally trying on different versions of who her character could be, in a knowing way that referenced how costuming works.”