In the trenches: How Only Murders In The Building honors the tradition of detective wear

The coat is the thing in Hulu's true-crime send-up. Costume designer Dana Covarrubias peels back each look, layer by layer.

By Danette Chavez | September 22, 2021 | 6:00pm

TV Features Only Murders in the Building

In the trenches: How Only Murders In The Building honors the tradition of detective wear

The trench coat is a staple of wardrobes and detective stories alike. Harried sleuths, poised private eyes, and world-weary investigators have often donned these versatile numbers: double-breasted; belt buckled or tied; sometimes accompanied by a hat. One of the most famous fictional detectives, Sherlock Holmes, for decades sported an Inverness outercoat, which is quite trench-like, before trading it for a Belstaff Milford Coat in Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss’ BBC series. (Both looks remain highly coveted.) The trench coat could speak to a detective’s no-nonsense attitude, but it could just as easily become a fashion statement.

The look evolved, and the more traditional trenches of Dragnet gave way to Columbo’s rumpled raincoat. The Inspector Gadget cartoon played with the functionality of the coat. Sometimes, the coat was a riff on the trench: a mac, a cag, and a Barbour have shielded detectives from the elements and their quarry. The collected closets of the cops of the various Law & Order shows have more gabardine, leather, and cashmere outerwear than a Macy’s.

In its send-up of true-crime culture, Hulu’s Only Murders In The Building honors some detective story traditions as it skewers or deconstructs many of the rest. One element that translated easily to the Upper West Side setting of the show, which stars Steve Martin, Selena Gomez, and Martin Short, was the iconic coat. The series, which is now in its sixth episode, deploys its outerwear looks as thoughtfully as its clues. What these amateur sleuths wear says a lot of about their characters. Their natty cold-weather ensembles serve as armor, a façade, and even advertising.

That’s all by the show’s design, which got a guiding hand from Dana Covarrubias. The costume designer, who’s also worked on Mrs. Fletcher, Ramy, and Claws, tells The A.V. Club that she was inspired by Hitchcock movies, Columbo, and even Fargo to put together ensembles that are both timeless and of the moment. We spoke to Covarrubias about paying homage to the TV detectives of yore, pairing faux fur with a pop star, and the hunt for one traffic-stopping look.

The veteran (actor) who comes out of retirement

The main characters of Only Murders are introduced one by one, in seemingly random order (though Oliver would likely argue that Charles and Mabel were the opening acts). They each have a distinct look, and all appear at home on the streets of New York. As Charles (Steve Martin), a genteel, out-of-work actor, makes his way home to the Arconia, he looks confident, even happy. He muses on his good fortune until his reverie is interrupted by a stranger who recognizes him from his most prominent role as the eponymous detective on a ’90s procedural called Brazzos. Charles’ love of true-crime podcasts isn’t revealed until later in the premiere, but we already have a sense of his relevant past. The only time we see him in a trench coat is in old footage of the Brazzos show, but Covarrubias says Charles’ looks always “reflect the silhouette of his character Brazzos. At one point, we were looking at having him in a more similar silhouette to the leather trench that he wears as Brazzos, but it just felt too on the nose. We decided to go with more of a very classic, clean line wool overcoat.” The one seen in the photo above is a navy Reese overcoat, complete with blue fedora. It’s chic, but not something that would necessarily stand out in the sea of New Yorkers. Early on, Charles doesn’t want to stand out. He just wants to make omelettes he doesn’t eat in an impeccably designed kitchen.

Mabel’s armor

Covarrubias and the show took the opposite approach for Mabel (Selena Gomez), a twentysomething artist with few illusions about the world around her. As her introductory inner monologue states, she’s aware of having “all the eyes on you, all the time.” She strides with purpose, ignoring cat calls because binge-watching Dateline has imparted alarming crime stats. Mabel doesn’t try to blend in, but neither is she trying to invite anyone in with her boldly-colored ensembles and power clashing. Covarrubias has described Mabel’s fashion as a form of armor. The costume designer says they had “a character arc for Mabel’s costumes where she starts out a little more fashionista and gets a little more classic in her silhouettes as the season progresses.”Early on, we do see Mabel in trendier looks, like a jumpsuit or the Michael Kors marigold-yellow cropped faux fur number pictured above. But, with time, she takes on more classic looks, including updos and great knits worthy of -levels of obsession.

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“Do you not see this coat?!”

Martin Short plays Oliver Putnam, the third novice podcaster in this trio, and a Broadway director who’s down on his luck but convinced that his next big break is around the corner. Where Charles looked proud of his city, and Mabel acutely aware of it, Oliver appears besotted. He inhales deeply, practically strutting, until he’s almost hit by a car at a traffic light. Oliver resents the interruption of his musing about a video he saw “on the worldwide web” as much as the potential bodily injury. But mostly, he can’t believe that anyone could miss him. He’s wearing purple, the color of royalty.In this early scene, Covarrubias imagines Oliver has left a meeting with an investor, which is why he’s putting his best foot/coat forward. (As many sensible moms and fashion blogs will tell you, a great coat hides a lot of sins.) The look also had to elicit that response from Oliver, so Covarrubias and her team went through “three or four racks of coat options for that one coat look. We sourced them from literally all over the world. We had a lot of favorites that were in the mix, but that one, I think just that it was such a beautiful, bright, royal purple color, the length was really dramatic and it just had enough drama, but felt real too.” Oliver’s outburst was scripted, so Covarrubias “knew we had to find something that justified the line, but at the same time, Marty was very concerned with making sure that his costumes weren’t so over the top they overshadowed his character development.”For Covarrubias, this knockout piece had to point to Oliver’s faded glory: “He had his heyday, a time where he could afford nicer things and he’s held onto those things and he’s kept them nice.” (His apartment decor offers the same combination, though it’s all out in the open instead of being reserved for nicer occasions.) The wardrobe team went for a mix of high and low, shopping on therealreal.com, an online consignment shop with “really amazing designer coats, but for a fraction of the cost. They also allow returns, for film. It’s kind of perfect because we can try it on at the fitting and if it doesn’t work out, we can return it. That was one of our main sources.” They also looked at thrift stores, but when it came to this royal purple Haider Ackerman coat, they splurged. The check for that coat? $1,500.

A sartorial blast from the past

So far, so single-breasted, right? Well, as Covarrubias notes, they weren’t going for such a literal trench look early on. (The coats are memorable on their own, though.) It’s in the second episode, “Who Is Tim Kono?,” that we see our first trench coat. And it’s just where we’d expect to find one: in an episode of the fictional Brazzos, worn by a gritty cop portrayed by Charles. Here, Covarrubias and her team felt comfortable with a more direct nod, though they still played with the image. “With the Brazzos coat, I think where we started with that was we liked the idea of the classic trench, but we did want to do a little spin on it,” Covarrubias says. “We ended up finding was really cool vintage leather trench—a really dark chocolate brown leather, which puts like a little bit of a spin on the look for his character of Brazzos.”

The softer side of Mabel

The premiere episode, “True Crime,” ends with the discovery of a clue that complicates the death of Tim Kono (Julian Cihi). After Oliver travels to New Jersey with his hand out, Mabel and Charles bond as they do some digging to support their podcast endeavor (though we soon learn she has more pressing reasons for finding out what happened to Tim). Mabel’s defenses are down, briefly; as she stands on the rooftop with Charles, she doesn’t know which theory for Tim’s death is more disturbing. Her styling is different here: soft waves paired with a more muted color palette. For Covarrubias, what completes the outfit is a textured coat. This cream-colored Zadig & Voltaire coat is one of three teddy coats in Mabel’s wardrobe.Just as Charles and Oliver wondered how Mabel could have an apartment in the historic Arconia, it’s natural for viewers to wonder how she could also have so many great looks, including coats, in her closet. By the sixth episode, we’ve learned that she’s far from being independently wealthy. Covarrubias and the series sought to maintain a certain amount of fantasy in the lives of these characters—they are on a TV show, after all—while still using their wardrobes to reflect who they are and where they live. Covarrubias has lived in New York City for 20 years, so she knows you’d need different kinds of coats: a lighter quilted coat, such as the one Charles wears when they trail Mabel and Oscar (Aaron Dominguez); a trench for rainy days (and sleuthing); and a teddy coat with a scarf for colder days or just that moment when you get the wind knocked out of you. But Covarrubias and her team didn’t limit themselves to shopping at Neiman Marcus or other high-end stores: “ You don’t always have a giant budget and sometimes your characters, it does make sense that this character could afford something nice, but you don’t necessarily have $5,000 to spend on a coat.” The costume designer grew up with a knack for finding a great item and a great deal, a skillset that’s “definitely transferred well into my career.”

The trench coat that ties it all together

There was a bit of friction between Mabel and Charles after she realized he’d recited dialogue from his show in lieu of giving her his backstory. But it turns out his real-life relationship with his dad inspired that dialogue. By episode four, “The Sting,” everyone is all in on the true-crime podcast. As the trio dash out to meet with podcast darling Cinda Canning (a smug Tina Fey), they convene in the elevator (their ersatz conference room) to go over strategy. Charles wants to take the lead, Mabel wants to let him, and Oliver still tries to direct everyone. This is the first time in the present that we see one of the main characters in the detective’s signature look. This oxblood vinyl trench by ASOS also happens to be Covarrubias’ favorite outerwear look for Mabel. The item “really symbolized the blending of the two worlds. It’s the first time she dresses in more of a detective silhouette, a traditional silhouette, but at the same time in an unconventional fabric. The vinyl that’s very shiny, very early 2000s, which is very in right now, very hip right now.” Oliver and Charles tend to stick with wool overcoats, like the black with gray plaid Paul Smith coat pictured above, or a plaid, patched ETRO wool coat in a future episode. But as Mabel throws herself into the investigation, the trench coats become the norm. It’s as much a nod to detective fashion as it is a sign of youthful passion.

Everyone gets in on the fun

Like the Arconia, Only Murders In The Building is full of New Yorkers, all of whom seem to have their own collections of great coats and jackets. Take sexy bassoonist Jan (Amy Ryan), whose leather jacket evokes a trench or longer wrap coat with its wide lapels. Oscar, Mr. Tie-Dye Hoodie himself, pairs his signature item of clothing with a black peacoat that’s not as immediately attention-grabbing as the rest of the show’s outerwear. But raising the hoodie on his sweater gives him a mysterious look—at least, until we realize that he’s just trying to rekindle his relationship with Mabel. (Or is he? Yeah, probably). Teddy Dimas (Nathan Lane), the deli-and-dips mogul whose deep pockets are constantly rummaged by Oliver, also keeps things more streamlined when it comes to his coats. But that’s because, until now, Teddy’s had no real interest in the death of Tim Kono, so he’s not been playing detective.