A definitive ranking of Midge's fabulous costumes in 'The Marvelous Mrs Maisel'
Yep, you guessed it: this story contains literally loads of spoilers. If you haven't watched The Marvelous Mrs Maisel, you should probs just hit "x" now.
Miriam "Midge" Maisel breezed onto our screens like a breath—nay, gale—of fresh air.
At a time when we needed it the most, The Marvelous Mrs Maisel offered up a delicious tale of female triumph, talent and strength in the face of misfortune. Not only is our heroine (Rachel Brosnahan) a complete badass with a razor-sharp wit; she's also dressed to kill throughout the entire series.
The fabulousness of her costumes—which have caught the eye of a good many viewers—is no accident.
The show's costume designer Donna Zakowska told Mashable about the significance of Midge's sartorial choices.
"It is an awakening of a woman's desire to express herself outside of predictable expectations."
"Midge's look for me was an attempt to optimistically capture the spirit of a woman, who in spite of unfortunate events continues to assert her spirit to remain on her feet," says Zakowska. "Her love of clothes, detail and colour would become tools for expressing her strength and identity." She says that Midge's clothes "symbolise her capacity to not ever give in."
"As her life unfolds her wardrobe allows her to continue her inner dialogue with life," she says. "It is an awakening of a woman's desire to express herself outside of predictable expectations, and remain true to who she wants to be rather then who she is expected to be."
Zakowska says the inspiration for Midge's costumes comes from a combination of wanting to create "urban couture minimalism" and "reexamining the strength and complexity of colours particular to the late 50s."
Here are Midge's most striking costumes, ranked.
9. The B. Altman beauty counter look
Much to the chagrin of her nearest and dearest, Midge—an erstwhile Upper West Side housewife—does the unthinkable: she gets a job. The dresses crafted for this new era in Midge's life are, in fact, Zakowska's favourite. With these looks she sought to find a "silhouette that captured Midge's image of what a working girl would wear tempered with her irrepressible spirit and identity."
8. The newly-wed ensemble
During a flashback, we get a glimpse at Midge and her husband Joel's first night in their apartment as newlyweds. This dusky blue matching skirt and Peter Pan blouse is the essence of elegance. And, a total contrast from the deeper, bolder hues she favours later in her marriage.
7. Elevator operator dress
When Midge heads over to department store B. Altman for a job interview, she wears this rather fetching get-up which screams: "hire me." She doesn't get hired for the elevator operator position, alas. But she does, however, land a role on the beauty counter.
6. Stand-up dress
5. The Red Dress
What do you wear when your ex husband (who cheated on you with his secretary) is coming to dinner? You wear The Red Dress.
4. The 'where did you get the coat' coat
Midge's fur coat caused a bit of a commotion at temple; particularly with her mother, who demanded to know where she'd got it. We'd like to know too, frankly.
3. The party shorts and tights
This is one of Midge's most iconic looks from the whole series. What do you wear when you're hitting up the party scene to test jokes you've written? A shorts and tights combo, of course!
2. The 'I dressed for the meeting' dress
Hey, it's not everyday that you get to make a court appearance. Midge dressed up for her court appearance to make sure she looked like an upstanding citizen. It worked. Kinda.
1. The dress that needs pearls
There is not a single outfit in this world that screams "I win" more than this dress. Midge's mother was right: this dress does need pearls.
Just look at it.
Midge Maisel, you are fabulous.
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Rachel Thompson is the Features Editor at Mashable. Rachel's second non-fiction book The Love Fix: Reclaiming Intimacy in a Disconnected World is out now, published by Penguin Random House in Jan. 2025. The Love Fix explores why dating feels so hard right now, why we experience difficult emotions in the realm of love, and how we can change our dating culture for the better.
A leading sex and dating writer in the UK, Rachel has written for GQ, The Guardian, The Sunday Times Style, The Telegraph, Cosmopolitan, Glamour, Stylist, ELLE, The i Paper, Refinery29, and many more.
Rachel's first book Rough: How Violence Has Found Its Way Into the Bedroom And What We Can Do About It, a non-fiction investigation into sexual violence was published by Penguin Random House in 2021.
