From “Handmaid’s Tale” to “Scarpetta”: Costume Designer Ane Crabtree’s Visceral Approach to Character

“Everything began with Patricia Cornwell’s words,” says three-time Emmy-nominated costume designer Ane Crabtree about the making of Scarpetta, an eight-episode crime thriller adapted from the 1990 novel Postmortem by series creator Liz Sarnoff, now streaming on Prime Video. “I always try to start with the purity of the creator’s words, and I have such a beautiful working relationship with Liz that I can ask her anything.”

Crabtree, born in South Dakota and raised in Kentucky, studied at the University of Evansville in Indiana before continuing her fine arts education at its U.K. sister school, Harlaxton College, and later attending New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology. Her background brings a unique perspective to her costumes – a purpose-filled fusion of artistry, style, and detail. Her most recognized work to date is The Handmaid’s Tale, in which her interpretation of Margaret Atwood’s blood-red robe and “wing” has become a symbol of women’s oppression. The costume is on permanent display at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C.

Scarpetta, which has been renewed for a second season, gave the designer a chance to reconnect with her roots while inspiring a fresh perspective on costumes. “As a woman from the South on this show that has been particularly helpful, but everything really becomes this beautiful stew in the fittings,” she tells The Credits.

Nicole Kidman stars as Kay Scarpetta, a reinstated chief medical examiner of Virginia. Opposite is husband and FBI profiler Benton Wesley (Simon Baker), older sister Dorothy (Jamie Lee Curtis), Dorothy’s husband (and former detective) Pete Marino (Bobby Cannavale), and Dorothy’s daughter Lucy (Ariana DeBose). They all live together, and as one can imagine, there’s plenty of family dynamics (and trauma) playing out. Central to the story is a mystery linking Kay’s past and present, unfolding across dual timelines – modern day and her first stint as the Commonwealth’s forensic pathologist in 1998. Flashbacks feature different actors, including Rosy McEwen as Kay, Hunter Parrish as Benton, and Jake Cannavale as Pete. Crabtree designed looks to span both periods.

“It sounds a bit method, and I don’t think it’s a negative point, but I wanted to create the whole of their closet as if they are real people,” Crabtree suggests. “There’s a level of intensity that you want to get correct that helps the actor. You’re not playing Kay Scarpetta. You are Kay Scarpetta.” The approach, at least from Crabtree’s viewpoint, allows the actor to look into the mind of the character. For Kay, she blended backstory, regional influences, and period fashion to create her looks.

“I wanted both Kays to have this sense of a longing for the fineness of men’s tailoring that she saw in her father,” she notes. [Part of Kay’s character is witnessing her father’s murder.] “There’s a kind of attention to presenting oneself that Kay has throughout all timelines, but it’s really the idea of a hardworking family. It’s every immigrant’s story, right? But from an Italian man’s point of view. Kay 1998 and Kay 2026, she’s dressing like [actor] Cary Grant [North by Northwest]. She’s the woman who’s dressing like a male lead, not because I want her in men’s clothes, but her father passed, and a single mother raised her in the ‘70s when feminism was huge. And so her mother was this strong character, but she’s got her sense of style.”

The 1998 version of Kay drew some of its detailing from social expectations. “The first time we see Kay in 1998, I wanted to give the character a feeling of having to fit in these boxes that society in that time in the South, in Virginia, would expect in terms of presentation. But her trench coat isn’t perfect. It doesn’t fit her well. She got that off the rack because she thought she needed one good coat to keep in the car at all times. She’s not someone who spends a lot of money on clothes and probably has had her stuff for many years.”

Those same influences echoed into the modern-day version of Kay. “Throughout the season, I wanted the color of dried blood in her look,” she says. This extended to Kay’s trench coat, which the designer added a notable touch to its lining. “I like visceral feeling fabrics and visual things for actors because it can help them, and so, there’s a lining of blood,” she says. “She’s reminded of her father’s death, which was quite bloody, and it’s the reason why she wants to solve these puzzles her whole life. She wants to sort of give integrity and respect to these people who’ve passed away, including her father. But it’s always a reminder. And so whether it’s the lining inside of her coat, or the color that envelops her, it’s almost like a stain. You can never get away from it.”

With Kay’s husband, Benton, his color palette transitions from bright white and creams in his past to darker shades of gray and black, reflecting his trauma as a child. “There’s a fine line between madness and genius, and I’m certain that Benton has that,” notes Crabtree. “He’s still struggling on his own with that, and so his clothing is usually very correct. Everything fits like a glove, but maybe his collars start to turn a little bit up, almost like a demon has taken over. It’s like those people who always have their mask on, and maybe that mask is trying to be a good human, trying to be a Southern gentleman, but they can’t contain themselves.”

Knowing the series has two full seasons is helping Crabtree shape the wardrobe. “For me, it’s a real search for the bones of the character before we even begin to add the clothing… The psychology of their childhood is more important to me than what they wear. And from that, I create what they wear. So what I’m doing for season two is adding a bit more pathos. I’m trying to add more wrinkles to show that things are not perfect when you’re going through madness, or a family falling apart, or a murder that you can’t solve for 28 years. I think it’s really important for the actors, for me, for Liz, and for the integrity of the story to come through.”

Scarpetta is available now on Prime Video.

 Featured image: Detective Pete Marino (Bobby Cannavale), Kay Scarpetta (Nicole Kidman). Connie Chornuk/Prime. Courtesy Amazon MGM Studios.