How Costume Designer Daniel Lawson Gave Carrie Preston’s “Elsbeth” a New York Glow-Up

Daniel Lawson and Elsbeth Tascioni go way back.

Lawson, an Emmy-nominated costume designer, first met the idiosyncratic lawyer in 2010 when the character debuted on The Good Wife. Since then, he’s created her wardrobe for both that show and its spin-off, The Good Fight. But it wasn’t until Elsbeth, played by Carrie Preston, landed her own CBS series and shifted locale from Chicago to New York that Lawson was really able to make her shine.

“On Good Wife and Good Fight, Elsbeth was more contained. She wasn’t in her own arena. She was always a guest at our law firms,” says Lawson via Zoom. “When she moved to New York, Robert and Michelle King, who created all these series, wanted to keep her quirky look, but push it. In that first episode, her wardrobe was a little calmer, still colorful, but not too much. As the three seasons have gone on, we’ve definitely ramped up her freak flag.”

A unique twist on the police procedural, Elsbeth finds Tascioni leaving her legal practice to join the NYC Police Department as a special consultant. Turns out, her analytic skills are perfect for solving murders. A throwback to Columbo, the hit 1970s series, viewers witness the murder. So it isn’t a question of “whodunit.” The fun is watching Elsbeth pursue the murderer (often played by a well-known guest star) until she uncovers clues that put them in cuffs.

Perpetually buoyant with a childlike enthusiasm, Elsbeth can be easily dismissed. But as all soon discover, underestimate her at your own risk. Lawson believes Elsbeth’s outfits are key to creating this persona. Likening her wardrobe to Columbo’s trenchcoat, Lawson sees it as a secret weapon to get suspects to lower their guard.

“She stands out wherever she is,” Lawson continues. “She uses her dress to disarm people. They see her and think, ‘Oh my gosh! Who is this person?’ It’s her Trojan horse.”

This allows Lawson, who received two Primetime Emmy nominations for The Good Wife and two Daytime Emmy nods for One Life to Live, the opportunity to stretch his creativity every episode. Reds, pinks, oranges, and purples are Elsbeth’s colors of choice. The brighter, the better. Suit patterns have included intricate florals, multicolored checks and stripes, and regal blue-and-gold scrollwork. She’s sported a fringed, full-length, yellow coat that makes her look like a giant canary. To celebrate Halloween, Elsbeth embraced a My Fair Lady theme, appearing in four costumes inspired by Audrey Hepburn’s looks in the 1964 classic.

“I’ve been using lots of color, texture, prints, interesting shapes, really pushing it,” explains Lawson. “And it’s funny… I’ll pick something, put an outfit together, and send it to the Kings to see. I always think this is the one they’re gonna say, ‘No. You’ve gone too far.’ That hasn’t happened, so I’m thrilled about that.”

Lawson believes New York City is perfect for highlighting the character’s eccentricities. The production intentionally casts people taller than Preston so that Elsbeth is always looking up. It accentuates her “NYC” wonderment. “In our story, New York is a character,” he explains. “Our locations department takes us all over…Queens, Brooklyn, Staten Island. It’s not a gritty New York. We lean more into the Sex and the City beauty of it all.”

Calling them New York tones, Lawson leans toward navy, teal, silver, black, and gray for the rest of the cast and guest stars. This creates a cool contrast to Elsbeth’s bright intensity.

“We kind of have two planets orbiting each other, right? We always have our killer, and then we always have Elsbeth,” Lawson continues, adding he works closely with each guest star to devise just the right look. “So we have to create that killer’s world in every episode.”

Famous faces that Elsbeth has caught include Dianne Wiest, Nathan Lane, Beanie Feldstein, Laurie Metcalf, Matthew Broderick, Steve Buscemi, Mary-Louise Parker, Blair Underwood, and Keegan-Michael Key. Tracey Ullman enjoyed portraying a homicidal psychic in season two so much that she returned as a completely different killer in season three.

Filming in New York has behind-the-scenes advantages as well. Whether it’s dressing a debutant’s ball, outfitting a production of The Nutcracker, or fashioning frocks for former supermodels, Lawson is sure that whatever he needs is only a few blocks away.

“First of all, the department stores are amazing to us — particularly, Bloomingdale’s, Saks, Bergdorf Goodman. They’re very welcoming, very helpful,” says Lawson. “They have studio services that cater to the TV, film, and theatre worlds.”

Wholesale outlets come in handy. “They’re really not for the regular shopper,” continues Lawson. “They’re for other businesses to come in and shop. But we’re able to go in. We get to see things before they hit the stores, which is great.”

Lawson is always on the lookout for custom boutiques and vintage clothing stores. He’ll get into an Elsbeth frame of mind and scour windows for eye-catching colors. One favorite find was ZCrave on Canal Street.

“I’d never even heard of it. We were walking along, and I literally stopped because of what they had in the window,” says Lawson. “We went in, and there was a patent vinyl trench coat, edged with hot pink fur on the cuffs and neck. And it’s, ‘How did I not know this existed?’ There was a suit that had faces all over it, another blue and white suit with a Harlequin-kind of look — so many pieces like that.”

ZCrave is not an anomaly. “In New York, you never know what you’re going to find,” Lawson adds. “Almost every time, I find something that I wasn’t shopping for. ‘That’ll be terrific. Let’s put this in our back pocket. I know we’re gonna use it.’”

That back pocket has grown into two cavernous costume facilities that address the show’s wardrobe needs. One contains nuts-and-bolts needs — police uniforms, formal wear, doctor and nurse garb. Elsbeth’s outfits fill between 150 and 175 linear feet of the other facility, which also features a tailor shop, fitting rooms, and offices for the costume department.

12 staffers help keep track of everything. “A terrific team,” adds Lawson “I can be like, ‘Hey, there was that pink blouse that had…’ and somebody will go, ‘I know where that is.’ We’re very good at that.”

Lawson sometimes puts his own spin on a piece, tweaking it to give it an Elsbeth feel. That’s when the outlets specializing in notions come in handy. “Ribbon, trim, buttons… all that stuff,” says Lawson. “It’s great to be able to have all that in our backyard.”

For costuming needs that can’t be shopped, Lawson taps John Kristiansen Custom Costume Shop on 38th Street. It built all the My Fair Lady costumes, ranging from a black, guttersnipe ensemble to an elegant, black-trimmed, white gown complete with a voluminous chapeau.

Perhaps Lawson’s favorite reason for working on Elsbeth is Preston. He appreciates the trust she puts in him and her enthusiasm about the ideas he presents. And she always seems to put a fun spin on whatever he creates.

“Carrie adds a lot. I know what’s on the page. I can anticipate how she’s going to do something, and then Carrie totally magnifies it, making it so much better than I could imagine,” explains Lawson. “We talk about every costume. What’s going to go through. She may say, ‘Oh, I think in this scene, I might dance.’ Or, ‘I’m gonna act out this murder scene, be on the floor rolling around.’”

No stranger to the grind of network series production, Lawson says his Elsbeth experience has been just the opposite.

“You get towards the end, and you start to feel tired after doing 18, 19 episodes. There’s a little ‘How much longer?’ But I wasn’t tired,” remembers Lawson. “It was such an amazing season for us, and we’re so excited to be coming back for a fourth season. People look at the show and think, ‘Oh, it’s a cop procedural.’ But it’s so much more than that. I feel like we have a little jewel, and we’re all protecting it and keeping it shiny.”

Elsbeth airs on CBS on Thursday nights. 

Featured image: Pictured (L-R): Molly Price as Det. Jackie Donnelly and Carrie Preston as Elsbeth Tascioni. Photo: Michael Parmelee/CBS ©2025 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.