The character she played for eight seasons on Scandal may have been a notorious political fixer, but Kerry Washington is just a concerned citizen doing her best to help to get out the vote. Yesterday, the Emmy-winning actress took to the campaign trail in a look that couldn’t help to recall a bit of Olivia Pope’s style, but remained Washington’s own.
Georgia’s Governors race is one of the closest in the nation, and Washington appeared at event in Atlanta to try to boost Keisha Lance Bottoms, the city’s current mayor and Democratic nominee for Governor. He ensemble couldn’t help but to exuded Olivia Pope confidence, but added some moder edge with a leather mockneck blouse. From there, she grounded the outfit in a charcoal gray pencil skirt, glossy leather belt and matching pointy-toed pumps. Looking polished as ever at the podium, she emphasized the importance of grassroots organizing and urged young people to vote.
Partisan politics aside, Washington’s tonal power dressing served as an aesthetic callback for fans of her D.C. lawyer character. For seven seasons, Olivia Pope managed social media scandals and solved high-profile PR crises with ease, all while wearing an array of impeccably tailored, monochromatic looks.
As it so happens, earlier this month, the 49-year-old appeared in another high-stakes political story, Netflix’s Animals. Directed by and starring Ben Affleck, the thriller finds Washington playing the wife of a Los Angeles mayoral candidate. When the couple’s son is kidnapped, they scramble to come up with ransom money. It’s a high-stress setup for sure, but Washington recently explained that those are the stories she’s most drawn to. Onscreen or off, he’s certainly skilled in dressing for the campaign trail.