Mindy Lahiri and Danny’s mom Annette Castellano (Rhea Perlman) spent some quality time together on this week’s The Mindy Project, but as you might expect, things didn’t go quite as planned. But per usual, that didn’t stop Mindy from looking fabulous.
“[Mindy] wanted this episode to be very girly because she was hanging out with Danny’s mom, so her outfits are even brighter than usual,” costume designer Salvador Perez tells InStyle. “She’s trying to assert herself and stand her ground with Danny’s mom, and you can’t be subtle when you’re wearing bright colors!”
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That was definitely the case when they go on their shopping expedition to buy Annette a new swimsuit for her water aerobics class. For the scene Perez dressed Mindy in a bright yellow mini skirt, a printed top, and a bold cobalt blazer (above). “The trick to making this look work was that we kept the long sleeve blouse buttoned up to the top,” explains Perez. “So even though the skirt was short, we were able to show some skin without being sexual.”
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After successfully choosing a bathing suit, the outing takes a turn for the worse when Mindy spies Annette stealing a bomber jacket for Danny. “It was a hit on Twitter!” says Perez who chose an Andrew Marc piece for the scene. Danny immediately falls in love with jacket, and Mindy loses her resolve to tell him that it was stolen.
But she can’t keep it in forever! She accuses Annette of being a shoplifter only to be rebuffed and then forced to make amends by Danny.He insists she have dinner at his mom’s and wear black (the horror!) as penance for her accusation. While the color choice was uncharacteristic, Perez wanted to make sure that the audience would believe it could come from her closet. “She would have plenty of fabulous, chic black dresses, but this one had to be demure,” he says. With that in mind, he chose a simple dress with a touch of lace detailing on the sleeves. The truth eventually comes out, which means that Mindy can hang up her black dress for good!
We’ll be chatting with Perez every week about our favorite looks from The Mindy Project, so be sure to check back in next week!
Catch The Mindy Project every Tuesday at 9:30 p.m. ET on Fox.
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