Costume designer Brenda Cooper is head down in her upcoming book, “The Silhouette Solution” out this December, a fashion book with a foreword by Fran Drescher. But it’s far from their first project together. Decades ago, it was Cooper who crafted the timeless looks for Drescher on the CBS comedy, “The Nanny” when it began airing in 1993.
The show is now seeing a resurgence thanks in part to its streaming debut on HBO Max, which means a renewed interest in Nanny Fine’s wardrobe.
Cooper, who worked on the first four seasons, says she wanted to turn Drescher into a walking work of art with her outfits. The key for her was to create something that “had to be fun, witty, sassy and elegant. It was a sassy elegance that was important to me, and pushing that to the edge without tipping it.”
She also kept in mind that those outfits had to have a formality to them because Fran Fine was working in a household. Cooper would typically have to pull together 50 outfits for the cast per episode; of those, six would be for Drescher.
The key to Drescher’s wardrobe for the show was about knowing the right pieces. “From the beginning, that became a turtleneck, the miniskirt, opaque tights and a pair of high heels,” Cooper reveals.
Heavily influenced by bygone eras, whenever possible, Cooper wove in styles from the ‘40s, ‘50s and ‘60s, as well.
“What Fran loved was that I could use wit and humor because I’m British to elevate the comedy,” Cooper says.
Case in point: On one occasion she had accidentally dressed actress Renée Taylor, who played Fran’s mother, to match the floor, and it was kept in because “it was considered hilarious.”
Here, Cooper breaks down her 10 favorite outfits from “The Nanny.”
‘Ode to Barbra Joan’ (Season 1, Episode 20) – Bob Mackie
“In this episode, Fran Fine is going on this date. I always loved to make Fran look like Audrey Hepburn or different characters. For this, I wanted to make it look like different characters, like, ‘Let’s play dress up.’ I went to Elizabeth Courtney Costumes [Bob Mackie’s design studio] where all of Bob’s clothes were. All his designs for Cher were there, too. Do you know how exciting it was to go into those warehouses and see clothes that Cher had worn and they were hanging up on racks? I saw this dress and nothing could be [more] perfect,” Cooper says.
‘The Two Mrs. Sheffields’ (Season 3, Episode 9) – Todd Oldham
“Todd Oldham was a huge influence from the beginning. I’d go shopping at Neiman Marcus because they had Moschino Cheap & Chic, and Dolce & Gabbana. They always had bright and bold stuff back in the mid-’90s. They had Todd Oldham there too, and we became friends with him, and he would supply clothes or we would buy it,” Cooper explains.
‘The Nanny Behind the Man’ (Season 2, Episode 16) – A Classic Formula of Turtlenecks and Cocktail Dresses
“I would find these great dresses, but they had a spaghetti strap and it wasn’t enough for me. So again, it was about putting the turtleneck under that dress which gives it a completely different vibe. The black turtlenecks would just save you. I could go out and find these cocktail dresses and pair them with the turtleneck.”
‘The Dope Diamond’ (Season 3, Episode 3) – Todd Oldham Again
“For the most part, there’s never a piece of clothing that came out of a store and went on set. It always got shifted or changed, or embellished. With Todd’s outfits, you never had to elevate or embellish stuff,” Cooper says.
‘Canasta Masta’ (Season 2, Episode 14) – Adding Sass to Anna Sui
“This is an Anna Sui suit, and that’s fine. If you put your finger over the suit, it’s sassy. It’s OK, but let’s make it brilliant. I asked myself, ‘How can I pump up the volume on this? How can I make it wittier, funnier and sassier?’ What’s more formal than a vest?” Cooper recalls.
‘I’ve Got a Secret’ (Season 2, Episode 12) – Turtlenecks and Cocktail Dresses
“Every week, I had to come up with six outfits that are top to toe tailored with accessories, so I came up with formulas. One formula was the turtleneck under a dress.
‘Personal Business’ (Season 1, Episode 9) – Fran and C.C Babcock
“That red jacket was my jacket. I had a collection of 1940s jackets, and I used to put C.C [Lauren Lane] in all of them. She was a different character. She was town and country, very proper, but she couldn’t be town and country boring,” Cooper says.
‘The Nuchslep’ (Season S1, Episode 4) – The Look That Started It All
“The major influence was a piece of clothing that was used on Twiggy in ‘Princesses.’ That show was in 1991, and her character Princess Georgina ‘Georgy’ De La Rue wore it,” says Cooper.
