STYLE ‘Fairly’ chic
Former Memphian dons designer ‘armor’ for role as impeccably attired attorney
HOW ALLURING can a professional woman look and still be office appropriate?
Tune in to the hit USA Network series “Fairly Legal,” and let actress and Memphis native Virginia Williams demonstrate.
Williams, known to her old Hutchison School classmates as Ginger Williams, stars opposite Sarah Shahi as a steely attorney who takes over her late husband’s law firm. This sets up a natural conflict between Lauren (Williams’ character) and Kate (played by Shahi), who is Lauren’s same -age stepdaughter and a lawyermediator at the firm.
But never mind that. It’s the clothes.
Lauren clicks around in 5-inch heels wearing Stella McCartney, Armani, Victoria Beckham and other cool designers on her wafer-thin body. “She’s the most stylish woman on TV,” said Williams, who was home recently for a visit with her parents, John and Vicki Williams, in East Memphis. And “it’s all taken in within an inch of my life. There is no breathing room.”
The show (its season finale airs at 8 p.m. Friday) has a cult following for its fashion, Williams said. She burns up Twitter answering questions about it. In shoes, “Lauren’s favorite and also mine is Brian Atwood,” she said. She also sports Prada, Miu Miu and Michael Kors. Of course, Shahi has an equally chic wardrobe, a bit more colorful and romantic than Williams’.
If you want to ask a question, you can reach Williams at facebook.com/ TheVirginiaWilliams or twitter.com/VirginiaWms.
Williams said she works with costume designer Cynthia Summers to decide the best choice for each scene. Summers shops for some clothes, and others are custom-made for Williams by the show’s seamstress, who has a mannequin exactly duplicating Williams’ body. Williams gets to keep a piece now and then, but most outfits are kept in storage in case the show shoots a flashback scene.
If the show continues to be popular and Williams negotiates a new contract, you can bet keeping the clothes will be at the top of her list , she said. Last year, the show was the top new show on cable for most of the year, she said, and it’s doing well this year also.
Lauren could come off as brilliant but cold, so Williams works “to give Lauren as many facets as possible.” She said the show’s current and second season has allowed more character development than the first .
Lauren’s chic and pricey wardrobe helps Williams create her character. “I call it putting on her armor,” she said. “I find shoes extremely empowering.” She wears her stilettos even in closeups because “it affects my posture and my voice.”
The show shoots five months out of the year in Vancouver, although the setting is supposed to be San Franciso. That makes it harder to be with her husband of four years, Bradford Bricken, a literary manager who works with TV and film writers. She met him in Los Angeles, although he is originally from Tullahoma, Tenn. “We had to go to L.A. to meet each other,” she said. “We have a lot of frequent-f lier miles.”
Williams said she has done films in New Orleans, Charlotte, N.C., and New York, but hardly ever in L.A., because movie makers avoid it for tax reasons.
Williams attended Hutchison from pre - kindergarten through graduation. She was frequently cast in school plays and was also involved with Theatre Memphis. She has appeared in 28 television series in her career, including a recurring role as Claudia in the CBS series “How I Met Your Mother.”
She has an active charity life as well. She is involved with Free the Slaves, a group that battles human trafficking, and plans a trip in August to Nepal to work with women recently brought out of the sex slave trade. As a member of the Junior League of Los Angeles, she helps bring Shakespeare and improvisation classes to inner- city kids.
Williams is also the new face of La Fresh, a natural skin care company, and appears in its commercial campaign this year. She will also appear in indie movies “Sleeping Around” (she said the comedy isn’t as risque as it sounds) and a horror film, “The Culling,” to be released at the end of 2012, and she was the lead vocalist on the soundtrack for the upcoming indie film “Choosing Signs.”
Meanwhile, she is enjoying the role of Lauren. She calls it a joy “to put on amazing clothes and get to be your most beautiful, convincing self and be the boss lady.”
Fashion editor Barbara Bradley can be reached at (901) 529-2370 or bradley@commercialappeal.com.