Kerry Washington’s Painterly Skirt Suit Belongs In a Museum

Florals? For spring? Kerry Washington is proposing an entire landscape painting instead. Over the weekend, Washington turned the classic skirt suit into something that belongs in the Louvre. Or, based on the origin of the designer behind her outfit, more like New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Washington sported a three-piece suit from Thom Browne’s Resort 2023 collection. Per usual, the outfit went all in on Browne’s signature tailoring with a high-waisted maxi skirt, a men’s suit jacket, and an overcoat that Washington wore atop her shoulders. But what turned this moment from regular fashion into capital-F Fashion was the surreal print that lined Washington’s outfit. Browne upped the ante of these matching pieces with multi-color embroidery that was inspired by children’s storybook scenes. The landscape trailed from Washington’s blazer, emblazoned with yellow sunflowers and brick houses, all the way down to her skirt that was trimmed with images of sprawling hills. Of course, Washington kept up the quirk of her tailoring with the remainder of her outfit. She rounded everything off with square-frame shades, some elf-like pointed-toe heels, and a dog-shaped handbag.

While Browne is known for his more experimental takes on classic men’s suiting, he usually keeps those experiments to something like Christine Baranski’s CEO power look or Sydney Sweeney’s preppy pastel moment. Here, Browne managed to spice up something as simple as a white suit with embroidery that would make pointilists like Vincent van Gogh and Georges Seurat go crazy.

As it happens, Washington has been on something of an all-white dressing streak of late. Just last week, the actress attended an event in Los Angeles in a red carpet outfit that turned a frilly wedding dress into something fit for a night out. Her Christopher John Rogers number featured a plunging front and a corseted bodice before finishing off in a tiered maxi skirt that exploded with peplum ruffles. The Scandal star wrapped up her look with black pumps, a slicked-back hairdo, and hoop earrings.

Clearly, whether she’s in painterly tailoring or red carpet bridal, Kerry Washington’s summer whites are anything but average.