"Scully, what are you wearing?"

Dana Scully Lookbook Project | A comprehensive look at all of the outfits worn by Agent Dana Scully in the X FIles

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Bonus: Eek! the Cat

Okay. Okay so hear me out. 

So during 1995, the X Files reached a level of mainstream success that the characters have become iconic so far as to be referenced in other media. I don’t plan on covering all of these references because if I did, I would be here for far too long. So why speak to this instance? Well, not only was this an overt reference to the X Files, using the proper character names and designs but also they were voiced by Gillian and David.

How did this happen? Eek! the Cat was a cartoon series that ran its original run on the Fox Box, a Saturday morning cartoon program on Fox which was congruently airing the X Files. Additionally, Gillian’s husband at the time was working on this show, enough said. The episode was a Star Trek parody (even the name was Eek! Space Nine, a reference that makes my Trekkie heart cry a little) so throwing in another popular SciFi franchise made sense.

Because this is a highly stylized cartoon, the character designs are quite exaggerated but instantly recognizable to an audience that might only know the show by association. in 95, there was a lot more navy added into Scully’s wardrobe, and that obviously carried over into her image as a character. Her hair is closer to her late season 2 design, but it is instantly Scully. No necklace though, that surprised me, but it may be too small of a detail to animate. 

They managed to get her name on the door. Even in a cartoon, they recognize that Scully should have her name on the office... shaking my head.

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Scully’s Fashion in 1995

Color

The trend that began last year with all of the color draining from Scully’s wardrobe continues in 1995. Thankfully, she is now tending more to ‘traditional business colors’ wearing more navy and black rather than her previous tendencies to beige and tans. Overall, the drain in color can be interpreted in many ways as I have mentioned before such as the loss of innocence and increased experience. One other point that I have yet to mention is her overall look moving more to an executive style of dress, the highest level of business dress. In her experience where the situations she finds herself in becoming increasingly odder, she dresses as professionally as possible to offset the out-there aspects of her cases to ensure people take her seriously.

Fit

This is the first time I have noted a big jump in wardrobe quality. While I analyze style on a year-by-year basis as fashion is typically defined by the year, the beginning of season 3 gives Scully some of the best fitting and well-tailored suits to date.

One trend that has remained from 1994 is the layering. The trench coat became an iconic part of Scully’s wardrobe during this time. It is also most likely a great way to stay warm in the very cold Vancouver DC winters. Scully also is tending more and more toward pantsuits over time, however, some skirts and pencil skirts are occasionally peppered in to keep her wardrobe fresh. The majority of her outfits also include the ever-present ribbed undershirt, however, a few other layered blouses, button-downs, and other shirts are used occasionally.

Casual wear she keeps it comfortable with oversized and soft items. Comfort and functionality above aesthetics here, even though I think all of her casual outfits are amazing.

Accessories

Scully’s most frequent accessories have stayed consistent so much that when accessories such as her necklace are missing, it is usually for a deeper reason. In 1995, we have seen some absolutely iconic extra items such as her fanny pack and the absolutely unit of a bucket of chicken. The accessory with the biggest overall increase in appearances is defiantly her cellphone. No wonder we all know her typical phone greeting by heart, “Mulder it’s me.”

Hair

Scully’s early-season hair is absolutely all over the place. I think this boils down to them not really knowing how to take care of it. Gillian has 2B curly hair. What that means is that while easily straightened or styled, it needs to be treated differently than other hair types, aka don’t brush the heck out of it or use a ton of heat. This leads to the excessive poof that we see frequently throughout. Hot rollers ahoy, defiantly not the best way to keep down the frizz and most likely will absolutely fry out her ends. This is probably why she receives constant haircuts such as the four shown above.

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Top 5 Scully looks of 1995

5. Throwback Red

Scully’s 1995 wardrobe follows the trend started in 1994 of decreasing the amount of color in her wardrobe. This lovely suit from 1993, however, returns a few times. This is probably one of my favorite of her colorful suits from that time period, the black accents help significantly in adding depth. She tends to style it differently than she did back in 1993, adding layers instead of focusing on shape. It is also occasionally used to remind us of a more innocent and inexperienced Scully.

4. Lumberjack Casual

No one talks about this outfit. Why does no one talk about this? Probably because it was on screen for a total of 10 seconds. If I was ranking all of Scully’s outfits based purely on aesthetics, I would rate this as the best outfit. One thing to consider, other than how iconic an outfit is, is how well her outfit fits her character. While I personally love this look, it probably is not the most indicative of Scully as a whole. Got to give points to her giant phone and of course her glasses.

3. Clyde Bruckman Blues

This is a repeat of an outfit from season 1. I don’t know why, but I just love it so much better here. It suits her so well at this point in the story and it has also been tailored to better fit her (especially in the pants). This makes this already sleek outfit look even sleeker. The periwinkle blouse really brings out her eyes. This is also the first time we see Scully’s third watch which is very much in style during the time period.

2. Totally Not Scully™

We are talking about iconic looks here. Actively trying to dress not like herself, she puts on this absolutely massive grey hoodie, navy leggings, white high-top sneakers, and a fanny pack. While not successfully losing her stalker and not being her typical wear, she absolutely slays this look.

1. Scully in the Shades

I am not going to lie, completely forgot about this look until my rewatch. Why might that be? Well, her well-tailored navy pantsuit and white blouse are a common pairing. This specific outfit, however, adds kitten heels dyed to match and a pair of sunglasses. Overall it gives her a clean and in-charge look that fits both her body and her personality. This is the embodiment of 1995 Scully, a woman that has seen things that she can’t explain and is prepared to see more.

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As this is a Scully centric episode, I am shocked that I completely forgot about it. Of all of the Scully centric episodes so far, however, it is by far the most forgettable. The outfits within this episode are not assisting in it’s memorability, being very run of the mill, with many components we have seen before. This is the same skirt suit from the conclusion of Oubiette and her classic black trench.

Here is a lovely way to end off 1995. So very soft moment here between Mulder and Scully. As this episode is meant to be a role reversal, Mulder being skeptical of the religious components of this case and Scully believing. It takes the until the conclusion for Mulder to realize the true impact that this reversal has had on her. He does what he can, allows her to have space, help her with her coat, and let her sort out her feelings.

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In a world where a woman owns 15 beige suits, she finds an opportunity to buy yet another one. It fits better sure, but again we must ask the question, why beige? Why is it always beige? Digging through some catalogs from 1995 as a whole, tan and beige colors were present, but not super trendy. It would not be a Scully outfit however without an iconic trench.

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Very similar look to her previous autopsy garb. We are getting to the point where I can recognize that she is wearing different scrubs based on the collar design. One thing I don’t think I have noted about the autopsy gear yet is that she takes off all of her jewelry, so actually following good protocol. Still should probably be wearing a face mask.

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Her hair is getting long and I am here for this. Too bad that it gets cut after the new year. We will enjoy it while it is here. Her black military-style blazer looks almost blue in certain lighting, especially under her super dark black trench. It is hard to get your blacks to match. The most out of character is her ever color-changing greyish undershirt which is not ribbed???

Her face is gold, if Scully could curse, she would tell him, “Mulder, don’t fucking eat the evidence!” (Yes Scully does say fuck in the original script of the X-Files movie so this is in character)

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Office Scully taking it back to the absolute classics. The classic season 1 look with the Yale blue suit. It is nice and homey, feeling safe back in the office, back in control. A lot of season 1 suits have been returning recently. I will talk about this in a future post...

I know we all talk about the fact that Scully doesn’t have a desk, because that is of course horrible, but can we take a look at the door because excuse me??? Only Mulder’s name? For shame Mulder, Doctor Dana Katherine Scully deserves to have her name on the office.

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This is not a Scully-centric episode, therefore we don’t get to deep dive into what she is feeling, but it looks like she is on the verge of tears for the entire workday which is horrible and no one said or did anything about it. She is back to the basics, relying on her two-part episode black suit. Fits well. Lots of buttons. Ribbed shirt. My guess? It is probably really comfortable. Also what the heck is going on with her badge??? The middle one is her old badge and the other two don’t even look like hers, looks more like Monica Reyes’? Don’t even know.

Another effect of this not being a Scully-centric episode is a lot of phone time resulting in one of my favorite scenes, wonderfully animated by @cartoonishly​ here.

And when I say a lot of phone time, I mean a lot of phone time. Always a fan of Scully’s brick of a house phone. No matter, she gets this sense of clarity post-train car and gets this air of confidence back that is so refreshing.

Bonus! Glasses Mulder. Yes. Please. Thank you.

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Symbolism. Symbolism. Symbolism. That is what we have here. When was the last time we saw Scully wear a full-color suit??? I will tell you, it was this exact suit over a YEAR ago just this time with the pencil skirt that was originally paired. The color has been drained from her wardrobe over time, as she has taken in more experience/trauma and grown. She has become more serious, but here once the color comes back, here comes a more raw Scully.

In the same way 1993 Scully experiences strange phenomena for the first time, she here is taken aback. In her own words, “It was freaky.” Of all of the things she has seen, this experience takes her for a loop, back to the green agent in her colorful suits ready to solve everything with logic. 

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Ugh. This suit again. The black trench can not even save this. It just does not fit her amazingly, the color is meh, and the buttons... Self covered buttons. This whole outfit would be so much better if they just replaced the buttons. And looking forward, this is not going anywhere any time soon.

I can just smell the cigarette smoke in this room nasty.

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Ah yes we have been blessed with wonderful lighting and we get to see details. Look at the striping on the blazer! I missed this the previous time she wore this blazer paired with slacks in 2Shy. This is very reminiscent of the navy striped blazer from last episode. Very classy way to add variation into Scully’s mostly solid colored wardrobe. 

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You can tell it is getting cold because the trench coats are getting thicker, this new thick navy blazer fitting nicely into her wardrobe that is becoming more and more like Mulder’s. Navy on navy is much more palatable than the beige on beige  she was wearing more frequently earlier in the year. As her style goes, this is definitely the direction she is moving going forward. However she never leaves behind the ever-present ribbed shirts.

Scully is also the only person who wants to keep dry. Which is a big mood. Like you know she has spent TIME with the hot rollers in her hair and all of that will go out the window once it gets wet. Trust me, as a girl with curly hair, if you hair gets unset  Must not be humid because in later scenes it still looks immaculate. 

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Sorry the queue broke today, lookbook will continue tomorrow

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This trench is a throwback and a half if I have ever seen one. I honestly never expected to see it again because this was the trench that Scully was ABDUCTED in. So this should be on the floor of some alien spaceship or something else, not her closet. Underneath this giant trench, she has on the returning favorite chocolate brown suit.

Oh my. They are so pretty together. Just... look at them.

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Now THIS is a great way to do the recent ‘our costume budget has increased so we now have the budget for multiple similar suits’ trend. So we have another very similar navy suit to the one she wore earlier (though this one has been paired with slacks instead of a skirt). However, this one has a very faint striping effect that is the epitome of classy.

Interestingly enough, this new blazer has cushion-style buttons that can’t help but give me the same vibe as the buttons from the book Corduroy. This suit is a wonderful way to play with subtle fashion choices that keep her look consistent throughout without wearing the same suit over and over again.

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Ah I love this blazer last seen in D.P.O. Very fitted, very professional. Previously she paired this with matching pants, however this time, she switches it out for a navy pencilish skirt. The taper on the skirt is a little odd, but still nice. I love that their outfits match almost perfectly, it reminds me of the Korean trend of couples wearing matching outfits. Platonic behavior right there.