Mary Tyler Moore as Mary Richards, standing left, and Valerie Harper, right, as Rhoda Morgenstern on The Mary Tyler Moore show. The two characters were opposites when it came to style, but both continue to inspire fashion today.CBS Photo Archive/Getty Images
Before Sex and the City shattered professional dress codes with Manolo Blahniks and It Bags, before Murphy Brown brought bright hip-length blazers to the office and Emily in Paris snapped selfies with berets, there was The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Its debut on Sept. 19, 1970, came with a theme song that prophetically declared its main character was “gonna make it after all,” and unbeknownst to most, the lyric applied to the show’s wardrobe as well.
Fifty-five years in, The Mary Tyler Moore Show remains influential – beyond its trailblazing scripts. It propelled the fashion status of workwear and continues to inspire designers and to fuel feeds.
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The series centres on Mary Richards, played by Moore, and her ever-evolving wardrobe, which grew alongside her over seven seasons as she moved to the city from a Minnesota town and nabbed a big TV newsroom gig in Minneapolis.
During her office hours, she became the blueprint for professional femininity, trading housewife florals for bold colour blocking, swapping demure dresses for power pantsuits, and sporting sweaters and vests with kerchiefs and oversized collars with confidence.
“She made being single very glamorous and not sad. She made having a career look beautiful,” says TV historian Jennifer Keishin Armstrong. “Before her, we had a lot of tropes.”
Mary’s status-quo shaking wardrobe – and that of her neighbour/best friend, Rhoda Morgenstern (Valerie Harper) – has gone on to inspire hours of fashion debate on cross-generational podcasts such as After All: A Mary Tyler Moore Podcast, 2Mary2Tyler2Moore, and Rhoda and Mary.
Let’s not forget when Mira Sorvino and Lisa Kudrow duke it out as the main characters in Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion, each loudly declaring “I’m the Mary” as they vie to prove who best embodies Richards’s style.
And, in interviews, Katie Couric and Oprah Winfrey talk about Mary Richards like wellness content creators talk about their life coaches.
For his dalliances with mass retailers, Isaac Mizrahi pointed to Mary as a key influence on his Target and Liz Claiborne collections, calling her, in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, “the great democratic symbol of style in my time.”
For his Brooks Brothers debut, Zac Posen, who is now the creative director for Gap Inc., placed Mary and Rhoda on his moodboards.
Armstrong says the reason the show’s wardrobe endures is because Mary and Rhoda’s style reflected their personal and professional arcs. “People see Mary mature through her clothes in a way few shows at the time – or even today – have imagined for female characters,” Armstrong says via Zoom from her home in New York’s Hudson Valley.
“Just look at the first episode – the white go-go boots and short beige skirt she wore to her interview are burned into my brain. She’s meeting with her soon-to-be boss, Lou Grant, and that choice was so revealing,” Armstrong says. “By Season 3, Mary was regularly in colourful jackets and suits that began to give career women newer ideas on what to wear.”
Armstrong authored Mary and Lou and Rhoda and Ted in 2013 – one of the only deep dives into the series that tackles its fashion seriously.
Moore, left, and Gavin MacLeod as Murray Slaughter on The Mary Tyler Moore Show in 1974.CBS Photo Archive/AFP/Getty Images
Leslie Hall, the show’s costumer, employed a groundbreaking strategy that flourishes today. “Leslie Hall jumpstarted the idea of designer product placement on TV,” says Armstrong. “She hired one brand to take care of Mary’s looks and that changed everything – so many other shows started to follow that same idea.”
The duo she hand-picked was American businessman Charles Evans and Sicilian designer Joseph Picone of Evan-Picone, a popular women’s wear brand that championed pantsuits and the front-fly skirt. The pair created what Armstrong calls the litany of “fitted pantsuits, trench coats, flared slacks and tailored blouses that Mary’s character was becoming famous for.”
Rhoda’s looks were the opposite. With her boho-chic aesthetic and designer vintage influences, she would likely dominate the influencer game if the show aired today. Rhoda’s eclectic, second-hand style was heavily inspired by Moore’s real-life assistant Mimi Kirk, whom Armstrong describes as a “flowy hippie ... who loved clothes made out of tablecloths and bedspreads.”
Kirk later worked on the spin-off, Rhoda, helping cement the character’s look, well-known for her headscarves and layered necklaces.
“I see a lot of both of them in popular culture today. Early Mary in Sabrina Carpenter and late Mary in Taylor Swift,” Armstrong says. “And so much Rhoda in so many LA stars and what they are wearing now.”
The show’s fashion hinged on contrasting taste levels, sparking the iconic “Mary or Rhoda” divide that would later echo in Sex and the City’s Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte and Samantha archetypes. What’s striking, says Armstrong, is how many of Mary and Rhoda’s looks transcend their era and “are enduringly timeless.”
Moore, left, in the episode You Try To Be A Nice Guy, with Barbara Colby as Sherry Ferris.CBS Photo Archive/Getty Images
Moore’s estate made headlines this May for drawing nearly US$3-million at Doyle auction house for the actress’s real-life – yet extremely Richards-esque – collection of clothes, décor and accessories. This included Elsa Peretti and Paloma Picasso-design jewellery as well as the iconic gold-painted letter M, which hung on a wall in Richards’s apartment (purchased by comedian, TV writer and producer Lena Waithe).
Across 168 episodes and 29 Emmy wins, a few of Mary’s looks stood out for their bold risks, feminist edge and lasting influence. In Season 5, she stunned in a daring green evening dress with cutouts – designed by Leslie Hall. In this particular episode, the risqué ensemble is a gift from a sex worker Mary befriends.
Women’s Wear Daily hailed the design as a prelude to Versace’s safety-pin dress, made famous by Elizabeth Hurley, “which still feels current.”
In the final episode, Richards steps into a dark blue utilitarian jumpsuit – a visual signal of reinvention and confidence after losing her job.
Fifty-five years later, so many of the show’s sartorial moments continue to be celebrated in more than 8.7 million TikTok clips. From hemlines to headlines, the vision behind The Mary Tyler Moore Show is clear: Style – in all its forms – can help you make it after all.