Desperate Housewives S05 E11: Home Is The Place

Bree clashes with Alex's mother (guest star Joanna Cassidy) for their sons' affections. Gabrielle urges Carlos to take a six-figure job, even though it means spending more time away from home. Susan turns to Lee for company while Jackson is away. Lynette catches Preston talking to Porter on the phone. Mrs. McCluskey and her sister, Roberta (guest star Lily Tomlin), arrive at Dr. Heller's office in Boston to talk with him, unaware that he's recently deceased. Meanwhile, Edie grows weary of Dave, whose strange behaviour hasn't abated.


Costume

Most of the costumes in this program are typical of everyday life, but of course, the scandalous action is not typical of everyday life, so there are exceptions.


The Hodge Family

The episode starts with Bree and her son's mother-in-law to be, and they have tension between them. This is reflected in the costume. Bree is wearing a sleeveless high-necked white top with a white scarf built in, a black pencil skirt, and silver jewellery. Very classy. This is a contrast to Lena, the mother-in-law, who, despite having very similar hair colour, dresses very differently. She is wearing a red coat, a red velvet shirt, a black skirt (similar to Bree's), black patterned tights, red suede boots, and gold jewellery. The black and white look shows Bree is classic and tasteful, whereas Lena's red-dominant look suggests she is naughty (manipulative) and a bit promiscuous. She is manipulative and bitchy, which is reflected in this choice of costume. The contrast in jewellery colour is also apparent, Bree with classy silver, and Lena with cheap gold. Later in the episode, Bree wears a blue long-sleeved satin shirt and a floral apron, portraying the "perfect housewife" image. Her husband, Orson, is wearing a suit, pink shirt, and red tie; smart and the "perfect husband". Towards the end of the episode, Bree has changed again for her dinner, and is now wearing a modest dark teal dress with a black waist belt. This colour complements her red hair, which she is wearing down, and fits her age. Orson wears a yellow jumper, cream shirt and black trousers; smart-casual, perfect dinner attire. Lena wears a low-cut bright blue dress that would be more suited on a teenager than her. This further shows their personalities and how they differ. Bree's son Andrew wears a khaki shirt, similarly coloured to his mother, and his fiancee wears a purple striped shirt, both of which are recognisably gay.



The Williams Family

Edie works as a realtor, and for this she wears a white fitted jacket, with a clingy black dress with white piping, bare legs and black heels. This shows that she is a professional business woman but also reflects her promiscuous personality. Her husband Dave, who is getting more and more insane, wears a white shirt, black waistcoat, a loosened pink tie accompanied by stubble and ruffled hair. This shows he is feeling rough, yet trying to look respectable. Later in the episode, very early in the morning, Edie is woken by Dave talking to himself, and she is wearing a white night-dress and a blue fluffy dressing gown, obviously showing she was sleeping. Dave was wearing a black dressing gown, which creepily ressembled the Grim Reaper. The next morning, Edie is still in the same costume, showing she has not moved on from the night's events, and Dave has tried to clean himself up and is now wearing a grey suit, blue shirt and blue tie; trying to be normal and fit in with society. Edie also wears a red satin dressing gown when she is kicking Dave out, and this shows her old sexy ways have come back.



The Mayer Family

Susan starts the episode wearing a white jacket, red top, black trousers and silver funky arty earrings, showing she can be smart, but also has a kooky side. Later, she is wearing a black satin dressing gown with pink edges, which is quite sexy, showing another side to her personality. This is after she spent a drunken night with Lee, her gay neighbour (but nothing happened). The day before, he was wearing a beige striped shirt with beige trousers, and his partner Bob, a lawyer, wears suits as he is a professional. The rest of the episode, Susan wears a variety of big cardigans (grey, wheat-coloured) coupled with neutral coloured tops (green, grey) and jeans. This shows she is a casual yet well-dressed housewife who looks after herself and dresses her age.



The Scavo Family

Lynette doesn't take much care of her appearance, so most of the time she wears casual clothes; starts off in a blue short-sleeved shirt and black trousers, and progresses to a turquoise top, turquoise jacket, jeans, and a brown handbag. Tom is also casual, he wears a long-sleeved red t-shirt, with shows his young personality (playing in a band) and brown trousers. Their son Preston, who is covering for his twin Porter, wears a yellow polo-shirt with blue and pink stripes, and jeans, showing his age (18?) and it is casual because he is just at home. He wears colours because he has a colourful personality, similar to his parents, as they all seem to be wearing primary colours (blue, red, yellow), making a bold statement.



The Soulis Family

Gabrielle is an ex-model and used to take fashion very seriously, but since they have come into financial hardship due to Carlos being blind for 5 years, she has had to downgrade and sell all her expensive and fashionable clothes and shoes. She wears a yellow hoodie over a white t-shirt and white tracksuit bottoms, showing she is a full-time mother of two young girls. Carlos is wearing a blue tracksuit jumper over a pale blue t-shirt and jeans. showing he is casual playing with his children. These clothes indicate their financial situation also. Later, when Gaby goes out to buy clothes (from a discount store) she is wearing a turquoise t-shirt, turquoise headband, cropped pale blue trousers, hoop earrings and a beige handbag, showing she is making an effort because she is in public. She buys gold shoes because she thinks Carlos is getting a well-paid job. Carlos, at home, is wearing a light blue t-shirt, and later, a brown shirt (for dinner with Bradley the businessman who is in a suit. His wife is wearing a blue satin dress, but they are very unhappy. They reflect how Gaby and Carlos used to be). Gaby wears bold colours, such as a red top, to show her firey personality. For dinner, Gaby makes a big effort, and wears a blue dress, but with a white top underneath so that she is more modest (a bit contrast to how she used to dress).



These are the costumes from the main families and the people they interact with. Most of the costumes are casual and naturalistic, but obviously some are smarter, those who have professioal jobs. The costumes change depending on the characters' mood, financial situation, and the occasion. Lots of the women in Desperate Housewives are well-dressed and aspirational (Gabrielle used to be, Bree is very well-dressed, Susan is simple but stylish) and I think it is well-styled.