How Virgin River Costume Designer Judith Feller Refreshed Sequence Signature Comfy Specialise in in Season 7

Advise Courtesy of Judith Feller and Netflix

When viewers return to Virgin River Season 7, the familiar minute-town charm remains intact. But gape a bit nearer, and subtle material cupboard shifts impress how the series is evolving visually. Costume vogue designer Judith Feller, who joined the show camouflage this season, approached the self-discipline fastidiously: modernizing the gape of the prolonged-working Netflix drama whereas conserving the comfy resplendent audiences put a query to.

This interview has been edited and condensed for readability and length.

Virgin River already has a recognizable visible identity. Whenever you joined as costume vogue designer for Season 7, what felt main to preserve, and the put did you gaze room to evolve the material cupboard?

My first precedence become as soon as distinction. When a show camouflage runs for many seasons, wardrobes tend to mix into a generic blur. I major to present every character a visual silo. On the boys’s facet, as an instance, all americans appeared as if it would obtain a Filson jacket. That half is Jack’s gape. It’s iconic to him. So, I clawed that abet; that half indubitably belongs to him alone now. We preserved that whereas giving the other men assorted silhouettes.

We made minute, intentional adjustments. Comparatively than a sea of V-necks and cargo pants, we assigned particular shapes. Preacher bought the V-necks. Brady took the Henleys. Jack stayed in crew necks. We furthermore locked Brady into a “grey and unlit” palette. For the ladies, it become as soon as about embracing up to date vogue with out chasing TikTok trends. I had to acquire rid of the skinny denims. Even in a miles away town, of us stopped shopping for those years ago. The aim become as soon as timelessness, now not trendiness.

Whenever you be taught a script, what in most cases sparks the material cupboard view for a scene? Is it map, temper, or something tied to the character’s emotional arc?

It begins with emotion. The characters are established; the viewers knows them like family. Selections attain from their contemporary headspace. Rob Lizzie this season. She’s navigating postpartum dismay. We reflected that by shifting her into a subdued, quieter colour palette. It suits her inner tone. I furthermore lean heavily on the actors. They’ve lived in these roles for years. The fabric cupboard has to align with the character’s gut feeling.

When assorted creative voices are animated, the showrunner, writers, and actors, who indirectly possess the perfect narrate on a character’s gape?

It’s an enormous collaboration. There isn’t one “god” of the material cupboard. Actors possess real opinions because they are living within the clothes. Showrunners and producers weigh in on the “vibe.” Directors gape on the framing. On occasion functional components rep out; if now we possess a ideal inexperienced shirt however the character is standing in front of a inexperienced wall, now we resolve to pivot straight. There are layers to every resolution.

Virgin River S7. (L to R) Alexandra Breckenridge as Melinda Monroe and Rachel Drance as Marley in Episode #703 of Virgin River S7. Cr. Courtesy of Netflix © 2025

How early in manufacturing enact you initiate engaged on costumes? Enact you count on finalized scripts, or are you already preparing whereas the season is restful growing?

We’re indubitably already neck-deep in Season 8 prep, and we don’t even possess accomplished scripts yet. We initiate with temper boards. I’m repeatedly making an strive, even on other jobs. I’ll gaze a half and mediate, “That’s Mel.” We desire scripts for the very most attention-grabbing particulars, however the core of those characters is already situation in stone.

How huge is the costume division on a show camouflage like Virgin River?

On a heavy day, now we possess nearly 15 of us. That positive aspects a plump-time seamstress, traders, assistants, and on-situation dressers. It’s a team effort to preserve a total town having a gape constant.

Are most objects custom-constructed for the show camouflage, or are they sourced from existing producers and tailored?

Most are sourced however then heavily tailored. Vogue just now could perchance perchance be very oversized, which is a peril on camera. Film makes clothes gape twice as pudgy. We tailor virtually every thing, even a normal plaid shirt, to make certain that the match is intelligent and flattering on show camouflage camouflage.

When scenes involve movement, how many costume copies enact you usually prepare?

We don’t enact huge stunts, however for horse scenes or physical movement, we preserve three copies of the outfit ready. We desire to be ready for now not lower than 3 takes. If there’s a stunt performer, they obtain their obtain version of the gape, too.

The series has a truly particular visible language: warm, comfy, and idyllic. How wide awake are you of that tone when designing wardrobes?

The “grandmacore” thing is staunch. It’s phase of the show camouflage’s DNA, severely with the stitching circle. But that gape is common now, so we wanted to be careful. We didn’t desire the youthful characters, like Lizzie, to initiate having a gape just like the stitching circle. She has to dwell common.

When Mel first arrived in town, she restful carried traces of her city lifestyles. This season, we gaze hints of that returning. How did you manner that shift?

We major to carry abet her casual sophistication and straightforward chic style. She had began to mix too worthy into the town, too many florals and gentle cardigans. We major to remind the viewers she’s a city lady at her core. It wasn’t a total transformation, factual a shift in direction of elevated silhouettes that reconnect her to her roots.

Which characters journey primarily the most noticeable material cupboard adjustments this season?

Lizzie and Denny. They’re younger fogeys now. Their clothes mediate that weight. For Denny, we introduced abet youthful objects. He had began dressing too “aged” in outdated seasons, so we pulled him abet into his twenties. Lizzie’s shift become as soon as extra emotional as a result of her arc, however there’s room to push her style further later.

Western substances appear extra usually in Season 7. How did you incorporate them with out disrupting the established resplendent?

We saved it grounded. For Clay, we skipped the “costume” cowboy gape. It felt too spurious for Virgin River. As an more than a few, we extinct denim shirts and boots, subtle nods. The rodeo become as soon as the exception. We indubitably constructed Clay’s bull-rider chaps and protective vest from scratch. That become as soon as a uncommon, fun 2nd for the division.

Virgin River S7. (L to R) Kandyse McClure as Kaia Bryant and Alexandra Breckenridge as Melinda Monroe in Episode #702 of Virgin River S7. Cr. Courtesy of Netflix © 2025

Did particular scenes or storylines come up with extra freedom creatively, akin to the honeymoon or the Founders Day obtain together?

I approached it as “Virgin River in Mexico.” The root become as soon as to preserve the colour palette linked to the show camouflage whereas introducing substances impressed by Tulum. Mel’s Isabel Marant costume in that scene is one of my favorites. For Founders Day, we put Muriel in denim and lace for her Annie Oakley 2nd. It become as soon as worthy extra attention-grabbing than traditional suede and fringe.

How enact you balance practicality with flattering silhouettes when filming in Vancouver?

Vancouver suits the resplendent perfectly. The secret is factual the tailoring. Even primarily the most critical equipment has to be adjusted to gape “high-discontinuance” on camera.

Can you tease the leisure about Season 8?

Mel’s storyline would require some material cupboard pivots. Now we resolve to adapt to her new conditions whereas conserving the gape we constructed in Season 7. Lizzie will furthermore most likely return to work, so we’ll obtain to play along with her professional shapes again, shifting far off from the pregnancy silhouettes.

Are there particular material cupboard solutions that records the show camouflage’s visible identity?

There’s a definitive common sense to the colors and textures on this town. We take care of the palette like a character in itself. Clear hues are strictly associated with particular of us to preserve their identity intelligent. Brady, for occasion, is our major unlit-clothes character. Brie furthermore leans into those darker, extra saturated tones to situation her except for the town’s softer resplendent.

The stitching circle characters solely obtain that comfy, textured “grandmacore” gape; it’s their visible signature. Within the meantime, Mel has develop into synonymous with dusty rose and gentle purple. Those tones crawl well along with her extremely well, so we lean into them to preserve her softness. Jack, conversely, is virtually repeatedly in shades of blue. It’s a relentless, grounding ingredient for him. Then you possess gotten olive inexperienced, which we employ at some level of the show camouflage since it anchors the characters within the Pacific Northwest environment. Preacher’s material cupboard is extremely tied to this, incorporating deeper autumn tones and hints of inexperienced. There are indubitably extra particular colour picks coming for his character, however I will’t crawl further with out spoiling Season 8 trends.