Marin Frist from 'Men in Trees'

New York and Alaska might technically be part of the same country, but they seem worlds apart.

And yet, you'd expect someone like Marin Frist, the relationship expert played by Anne Heche on ABC's Wednesday hit Men in Trees, to bridge that expanse effortlessly. Certainly costume designer Susan De Laval believes that is the case, and she has made dressing the diminutive blonde a study in comparable contrasts.

"She's a writer from New York who just falls into this tiny, tiny community in Alaska," De Laval says. "She's soul searching but doesn't want to give up who she is, so we walk that fine line in keeping her simple but elegant and always stylish. Trust me, there's a lot of plaid (on the other actors) but she can drift right into the Chieftain in her Burberry ... . She stands out, but doesn't look like a character ... . (Heche) is a fantastic actress, and as a costume designer you don't want to get in the way of the acting."

And it would be easy to make Marin a caricature with the obvious fish-out-of-water scenario, but De Laval has wisely given Marin her own sense of style that makes her stand out in both Alaska and New York.

"Right now, she is absolutely gorgeous in oversized pants and cashmere sweaters," De Laval says. "We are able to play up the weather -- which is great."

That means Marin can layer to her heart's content because it can snow at any minute -- not that it's 75 and sunny. But her sunny disposition is a motivational tool De Laval uses in order to differentiate her from the stereotypical New Yorker.

"It is such a myth to always do New Yorkers in black," she says, laughing. "We were doing scenes in New York, and I built her an emerald-green coat in cashmere fabric, and there wasn't anyone else in town with that look. Another time we had a skating scene on top of a mountain, and we wanted her to be nowhere near anyone, so we put her in this wonderful red coat -- claret."

And while De Laval doesn't think it is necessary to cover a New Yorker head to toe in Prada, she understands that luxury details can truly make a difference.

"I found her this beautiful pair of fur mukluks from Celine," she adds, "and these wonderful duffle coats from Tuleh. They're stylish, look good on her and read like she is dressed for the weather ... . When she is standing out in the rain or snow for 10 hours, you have to be real."

Of course, it's not always snowing, so Marin goes with a mixture of beautiful, big, chunky sweaters from Ralph Lauren, Hugo Boss, Burberry and Elie Tahari over full-legged pants from Boss, Burberry and Tahari.

"Those three have the most exquisite pants," De Laval says. "It's just how they finish them. They're all made out of a high-quality wool or wool blend in medium to darker shades -- caramel is the lightest I'd go."

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