Eli from 'Eli Stone'

Remember the time you were a big-shot attorney and everything was going great in your life before you started having visions that made you want to help the little people? And when you found out that these visions might imply you're a prophet?

Then again, they might be caused by that little brain aneurysm you have. Not ringing any bells? Well, tune into Eli Stone, airing Thursdays on ABC, to jog your memory. Eli's living it. And thankfully, he forgoes the robe "look" that is so popular among prophets in favor of some seriously high-end apparel.

Costume designer Victoria Auth (Drive, The Tick) was given the daunting task of dressing Stone, a San Francisco attorney who suddenly might be hearing the word of God through random samples from the George Michael music catalog.

"He plays it with such whimsy and pathos," Auth says of actor Jonny Lee Miller. "The producers didn't want him to be too much of a clown or a joker, so we made him very elegant. Visually he is always pulled together -- keeping it a sort of conflict between his internal and external state. We chose simplistic elegance to counterpoint the chaos all around him."

The interesting thing about Stone compared to other television lawyers -- aside from George Michael occasionally swinging by his apartment -- is that he has a decidedly San Francisco look, which turns out to be significantly more stylish than its Los Angeles or New York counterpart. Though all regions have access to the same Prada, Hugo Boss or Canali suits that Auth buys for Stone, it's the details that make the look "San Franciscan."

"In the world of suiting there is only so much you can do, between color and cut," Auth says. "The only thing you can do is the shirt and ties."

Auth, an admitted tie junkie, pulls approximately 100 ties per episode for the male characters -- averaging in the $100-and-up range. And the amount of thought that goes into them is astonishing.

"It's really interesting how much a tie says about someone," Auth says. "The right tie would say executive lawyer -- or it can say insurance salesman or banker. ... We didn't want to make him too powerful."

Eli wears powder-blue ties and paler shades primarily because they imply a softness and elegance. Even though he's a lawyer, there needs to be a likability factor. Apparently smarmy doesn't sit well with prophets.

But it's his shirts that set the tone. All custom made by Anto Beverly Hills, they are handmade works of art.

"They make the most exquisite shirts," Auth says. "You need the shirt to sculpt to the body. Each actor was measured at the shop, and Jack Sepetjian (who runs the store with his brother Ken) can tell exactly which type of collar will work best for that person's face."

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