Brenda Leigh Johnson from 'The Closer'

Very few articles of clothing, even those that stars wear on hit TV shows, become iconic.

Lucy Ricardo's polka-dot dress with the white collar and trimmed short sleeves reached that level. More recently, Carrie Bradshaw, that eternal fashionista, made Manolo Blahnik shoes must-haves.

Still, it's usually tough to remember precisely what actors wore -- unless it's something exciting. The latest version of the TV fashion icon is a natty pink trench coat that Brenda (Kyra Sedgwick) wears on TNT's The Closer, ending its fifth season on Monday, Aug. 24.

"It has changed a bit over the years," Sedgwick says of Brenda's look. "At heart she is definitely a Southern girl and likes to dress like a woman. You very rarely see her in pants. She is somebody who loves her cashmere sweaters that she has hundreds of, and some are really old. If you take care of cashmere, it can last from your teen years into your 40s.

"She is very much the flowy skirt woman, who doesn't apologize for being a woman and being a woman in a powerful position," Sedgwick continues. "I love the addition of the fitted '40s Irene tops and skirts. And it keeps her in the realm of still a fish out of water. However long she is in L.A., she will not be of L.A."

As popular as that pink trench is, Sedgwick wouldn't have picked it for herself.

"Greg always make choices based on reality, but also on the reality of the character," she says of costumer Greg LaVoi. "Brenda would not be seen in a khaki trench, unless it was from the '40s and went down to her ankles. He likes to spin things and make them not ordinary."

LaVoi recalls spotting the Ralph Lauren trench in the Neiman Marcus catalog. Mostly, though, he shops for Brenda on eBay, favoring the severely tailored suits from former MGM costume designer Irene.

"Brenda started out as a fish out of water with mismatched prints and ill-fitting jackets," LaVoi says. "She has become a fish on the runway, a vintage-wearing, feminine woman in a man's world."

LaVoi sews much of Brenda's clothing, buying vintage fabric at L.A.'s International Silk & Woolens. Brenda wears a lot of cashmere from Pure Collection. Dresses are vintage I. Magnin and Mode O'Day. She also wears Alfani, from Macy's, and 9 West.

Her shoes are from Barney's Co-op. She has worn Franco Sarto, Kate Spade, Manolos, Jimmy Choo and Gucci.

"There was a pair of Chanel that made the story line two seasons ago," LaVoi says. "She's walking through mud with new shoes, and the Chanels took on a life of their own."

Not to knock anything Chanel, but the shoes didn't reach the iconic status of the pink trench.

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