In the “Saving Hope” wardrobe department, six is the magic number.

“It’s a hospital show, you can get blood on anything at any given point,” says costume designer Jenifur Jarvis.

“You often need extras because there’s a lot of blood, or shirts that get cut open. Six – that’s our magic number for multiples.”

Charlie’s got six tuxedos, and even some of the “day players” – the characters who arrive at Hope-Z with various ailments – have to have extra identical costumes. This limits the wardrobe team from using unique or vintage pieces.

Jarvis really wanted to get the “80s coma guy” from Episode 5 in a vintage suit but they had to get his suit new. “That one was because he was being doubled, so we couldn’t rent a fabulous 80s suit, or go vintage,” Jarvis explains.

With the main cast often in scrubs and lab coats, costuming the “day players” is a highlight for the wardrobe team.

For the tattooed family in Episode 7, Jarvis chose to costume the horned character, Karn, in something simple.  “We wanted it so you could really see his tattoos and the horns instead of focusing on the costume,” Jarvis explains. “We originally put his kid in a plaid shirt, but the mom was in gingham, so we put the kid in stripes.

“It’s all about balance,” Jarvis says.

“People see contemporary clothes and think you just throw clothes on them, but there’s a bigger picture – you need to have one guy in a polo, one guy in a crew neck, one guy in a long sleeved dress shirt, because everyone has to complement each other,” Jarvis says.

“There’s a whole picture and you change one thing and there’s a domino effect. It’s not just about individual costumes.”

Their days start at seven each morning. “Ideally we get to set and establish the day players,” says Jarvis about her seven-person team. “We go and check the actors out, get them in their wardrobe, take their pictures for the producers to get their OK, do a few fittings and then go shopping!”

If they’re not in scrubs, each character, even if they’ve got a small role, gets a whole rack of clothes for one outfit. “Once we’ve got the clothes, we have a fitting (with the actor), take some pictures and send the pictures to the producers. They pick a look and we return all the clothes we didn’t use and start tailoring.”

And if all of the shopping, fittings and production meetings, wasn’t enough, the wardrobe team also makes logos for t-shirts and hats (!) and has to make sure the clothes look worn in.

“We actually have someone come in who gets out the sander and dirt and makes stuff look old,” Jarvis says.

With so many characters in and out of every episode and so much prep work done for each look, the wardrobe department certainly has its work cut out. “And on a series like this, you’re always prepping the next episode,” adds Jarvis. “We’re already reading and getting ready for the next one as soon as they start the one before.”