The Ewings weren’t dressed to the nines in “Denial, Anger, Acceptance,” but that doesn’t mean their clothing should be overlooked. We can learn a lot about the characters, even when they aren’t runway ready.
Consider the brown coat Brenda Strong wears when Ann arrives at the hospital and lies to Bobby about her whereabouts earlier in the evening, telling him she was grocery shopping when the Southfork fire began. The cloak-like coat, which ties at Ann’s waist, conceals most of her body — a fitting choice for a character who is covering up her secret smooch with ex-husband Harris. Later, after Judith spills the beans to Bobby and he erupts at his wife (yet again), Ann is seen wearing a sweater with a wide neckline — an ideal way to symbolize how exposed and vulnerable she feels.
I also like the waffle-knit robe Sue Ellen (Linda Gray) wears during her visit to the hospital gift shop. The robe, which bears the hospital’s name (“Forest Park Medical Center”), reminds me of the kind of thing you might find hanging in a nicer hotel room closet — which seems entirely appropriate for Sue Ellen. You don’t expect her to give up her appreciation for the finer things in life just because she’s sick, do you?
Costume designer Rachel Sage Kunin and her team also deserve praise for making the blue shirt Bobby wears at the beginning of this episode look so convincingly distressed. Notice how the soot is concentrated around the neckline, the only area that would have been exposed by his jacket when he dashed into the fire to rescue his family. This is probably the most memorable look of all in this episode, which — let’s face it — doesn’t happen often with Patrick Duffy’s blue-jeans-and-boots character.
Even the folks at TNT had fun with Duffy’s costume, tweeting the following tidbit earlier today: “Fun fact: The scorch marks on Bobby’s shirt aren’t from the fire, they’re from Judith’s withering glare.”
At least she didn’t turn him to stone.
What were your favorite looks in “Denial, Anger, Acceptance”? Share your thoughts in the comments section below and read more “Dallas Styles.”
Dallas Decoder 
Nicely done! I figured Dallas Styles would be challenging for this episode, but you nailed it.
Fashion is a style, the speeches & mannerisms of each character are also Styles. Such as how Brother Bobby walk or how Nephew John Ross Ewing the IIIrd saunters.