Kerry Washington has a clear vision when it comes to her 'Scandal' wardrobe.

The 36-year-old actress is back on the small screen as high powered political fixer Olivia Pope for the third season of the hit show, and reveals she worked closely with costume designer Lyn Paolo to come up with a strong yet feminine aesthetic for her alter-ego.

She told E! News: ''Lyn Paolo, who is our brilliant costume designer, and I work very closely together. The first time that we met to figure out Olivia's aesthetic, we both came with pictures we ripped out of magazines and we had 90 percent of the same exact pictures!

''One of the things we decided very early on is that she literally and figuratively wears the pants and we wanted this to be a character that is rarely ever in a skirt or a dress. We wanted to make sure that the clothes were tailored and feminine and body conscious while still being the kind of clothes that you can wear anywhere.''

Kerry is known for her bold red carpet choices and has topped numerous best dressed lists, but Emmy Award-winning costume designer Lyn insists that while Olivia experiences a ''style evolution'' this year, her look remains very different to Kerry's.

Lyn explained to Fashionista.com: ''Kerry is Kerry, Olivia Pope is Olivia Pope. We keep the two worlds very separate. I try not to have her personal fashion impact the show's fashion because Olivia is just a very different person from Kerry Washington.

''When you see Kerry on the red carpet, she's stunning and wears amazing colors and is very fashion-forward, and even though Olivia wears amazing clothes, she couldn't wear the things that Kerry Washington wears.''