Women in Blue arrived on Apple TV+ over the summer of the 2024 TV schedule to tell the story of four characters who defied the status quo in 1970 and became the first women to join Mexico's police force. Unfortunately, their allies on the job are few and far between even as they catch on to a serial killer. The characters' police uniforms are straight out of the early '70s: bright blue miniskirts with high-heeled boots, carrying a whistle rather than any kind of weapon that the male officers would have gotten. It's not comfortable for the characters, and based on what the stars told CinemaBlend, it wasn't very comfortable for them as actors either.
Titled Las Azules in Spanish, this ten-episode series is inspired by true events and sets itself apart by having an entirely Hispanic cast. Only six of those ten episodes have released for Apple TV+ subscribers so far, so now is a great time to catch up if you haven't tuned in yet. When I spoke with stars Ximena Sariñara (Angeles), Bárbara Mori (Maria), Natalie Téllez (Valentina), and Amorita Rasgado (Gabina), I asked what it was like for them to wear the 1970s-era miniskirts to play their characters. Téllez explained:
It was not practical! You know exactly what the characters are like by the way they react when they try the uniform on, so you see the level of the machismo. But they knew it was an opportunity for them to have a job, basically, and to have a place in society other than their homes and families. I found it terribly uncomfortable, as you said, a miniskirt and high-heeled boots with a thick belt. Literally it was a shape-making belt, and a whistle! It was terribly uncomfortable, so I can't imagine those women with police training going around in life in the city in those skirts and high heel boots. Terrible.
The impractical uniforms do provide some insight into the characters, as Téllez noted. For example, her character of Valentina rolls her sleeves up whenever possible in the episodes. Considering that the four women are working to solve a serial killer case while most other members of law enforcement won't take them seriously, it's easy to understand why the miniskirts would be terrible for the characters in 1970 as well as the actresses portraying them in 2024.
Bárbara Mori, whose character Maria is Valentina's sister, shared similar sentiments about the wardrobe for Women in Blue. When I noted that the outfit just seems very impractical for police officers, she responded:
It is! Actually, it is. In my life, as Bárbara in my life, I don't wear miniskirts. I don't wear them because I don't like them. I think it's uncomfortable, you cannot be comfortable. So when I'd wear the miniskirt with Maria, and it was very short, I was like, 'Oh my god, how did they do this?' How did they [go] to the parks and to work and to do all the things they were supposed to do? It was very uncomfortable.
Given that a major element of the show is that these four women aren't being treated with the same dignity as the men in law enforcement and seen more as a publicity stunt than anything else, it makes sense that the actresses playing the characters had to wear the uncomfortable clothes of the era. The series is inspired by true events, after all. The uniforms just weren't the most fun part of their job on Women in Blue.
The Spanish-language crime drama is six episodes into its ten-episode run, and I can vouch that it would be worth binge-watching those first six if you haven't seen them already to start watching along for the rest of the season. That's easy enough to do with an Apple TV+ subscription. New episodes debut on the streamer on Wednesdays until the finale on September 25.
It remains to be seen if Women in Blue/Las Azules (or any of the upcoming Apple TV+ shows) will ever make the list of the best Apple TV+ shows, but I definitely think it's worth the watch for anybody who enjoys watching crime dramas, period dramas, and/or true crime TV shows and true crime movies.
