Bella Abzug, played by Margo Martindale, was a force of nature. Her formidable character and willingness to stand up to Washington's sea of grey suits – most notably President Jimmy Carter in 1979 – enabled great strides for the ERA but also saw many of her congressional staff quit (she was known as a tyrant who wielded cutting words and held no prisoners). You can’t talk about Abzug without paying homage to her array of hats, which her mother told her to wear so that men wouldn’t mistake her for a secretary – another way in which women's seemingly innocuous sartorial choices play host to considered political moves in the battle for equality. From straw sun hats to wide-brimmed felt numbers, Abzug’s eccentric collection drew as much attention as her communication style. The chintzy florals and more staid dresses she dons also act as visual codes of difference between the older and the more progressive feminists of the movement. After threatening to turn her back on lesbian rights – Steinem, in disbelief, says: "You were a bigger radical than me when we met!" – Abzug laments to Betty Friedan, another of the older generation: "Does it bother you that no one calls you radical anymore?"