Sheryl Lee Ralph says her Abbott Elementary character, Barbara Howard, is about to look different.

“The episode that is coming up next week, Barbara Howard gets a brand new look,” she told Entertainment Weekly exclusively Sunday on the red carpet before the 2025 SAG Awards. “I cannot even tease it, because you will be shocked when you see it.”

The Emmy-winning actress and her castmates, including Quinta Brunson, William Stanford Davis, Janelle James, Chris Perfetti, Lisa Ann Walter, and Tyler James Williams, received a nomination in the category of Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series.

Ralph also spoke about the meaning of her character’s impeccable wardrobe in the mockumentary about teachers trying to make it in a Philadelphia school, which is in its fourth season.

“It says so much,” Ralph said, noting that Barbara “loves pearls.”

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“You know,” she continued, “there used to be a time when women of color didn’t have much, but if they could have a string of pearls — the whole thing of ‘clutch my pearls’ — it said something about who they were as woman.”

Ralph credited Hachy Mendez, who works in the ABC sitcom’s costume department, with keeping up Barbara’s look.

“She’s done such an incredible job of elevating the style of Barbara Howard — just a bit, not too much, but just a bit,” Ralph said.

In her personal life, the iconic actress said she relies on her stylist, Ivy Coco Maurice, who happens to be her daughter. For the awards show, Ralph wore a gorgeous look from designer Sergio Hudson and, of course, pearls.

Abbott Elementary airs at 8:30 p.m. ET/7:30 p.m. Central on ABC and streams on Hulu.