As part of our #ABCTVEvent press trip in Los Angeles, we had a special visit to the super secret MARVEL Agent Carter set! We got to interview Agent Peggy Carter herself, along with other cast & crew! Just like our MARVEL Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D visit, we “went dark” something like secret agents – no social media, no taking our own photos, no geo-tagging or sharing our location at all! All for fear of being thrown in jail….wait….
HA! This photo cracks me up! After landing in jail, they put us to work at Strategic Scientific Reserve (SSR)! What a day!!!
In all seriousness though, seeing the sets and behind-the-scenes workings of these productions is always incredible! And all the secrecy makes it extra fun! True to form where MARVEL is concerned, the level of detail is incredible! Since Agent Carter is a period show, it’s so fun to see all the things from that era – like typewriters! 🙂
But, what I especially love is the 1940s wardrobe!! LOVE it! And, we got to have a look inside the department and chat with Costume Designer Gigi Ottobre-Melton. I’m fascinated by the entire costuming process!!! SO much work!
Here’s some facts we learned about the process:
- As one might imagine, finding clothes from the 1940s is rather difficult! So, a lot of work goes into to getting the looks right. The wardrobe crew is always on the lookout for vintage pieces and fabrics. Many things are handmade. But, they also scour vintage stores, and even places like eBay and Etsy for the right pieces/fabrics.
- Also, to keep the show true to its set era, Gigi only uses fabrics that were available during that time! WOW!
- Because of the age of some of the fabrics and embellishments (on the vintage pieces), costumes frequently get damaged. But the team tries to reuse everything they can. They’ll take buttons, zippers, etc. from the damaged costumes to save for new ones.
- For MANY scenes, there are actually multiple versions of the costume (in case one gets damaged, special ones used for fight scenes, etc).
- And, the CRAZY thing is that often times the department only has EIGHT days from getting the script to getting all the costumes ready for the show!
Of course, the most famous thing in that department is Peggy Carter’s signature red hat! The hat is the Stetson Aviatrix (and you can purchase one from Stetson)! It’s a reissue of a classic ladies hat that Stetson manufactured in the 1940s. And, to end our visit, we all got to take photos in the hat! SO fun!!
You can see the famous red hat and all the SSR fun on Agent Carter Season 2. Tune in TONIGHT (Jan 26th) at 9/8c on ABC!!!!! You can also follow along with Marvel’s Agent Carter here:
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Twitter: https://twitter.com/AgentCarterTV (#AgentCarter)
Disclosure: Disney hosted me in LA in order to attend & participate in these group interviews & media events. As always, all opinions, experiences, and love of Disney are entirely my own! All photos above are courtesy of ABC/MARVEL!