In honor of the final episode of the Marvel television series “Agent Carter”, the site “PopWrapped” gave the show and it’s staunch followers some of the parting fanfare it so well deserves, called “Agent Carter’s Closet: The Fans And The Power Of Peggy Carter”. I was happily featured on the “Fan Tribute” as well as over 40 others. I’m tickled! Go see the page for yourself here (follow this link) and be prepared to be amazed by the stories and the people.
Peggy and her friends on the show have inspired others to sew, to find themselves in vintage fashion, to feel empathy with the characters to help them in their real lives, or even to find a way to stand tall. Here some extra pictures from our photo shoot of my classic Peggy blue suit set.
Here I’m wearing my 1944 “Hollywood” scalloped blouse, an old store bought straight skirt, and a modern jacket which I refashioned into a convincing 40’s style. The hat and my shoes are both from Target. Not perfectly accurate, but the outfit feels comfy yet on point with Peggy’s headliner style.
One major question I would like to throw out for everyone is why does she wear so many A-line and pencil skirt styles for the series? The 40’s did have such skirt styles (A-line and straight), they were just less common. The way Peggy wears them so much you’d think they were typical..not meaning to nit pick, just giving a ‘historical standpoint’ view.
By the way did anyone else happen to be in some sort of 
“dress envy” with me at Peggy’s last outfit before the show ended? It was such a statement dress and looked so smoking awesome. Peggy’s dress just so happens to be so very, very similar to an old pattern in my collection, McCall #6278 from year 1946. I already had a different idea of how I was going to make a dress from this pattern, but now I’m thoroughly tempted to make one just like Peggy’s dress from the show. It would be easy, after all with such a similar pattern design…but I might stick to my own idea.
By the way, look for some look alike “Agent Carter” outfits coming to my blog in the next few months. I’m most excited about recreating one specific dress from “Madame Mask”, aka Whitney Frost’s wardrobe. This includes late 40’s and early 50’s goodness. Do you like this period of fashion, or do you not know much about it?
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Actually, a-line and straight skirts (not pencil style, which nip in by the knees) were the most common skirt style in the first half of the 1940s. The bell shape that came in with the New Look didn’t really start until 1947. I realize Agent Carter is set just after the war, but I think it is reasonable to assume that a girl who is still recovering from the war might still be wearing a-line and straight skirts from the war years.
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Thank you for your comment. Firstly, I have sewn pencil skirts and I never meant that they were worn in the 40’s, merely that Peggy’s wardrobe (especially in season 1) wrongly included a few of them.
As to A-line skirts, it’s not about just silhouette. To get technical, true A-line skirts by definition have no visual embellishments for ease, are on the straight grain and have no added seam lines, so this automatically excludes most of the skirts from the early and mid WWII times. Most 40’s (and 30’s) skirt designs included pleats and gores or some bias flaring, so the general straight or A-line appearance at rest is merely a deception and these would properly be called tulip shaped, pleated, or bias flared paneled skirts. Even Britain’s “Utility” clothing had added inserts of pleats and such for interest and freedom of movement – see video here. The French and some British fashions (the countries in the heart of rationing) stuck to the true A-line and straight skirts. Even then, A-line and straight skirts were often for designers (such as by Schiaparelli or Adrian or even Lili Ann) and for women’s suits (see the book “Forties Fashion” by Jonathan Walford). Even with a 1940’s straight skirt the slit would not have been in the center back (generally a 50’s thing) but small and on the side, no higher than the knee. Besides all of this, patterns were not subject to rationing until the last year and a half before the end of the war, so ladies who sewed could have more luxurious styles within reason. Yes, you’re right Peggy was behind in time…and Peggy probably did not sew either. But I think Agent Carter’s designers let some technicalities slip a bit with her skirts.
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I was thinking more along the lines of the classic six or four gored a-line skirt that was so common in the early 40s. (Or even the basic straight skirt). I think I misread your initial post and question–I didn’t realize it was a question about the costume designer’s (possibly mistaken) wardrobe choices for Peggy, rather than a general comment about 40s fashion. Forgive my mistake!
In any case, I really enjoy your Agent Carter wardrobe, and your photo shoots have been very fun!
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Thank you for your reply, I’m glad to hear from you again. Yes, I know what styles of skirts you’re referring to – they were a 40’s staple. In fact, have you seen Butterick recently re-released a 1944 pattern (#6286) which has a skirt just like this?
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Congratulations 🙂 That last dress is really stunning, I am looking forward to seeing your version of it.
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Thank you so much! It’s always so fun to find awesome patterns, but then to see a version of it on television…I just can’t seem to decide what to color tones for my dress (I have too much turquoise in my closet to choose the same colors as the one in t.v.).
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Looks great! I saw her blue dress. It was amazing.
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I like the scalloped collar !
btw, your McCall 6728 pattern is stunning
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Thank you! The McCall 6728 is a recent purchase…I’m running out of space for patterns, but when I see designs like this at a very cheap price, they’re too tempting to resist! Can’t find it on “Vintage Pattern Wikipedia” anymore.
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