A Peggy Carter Outfit as Undercover as a Shield Agent

This post is a week later than I intended it to be, but for a girl like myself with a rich Irish heritage on both sides of my family, seven days after St. Patrick’s day isn’t bad for celebrating either.  Any and every day is good for reveling in one’s heritage!  I always find it so perfect that the holiday for wearing green comes around for us just as the season of spring does, as well.  Verdant hues are the newest cloak being worn by nature, as well.  Spring also means school break, however, and as a mom it is always such a challenge to accomplish anything I had previously intended during our son’s time off at home.   

Thus, finally, I’m so excited to be sharing another amazing Agent Carter recreation unlike all the rest I have finished.  It is secretly a one-piece jumpsuit – surprise!  By choosing two different colors and types of material for the top and bottom half I enjoy the appearance of separates.  Yet, my top stays perfectly “tucked in” and my high-waisted, wide-legged 40’s style trousers stay up in place…because it is an easy-to-dress-in, all one garment kind of jumpsuit!  I still faithfully recreated Agent Peggy Carter’s outfit from Season Two, episode 3 ‘Better Angels’, of the 2016 television series.  

It has pockets!!!

I laugh in enjoyment over the sneaky deception of the way I made my version.  As I make mention of in my title, I feel this jumpsuit version is so very suited to Peggy’s smart but sensible personality.  It is also a bit deceptive in plain sight just like so much of her life as an agent of the S.S.R. (or should I just say S.H.I.E.L.D., right).  Also, it is has a bright and cheerful “Leprechaun” green which, between the versatile fabrics I used that are perfect for cooler in-between temperatures, makes this my favorite classy-but-casual vintage inspired outfit for spring (or fall, too, of course).  The best part is the fact I used a modern (therefore relatively easily available) sewing pattern as my verbatim source for this outfit.  Leave it to Peggy Carter to keep inspiring me to sew myself clothes that become such wardrobe winners which I feel great wearing.

THE FACTS:

FABRIC:  the top blouse half is a Kona brand all-cotton in “Leprechaun” color; the bottom trousers are a heathered grey brushed suiting bought here from Fashion Fabrics Club, in a 63% Rayon 16% Viscose 12% Linen 8% Silk 1% Lycra blend; the lining for the bodice was also used for the side seam pants pockets and that is a basic lightweight polyester in a dark green color.

PATTERN:  Butterick #6320, year 2016

NOTIONS NEEDED:  I needed lots of thread, interfacing, one long 22” invisible zipper for the center back closing, and I used one vintage dark green Bakelite buckle for the belt.

THE INSIDES:  all nicely finished in bias tape for the trouser half, otherwise all other raw edges are invisible due to the bodice lining.

TIME TO COMPLETE:  This jumpsuit felt time consuming.  After over 30 hours put in, it was finished in March 2020.

TOTAL COST:  The trouser fabric alone cost me $35 for two yards, and the bodice was $7 for one yard.  The lining was on hand leftover from another project years back so I’m counting that and the buckle from my stash as free.  My total cost with the other notions is $50.

Now, one really never gets to see my project’s inspiration outfit on Agent Carter for very long in the “Better Angels” episode, and even then, it is mostly only her green blouse that we see in detail.  That’s okay.  The trousers are basic 40’s era suiting bottoms and the blouse carries the brunt of the meticulous design lines, after all.  Peggy’s green top had these shoulder panels which wrapped from the back to the front where they create a wide, curved sweetheart neckline before they end under the armpit.  The rest of the center front to the blouse has a dipped neckline which gathers into the bottom of the shoulder plackets to create bust fullness. 

All of these details were already there on Butterick #6320 pattern – yay!  The most obvious variance is having a plain, flat front with the lack of a buttoned front opening, such as what Agent Carter’s original blouse had.  I like this pattern’s smooth front better, just the same as I chose puffed sleeves over plain sleeves with a hem notch as Peggy’s original had.  I recreated those sleeves on this other Season Two blouse (posted here).  Also, these trousers are a comfy, pleated front while Peggy’s version had a smooth, fitted front.  I have made several smooth front 40’s pants for myself already anyway (see here and here).  For as much as I try to ‘copy’ Peggy’s outfits, I always make sure to stay true to my personal wearing preferences so I can have my Agent Carter garments be everyday clothes and not just cosplay costumes.  Also, I like to honor the ingenuity of the designer, in this case “Gigi” Ottobre-Melton, by not making an exact copy.

From the soft shine of the original blouse on Agent Carter, I assume it was silk.  I cannot tell what material her trousers were but they seem to be a thick rayon suiting to me.  My chosen fabrics are more basic and casual, albeit very nice.  Kona cotton is synonymous for quality, especially being a Robert Kaufman product.  It is thick but soft, durable with minimal shrinkage, and the colors don’t bleed (important as I am making a dual color, two material jumpsuit).  I always appreciate the fact Kona cotton certifies that no harmful chemicals were used in its production, processing or finishing. 

I felt it was important that my trouser fabric be something a lot more textured than the blouse to imitate the appearance of two separate items.  The material I chose is a blend of most of all my favorite materials (rayon, linen, and silk) in a very unusual way – a twill with a flannel finish.  Nevertheless, it has a wonderful drape, great medium weight, and a finish which has it perfect for a menswear-inspired suiting look. 

The brushed finish makes this a slightly bit itchy (but I wear pants liners underneath to counter that) and the linen in it makes this wrinkle some, too.  However, the blend it is in also has the pants portion to this jumpsuit be much more breathable and multi-seasonal than one would expect by the look and feel of it.  I am happily surprised by the success of this jumpsuit project.  The way I was combining two such opposite fabrics had me worried from the outset, as did the fact I had spent a decent sum of money on the supplies in the first place.  The bodice was a beast to sew (more on this in a minute).  This had to turn out or I would have been devastated. 

I found the ‘bust-waist-hips’ sizing of this pattern to be spot on, yet the fit and proportions were off.  The way this is drafted on paper, the pattern is only made for tall ladies.  I do not consider myself truly petite at about 5’3” in height, and my torso length (from the back of my neck to high waist) is a common 15” (plus some).  As it was, the bodice was far too long, as were the trousers.  The pattern called for a 2-something inch hem…I had 10 inches in excess to hem these trousers on the long side for me (I have to wear heels in this jumpsuit).  I had to bring in the shoulders by about 2” to pick up the bodice so that the underbust seam rests where it should be landing.  

This pattern will NEED some adapting for most anyone who tries out this design, from my experience.  It is especially important to learn this from the outset at the pattern stage as the complex and fully lined bodice doesn’t give much room for adapting after it is completed.  Take into account that the curved shoulder panels have to be redrawn at the joining seam if you also need to take this design in to fit if you choose to sew this for yourself, too.  Please do not let my warning dissuade you from trying this pattern – I highly recommend it.  I love the many options it offers with the variety of sleeves and the option of a skirt bottom.

The bodice was extremely fiddly and tricky and takes some slow, meticulous going to sew it right.  I have seen some sewists who have made this pattern for themselves skip some details as well as the lining, but I recommend going all the way for this fabulous design.  Yes, interfacing the entire bodice seems like overkill, but I did it anyway.  Now that my jumpsuit is finished, I think it does help the bodice become a stable ‘anchor’ to the pants below and not be pulled down by that much fabric. Yes, it looks like there are way too many markings needing to be made to the fabric at the cutting out stage.  As a stickler for doing things right from the outset, I sucked it up and copied all of the balance marks, squares, triangles, and circles.  They all end up being extremely necessary and very helpful towards making construction much less confusing.  Even still, the gathering around the curved shoulder placket above the bustline was the trickiest part of all to perfect.  Luckily, the smooth inner lining (completely different pattern pieces from the exterior front top) help to bring the bodice together and right the seam allowances. 

Before I added the lining, I thought the bodice looked messy and was being pulled too much by the attached trousers.  Sure, I ironed the top along the way, clipping where necessary and pushing the seam allowances the right direction.  Once the lining was in, I had matched the lines of both the lining bodice and exterior bodice so I could hand tack them together ‘in the ditch’ of the seams.  My doing this interior seam matching was over and above what the instructions told me to do, but worth it.  After all, it was only then that the bodice was suddenly substantial enough to hold the weight of the 2 something yards of attached pants and therefore not have unreasonable wrinkles.  All the ‘good side’ edges have no visible stitching because I had stitched the seam allowance edges for the neckline to the lining as further hand finishing over and above what was called for.  I love the chic and professional appearance my extra efforts give, even though it is not clearly noticeable until up close…which nowadays, social distancing prevents that!  The lining, though a bother to cut and sew (besides being unseen), completely makes this jumpsuit work out.

My self-fabric belt is the “cherry-on-the-top” to the two-piece deception of this jumpsuit.  This was something not originally part of the pattern but something I added.  However, it is not your normal belt on account of the center back zipper closing.  I slid my vintage belt buckle over the belt strip and centered it between the two ends.  Then the center of the belt with the buckle was lightly hand tacked to the center front of the jumpsuit’s waistline.  I further attached the belt to the side seams of the jumpsuit.  This was done out of convenience for both dressing and bathroom visits.  Nobody wants to pick up something off of a public bathroom floor!  Also, I had no plans on wearing this outfit without the belt at all.  Two oversized snap help the loose belt ends lap closed over one another across the back once the back zipper is closed.  I am always justly wary of having anything Bakelite – normally buttons, but here it’s the buckle – going through a washing machine cycle so I now realize I will either have to clip away the threads that tack down the belt or hand wash this jumpsuit.  Oh well.  The finished project here makes up for any bother needed to take care of it along the way.

Here I’m at my parents’ front yard mailbox, wearing an old 90’s corduroy blazer over my Agent Carter jumpsuit. I love that my mom decorates for every seasonal holiday!

This month’s green outfit of mine not only celebrates the equinox and St. Patrick’s Day, but also has a subtle nod to Women’s History Month.  This outfit honors the strong ladies who have influenced my life.  Agent Carter has inspired my fashion style, my sewing preferences, and my personal confidence.  Yet, no vintage outfit of mine is ever complete without something of my grandmother’s – whether it be her earrings, gloves, scarves, or such accessories I have inherited.  My Grandma is so sorely missed these past four plus years. She was the strongest, bravest, most resourceful, intelligent, caring, compassionate, and beautiful woman I could ever aspire to be.  It is her gold “Lady Elgin” 1940s watch which is the item I am never without for every Agent Carter outfit of mine.  Peggy Carter was never without her Nana’s watch in the first half of Season 1’s show…and I guarantee you my watch will not have the same sad fate as her’s did.  

I think it is a fantastic tradition for women to honor the previous generation’s women though continuing to wear (albeit gently) their heirlooms.  I like the keep some familial treasures stored away, yes indeed.  However, there are others which I feel deserve to be enjoyed and thus have a renewed appreciation through the connection they carry.  You know, many people have said I look like my Grandmother when she was young…but I also have people I don’t personally know tell me I look like Agent Carter on many occasions. What a happy connection this is as well as the best compliments I could ever hope to receive!  I know my Grandmother would want me to be as proud of myself as she was of me.  I can only hope and try to be as amazing a woman as she.   If I can sneak in a little Agent Carter reference by just doing my own vintage style along the way, too, well…I am blessed.  It must be the lucky Irish in me. 

Agent Carter’s Color-Blocked Slacks Suit

Slacks suits of the 1940s – when the blouse and the pants both matched as a set – are such an admirable yet interesting piece of fashion history which is under the normal radar what we think of WWII clothes for ladies.  No doubt it has to do with the fact they are an extremely rare item to find extant, especially with both pieces together.  They were an avant-garde statement of women’s empowerment.  They always have great design lines and wonderful styling when they are to be found either in person or in magazine images.

A slacks suit was nice clothing, and not just for working the garden or at a factory assembling war supplies like dungarees.  They were also day wear, or for home leisure, when they were out of nicer materials with finer details, but always practical by offering great ease of movement and practicality for the busy, multi-tasking woman of wartime.  Any way they were styled or worn, though, wearing pants was still not a societal accepted norm for women.  Many young women or ladies with confidence and a sensible disregard for public opinion took to such fashions.  It totally makes sense that a character such as the indomitable Agent Peggy Carter would wear such a thing when she came to sunny Los Angeles in 1947 (Season Two)!   What a better way for me to channel a 40’s slacks suit than to take cue from Miss Carter and make my own color blocked version!

THE FACTS:

FABRIC:  a burgundy colored apparel weight polyester challis from Uptown Fabric shop on Etsy along with an old cotton knit t-shirt

PATTERN:  an adapted version of Simplicity #4762, year 1943, for the blouse; I acquired this pattern as part of a trade of vintage goods with Emileigh, the blogger behind “Flashback Summer”

NOTIONS:  thread, some interfacing, and a set of true vintage 1940s buttons out of the inherited stash of hubby’s grandmother

TIME TO COMPLETE:  The blouse took me 30 hours to complete, including the necessary re-sizing of the pattern.  It was finished October 30, 2019.

THE INSIDES:  cleanly bias bound

TOTAL COST:  All I needed was two yards and this cost me only $14

To make things a bit easier on myself –so I thought – I bought the pants RTW from a company that remakes vintage style garments (Unique Vintage‘s “Ginger pants”).  These pants are made of the hard-to-find, soft, and wonderfully sturdy rayon gabardine so I couldn’t resist them, especially as they have a true high waist, pockets, and a good 40’s style wide leg.  I love that these pants are the next best thing to something I would sew myself.  They are a saturated, true burgundy and I thought that should not be hard to match…boy was I wrong.

It took me a year’s worth of browsing every so often, both in person at fabric stores and over the internet (which is much harder to do due to screen variations), to find a color which would match my existing pants AND be a proper blouse weight material.  So many burgundy tones either were too blue toned, too red, or too purple and then the fabric was either a quilting cotton, a silky print, or a duck cloth.  I would have preferred a natural material, but sometimes ya gotta go with the best one can procure for sewing projects.  At least this challis is high quality polyester which is surprisingly quite nice and –besides the surface shine – really not an obviously man-made in content.  Occasionally that dream material is too hard to find, especially when I was so impatient to be able to wear my completed dream project!  The two different contents of the pants and the blouse play tricks on the camera in the sun, but in person and through pictures in the shade, the two pieces really do match up.

Speaking of another challenge in color matching, I also had a really hard time also finding a material to match the rest of my set which was a true dark-toned spruce green.  I was tired of the searching so part of this outfit is also a refashion.  I chose the practical “made-do-and-mend” route and used an old printed t-shirt from on hand which no longer fit me.  It was in the right color green, only a completely different fabric – a cotton knit.  I was thinking (rather hoping) that the contrast in type of material might be passable because it is a contrast color to the rest of the set as well.  Also, I do love a sleeve that is easy to move in.  Against my better judgment, I went ahead and used the tee for this slacks suit’s blouse…and I am pretty pleasantly surprised at how well this refashion turned out.

I kept the original sleeves as-is from off of the t-shirt and transferred them directly onto the new blouse I was sewing.  I cut out the front Christmas print because I liked it (and might applique it to a new tee in the future).  The majority of the back body of the tee went towards the new blouse’s contrast shoulder panel and under collar piece, while the bottom hem was used to lengthen the sleeves a bit by adding faux cuffs.  I interfaced the shoulder panel and the under collar piece because, being a rather thin and stretchy knit, I thought the green tee material needed to act and feel stable like a woven from the rest of my set for it to ‘fit in’.  It seems my idea worked well.  I was afraid that using a knit for the shoulder panel – the spot on a blouse which has practically the most stress from movement – would be a terrible idea yet between the interfacing and lining that panel with more of the blouse fabric…my blouse is staying in its intended shape.  The sleeves were the only part from off of the tee that I kept fully stretchy.

Between the knit arms and the full, gathered lower back bodice panel, I now have a vintage blouse which lends itself to some extreme butt-kicking wrestling moves, such as Agent Carter was wont to exhibit on men who needed an awakening at the hands of a woman.  Luckily the scene in which we see Peggy first wearing this outfit (“A View in the Dark” episode) was a very active one, and all the different angles shown of her slacks suit were very helpful in seeing what details there were.  Out of the TV series’ original outfit, I kept the small pointed collar, the dark green buttons down the front, the back blouse fullness, the combination of colors, and the general placement of the contrast color.

However, as I have done for all of my other Agent Carter “copies”, I like to both personalize the clothing according to my taste and base it more heavily upon historical accuracy.  My bought trousers align with WWII-time standards with smaller pockets, no hem cuffs, a side metal zipper, and rayon gabardine – the classic fabric for a slacks suit.  I started with a 1943 pattern because when the war effort hit the home front in full force, slacks suits began a strong showing in fashion catalogs and shopping magazines.  All I needed to do was make just a few tweaks to make my outfits closer to extant originals that have caught my admiring eye.

I feel so much better about trying to copy a garment when I change up the design according to my own ideas.  Doing so is my way of respecting the original artist that was behind the garment which is my inspiration!  Yet also, I do want to stay true to that self-realization of knowing what will look best for my body shape, height, and proportions.  I want everything that Agent Carter wears, yes – but I also want to like myself in them rather than forcing something which might not be ‘right’ for me.  This is the only way for me to naturally incorporate a bit of Peggy Carter into my everyday wardrobe.  I like to wear my Peggy outfits as something other than a special occasion cosplay item, but to each her own.  This is why I opted for a belted overblouse style to my slacks suit, unlike the way Agent Carter originally wears her set.  Just like her, I dare to be different!

My main 1940s inspiration sources were both color-blocked jackets (with skirts) and extant matching slacks suits as seen through vintage selling sites.  Many of these include burgundy color.  My favorite set is a 40’s “California Sportswear” set made in Hollywood monotone set, sold by FabGabs, which is remarkably close to Agent Carter’s TV one.  Otherwise, I drew heavily from the two-tone “American Spectator” blouse sold at Boswell Vintage.  I made a separate belt and added it to my blouse, then adjusted the look to match my inspiration.  I imitated the front (below the belted waistline) pleats of the blue hound’s-tooth overblouse and the full gathered back of the burgundy “American Spectator” blouse.

The detail of the button going through the middle of the attached belt is everything to me here.  It’s a sharp detail so very much in tune with the tailored 40’s era and complimentary to my waistline, a big plus.  It keeps the general idea of Peggy’s set with – dare I say – better details and a better classic 40’s sportswear air to it.  My blouse is sans faux chest pocket flaps because they struck me as a detail which might only become a fussy distraction.  Combining my smaller frame proportions with the faux belt detail seemed like just enough of a balance although I do feel lost in any outfit that is lacking true pockets!

Matched in both fabric and color, slacks suits were frequently color-blocked – no doubt because each piece would be easy to mix and match separately with other items in a wardrobe.  Like most clothing meant to be an everyday item or at least supremely useful, they do not survive like special occasion clothing, says “The Vintage Traveler” (as in this post here).  She had been highlighting her collection of slacks suits on her Instagram (see these fantastic sets).  The more I see of slacks suits the more I agree with “The Vintage Traveler” and admire how casual did not mean sloppy in vintage style.  Yet, such dressing – women in pants, in particular – has lost its novelty over years.  What was informal for back then now appears quite refined by modern standards, but at the same time what was daring then is now often only thought of as a conservative approach to everyday wardrobe staples.

True instance on many an occasion – my hubby tells me to be casual for running errands and I reach for my vintage sportswear.  Then he says he needs to dress up to match me because I still look so nice!  This slacks suit is my sharpest version yet of 40’s pants based sportswear and has no complaints when I channel Peggy.  Luckily I ordered more burgundy challis material before Uptown Fabric sold out.  My hope is to extend my slacks suit to have a blouse and skirt matching combo at some point in the future.  I love how I can make something killer but still have it versatile and practical at the same time when I sew vintage…especially Peggy Carter…styles.  Now I have something new in my arsenal of creations, another box ticked off – a 1940s slacks suit.

Ready for Another Adventure?

Ah, I can’t help but interrupt my previously planned post for one that highlights Agent Carter…because she’s back!  Well, sort of.  Sadly, it has been confirmed Peggy will be back only in name only for the newest (and last) Season 7 of “Agents of Shield”, despite her romantic interest Agent Sousa being front and center in the most recent episodes.  I’ll admit that I have not been following “Agents of Shield” until now and I do despise the last ditch ideas of time travel which shows too often fall back on at the end of their run.  But if Agent Carter is back for some sort of relevant story continuation (which was cut short by the lack of an expected Season Three of her TV show), I’m here for it by adding more outfits from seasons one and two to my wardrobe and perhaps watching the new show.  I’ll pick up on sewin’ and postin’ more Peggy fashions, starting with recreating the first thing we see her in upon embarking on her new California adventure at the beginning of Season Two, “The Lady in the Lake” episode.  “Are you ready for another adventure, Miss Carter?” said Mr. Jarvis.  Oh how I do love having my own exciting escapades when in Peggy’s shoes!

THE FACTS:

FABRIC:  a Matte Blue 100% Silk Batiste (sorry, but it’s sold out now!) accented my handmade bias tape of Dove White Cotton Sateen, both from Fashion Fabrics Club

PATTERN:  an adapted version of Butterick #6374, originally a year 1944 design, reprinted in 2016

NOTIONS:  I needed nothing extraordinary – just thread, a bit of interfacing, and 3 vintage buttons out of the stash of hubby’s grandmother.

TIME TO COMPLETE:  Not counting the hour or two spent to re-draft the pattern, sewing the blouse took me about 6 hours.  It was finished on June 11, 2020.

THE INSIDES:  French seamed with a bias covered hem

TOTAL COST:  1 ½ yards of the silk and a ½ yard remnant of the sateen cost me a total of just over $30.

First off, yes, I am wearing separates – a blouse and trousers (which are the Marlene pants from Burda Style, posted here) – and yes, my pattern for the top half of my outfit was highly redrafted from a dress pattern.  You did not read the facts above wrongly.  I wanted to start with a vintage pattern, of course, and all the blouse patterns I had on hand were not remotely close to what I wanted.  Yet I did have the 1944 dress pattern which had a similar shawl collar and strong, slightly full, shoulders.  After all, Peggy Carter was known for wearing mid-40s fashions prior to her time out in California in the second season, so the dating would be perfect, too.  I was never a big fan of the original dress, although I might eventually try it in the future, but I bought it anyway a few years back on one of those $1-something sales.  This way I feel like it is not just taking up useless space in my pattern drawers.  It has now actually come in handy, just not in the way initially intended.  I might have a large stash of patterns, but I do not hoard…the patterns I have are cared for gently and often preserved and copied, but they do ‘work’ for their keep here and they are much more than a pretty inspiration!

I first had to trace out the pattern as it was, from hip length up, and then tweak it.  Next, I extended the collar to be wider, especially in the front over the chest, as well as making it roll over itself better.  The back collar was drafted by me to be just wide enough for the edging.  I am so happy to have ended up with a collar which was just what I wanted!  The shoulders and main body are pretty much the same as the original dress, but I added greater wearing ease all over so it would be blousier than the original slim fitting dress.  The back bodice had a dramatic re-drafting because the original dress had princess seams.  I combined the pattern pieces to become one piece, cut on the fold, with two vertical fish-eye darts.  Remember, it really doesn’t take much to change things up dramatically on paper for a sewing pattern…an extra ¼ inch may go a long way.

The semi-sheer batiste needed to be double layered to be an opaque blouse, which was rather hard to pull off on only 1 ½ yards.  This silk is so lightweight and breathable two layers is no big deal, though, once I was able to fit the pattern pieces in.  Silk is the world’s most all-season, easy to wear, and overall beautiful fabric in my opinion.  The listing for this fabric said it was matte finish, but there is still the loveliest shine along every soft fold.  Even a matte silk blend has the same lovely sheen.  Every time I create with silk, I find it is more imperative than other fabrics to use a new needle in my machine, otherwise it create pulls in the fabric as I sew.

Now both the silk and the sateen listings say to dry clean them…bah!  Only in a few exceptions – and vintage acetate is one of them – have I come across a fabric that is not washable.  I wash woolens, silks, rayon, cottons, linens, and of course any man-made (i.e. polyester), as well as any combo of those, and have never come across any unpleasant effects of doing so besides a few wrinkles, which a good ironing can easily remedy.  Even many decorator fabrics can totally be washed, although their first dip in water does shrink them like crazy.  Washing all of these fabrics must be better for them anyway over harsh, unpleasant chemicals of conventional dry cleaning!  When in doubt, I do try and wash a small, snipped off test corner first.  So, don’t be afraid to get your fabrics clean, just do so in the gentlest way possible.  For me, this means either hand-washing, or placing them in a zip-closed laundry bag before machine washing on the delicate cycle.  A cleaner garment means less attraction for hungry bugs that might like to eat them, remember!

I am still thrilled over the lovely novelty of self-made bias tape, as seen in my making of my last project, this multi-use apron/sundress/ jumper thing (posted here).  Especially when your bias tape will take a front and center stage, it is important to have a quality notion.  So I started with a quality fabric to edge this blouse the way I figured it, and I’m so glad I did.  The slightly heavier weight of the decorator’s sateen is perfect for keeping the collar in place and stabilizing the soft silk.  The slight shine on the sateen matches the finish on the silk, too.  The very slight off-white color is a gentler contrast than a pure white.  I just love it when an idea for a garment comes together as good as or even better than I expected!  It’s the best surprise.

This ‘blouse-from-a-dress’ experiment opens up all new doors for my pattern stash, now.  A dress can be tweaked to become a jacket, a vest can have sleeves added to develop a blouse, or a skirt can be reformed into pants when you approach patterns as a fluid tool with great potential to aid in creating anything with your hands.  This is the beauty of sewing.  It is all up to you – the skies the limit!  Anything can be sewn up anyway you like it.

With that said, I want an entire wardrobe of everything Agent Carter has worn in her TV series, and so my sewing creativity in this sphere goes towards personalizing and doing some historical basing of my ‘copies’ of Peggy’s outfits.  “Copying” an existing garment you admire can be every bit as challenging, if not more so, as trying to match your own individual idea.  Sewing is an exciting undertaking in its own way, and even small adventures are important in our times when there is so much wrong about the world today and a pandemic has forced too many of us into an unwelcome isolation.  Stepping into Peggy Carter’s shoes and clothes is my ongoing quest that suits me up with her spirit of independence, personal confidence, sense of equity, and – of course – great fashion taste.  How is sewing your special adventure?

Peggy’s Faux Bolero Dress

It was the day after that terrible, unexplained explosion at the Isodyne Energy Facility.  She was fighting through so much internally and externally – confusion, loss, blame, and a gut suspicion of a truth that she cannot prove.  At least she was the only one who had the humanity to get to know the missing scientist, no matter what his skin color.  Although she did not have the time to establish the connection she was inherently hoping for, she did understand him enough to mourn that he was only another senseless innocent in the long list of persons she seems to be the cause of their destruction.  Rightly or wrongly, those are her feelings.  Yet, the rest of the world around her only wanted the ‘facts’ about last night tied up in a nice little package, so that the truth for them was what they expected to hear.  SHE was the one needed by those in power to sign off for their lies – willingly or not was the threat.  What might our heroine wear for such a scene?  How can her fashion translate her strength showing through her weakness, her conviction to stand for veracity as the sole woman among a sea of lying, well-connected men?

Luckily, Peggy did have some true friends to turn to in such an hour.  Fortunately, also, the wonderful costume designer Gigi Melton has already come up with the perfect, amazing, and striking answer to a scene such as this, as well as other incidents just as powerful.

The heroine, Peggy Carter of the “Strategic Scientific Reserve”, dons the signature color of her female adversary – purple.  As someone who perennially wears blues, reds, and browns, she combines it with a new-to-her tone from the other end of the spectrum…green.  A professional looking faux two-piece outfit becomes a convenient one-piece dress.  Bold but sensible courage is manifested in Peggy’s fashion as well as character. Now, with my sewing capabilities, some fabric remnants, and an old pattern, I have my very own copy of Marvel’s Agent Carter’s dress for the above described scenes from Episode 3 of Season Two, “Better Angels”.

I love how Peggy’s words perpetually cut through the crud around her and are searingly direct, like a hot knife in hard butter, especially for this scene.  Truthfulness with others is what she is best at, and those scenes in which this memorable dress is worn, she oozes an assertive yet feminine, complex yet simple, and full on 40’s look!   “Better Angels” episode helps demonstrate why I have such respect for her and why I admire her character – an everyday superhero capability is tinged with a very relatable humanity and touching empathy.

April 9 is the anniversary of Peggy’s birthday, and it’s annually a day to celebrate a character that has brought so much into our lives by taking part in the “International Agent Carter Day”.  This is one of my favorite days of the year!  For such a day this year, I will post one of my very favorite Agent Carter outfit “copies” I have done.  It also happens to get the most compliments everywhere I go wearing it!  All this was made in one yard of deep eggplant purple gabardine and a few scraps of bright China silk leftover from a past project.  I adapted a true vintage 1946 pattern to both keep to the era and find the real historical version – thus I’m not just copying a Hollywood garment.

Of course, anyone who knows me knows I love a great pair of shoes, especially one that perfectly matches a color in my outfit.  Thus, I set out to find some true vintage shoes which would parallel the olive green B.A.I.T brand heels in the show.  There are some more modern decades, such as the 60’s or 70’s, which mimic 1940’s shoe styles, with slightly different heel shapes.  They are frequently much more wearable because of their not-so-fragile-as true-40’s footwear, however.  So, after much searching, I found a pair of lovely suede and polished leather, woven front, peep-toe heels in my size, in the exact matching green as my center bodice!  These are so comfy and really complete the outfit, yet they sadly blend in too well with the grass to be seen when I’m in a yard!

THE FACTS:

FABRIC:  a rayon/cotton blend gabardine, combined with china silk (leftover from lining this 40’s jacket-style blouse) for the contrast, and full lining in the bodice with all cotton broadcloth.

PATTERN:  McCall #6377, year 1946

NOTIONS:  I had all the thread I needed, and I used interfacing scraps and a zipper from on hand

TIME TO COMPLETE:  This dress was finished on September 10, 2018, in about 10 hours.

THE INSIDES:  cleanly bias bound

TOTAL COST:  The one yard of purple gabardine was a remnant found for about $5 at Wal-Mart, the silk was scraps (I don’t count the cost of such small pieces), and the “American Classics” cotton was yet another remnant, this time found at JoAnn for a few dollars.  This dress cost under $10!!!

Faux boleros on a one-piece garment or even just color-blocking – like this dress – seemed to have been a ‘thing’ starting in the late 1930s through 1940s, from what I have found so far through extant garments and similar sewing pattern designs.  This collage is only a small portion of what inspiration I have come across.  These are all a very smart – perfect for using small cuts of fabric, but nevertheless make the most fun out of fashion as well as the most streamlined outfit ever!  The bottom right extant late 1930s dress is the one that I specifically channeled here with my tweak to add a bit of Agent Carter my vintage pattern.  That inspiration garment had the arched, faux cummerbund mid-section as well as the shiny silk contrast bodice panels which worked perfectly with my need to fit every pattern piece on small remnants.  The more concise the pieces, the better to fit onto scraps!

Getting my bodice to look like a faux bolero required me to retrace it out onto paper, cut out that copy, and re-draft it into a few extra pieces.  Yet, to keep all of those pieces together nicely – besides validating the accuracy of my re-drafting and provide a clean interior – the bodice lining is the one-piece design of the original pattern.   I was so happy to be using my lovely leftover silk in a project which would highlight it.  As I had only used it for interior lining in the project before, this silk literally now has its opportunity to shine.  Yet, the silk is so much lighter compared to the substantial thickness of the gabardine, it sometimes appears quite wrinkled.  China silk is not the best at holding its own on a fashion design.  There’s exceptions to the rule as you can see here, but it really is best as a lining.  I wouldn’t trust the China silk to not rip or tear apart on its own if I hadn’t lined the bodice.

The best part of sewing a two-tone dress (total irony here) is having to switch between colors with the spools and bobbins of thread in my sewing machine.  It is a real pain!  This is why I did the side zipper and several other sections by hand.  Not to brag, but I can use whatever color of thread on whatever color of fabric and make the thread invisible!  Such a technique is a very useful skill, just sharing a heads up!  I kept the machine top-stitching to the purple portion of the bodice only because gabardine doesn’t look as terrible showing thread as silk would.  Silk is such a fine fabric, I feel like it deserves better (most of the time) than machine stitching!  I know, silly me!

There’s something to be said about dressing in character.  When you try to copy someone else’s wardrobe, no matter how much you like it on that other individual, you are not dressing for yourself until you own it and make it yours, whether through a tweak to the garment or a change of mental outlook for example.  I – and many other wonderful women who call Peggy Carter their heroine, like me – find that Captain America’s “Best Girl” only raises us up and makes us stronger and more confident in ourselves when taking on her persona through wearing her wardrobe.  Agent Carter is such a special character to emulate.  She is so relatable and inspiring in so many ways that to imitate her is like manifesting a braver and bolder version of yourself, which needed Peggy’s help to show itself.  Let’s all “know our value” today and every day!