In her 1997 book Fetish: Fashion, Sex, and Power, Valerie Steele suggests that Emma Peel’s costume was inspired by the work of prominent fetish fashion designer John Sutcliffe, whose leather outfits were popularized through his magazine AtomAge. Though Sutcliffe was not directly involved in the program, producers Julian Wintle and Brian Clemens were certainly familiar with his ideas. Furthermore, Steele claims that the producers originally intended Mrs. Peel to wear a leather hood and facemask with her catsuit, but then changed their minds. No source is cited for this statement, so I don’t know where she got this curious bit of information.
The credits on the episodes pre-dating Bates’s arrival name wardrobe supervisor Jackie Jackson, whose job it was to provide costumes for the actors to wear. If anyone were to know the actual origin of Emma Peel’s most famous outfit, I suppose it would be she.
Below, Mrs. Peel makes like a thief in the night in a photo-comic based on “Dial a Deadly Number,” which premiered in December 1965. Diana Rigg wears the iconic catsuit as she plays opposite John Carson as the villain.
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The most sensual, sexy, beautiful woman & actress in the world in my lifetime of 59 years.
Some sources credit costume designer Jan Rowell with creating Emma Peel's zippered leather catsuit, but this is unconfirmed.
Alternatively, this costume may have been designed by Frederick Starke for Cathy Gale to wear in her third season. When Honor Blackman left the show, the design might have been adapted for Diana Rigg. That is, if Frederick Starke actually worked on the show. Apparently, Ambren Garland, head of ABC's wardrobe department, has asserted that Starke's involvement was little more than a publicity stunt, and she and costume designer Audrey Liddle actually created Cathy Gale's leather outfits. Perhaps they designed the zippered catsuit that Diana Rigg wore as well. In any case, it's likely it was manufactured at John Sutcliffe's shop in Drury Lane, probably in late 1964.
- - - and what a perfect, sexually tantalizing, sleek , alluring , action suit to put a most beautiful woman into this garment, Diana Rigg as " Emma Peel ". Her femininity shines through so clearly !
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