P. A. Odango

Name: Philip Odango

Costume Entry Title: Agatha Harkness from WandaVision

Costume Description: 

Agatha Harkness’ wild, witchy and weirdly wonderful costume in Marvel Studios’ WandaVision series was designed by Mayes C. Rubeo. I re-created their design as a passion project in my workshop in Norfolk, Virginia, United States, to be worn by my friend and model Sarah Storminger using an assemblage of many crafting skills, from sewing, painting, sculpting, beading, working with EVA foam and so much pleating -- over the span of 200 hours, 50 yards of 10 different types of fabric, 3 sheets of foam, 2 wax candles, and hours of attention to detail by screen-grabbing photos. The costume is 100% hand-crafted by me except for Agatha’s black boots. 

Dress and Bodice

The dress is composed of stretch velvet and was hand-painted with green and gold on top of the blues and purples to attain a color-shifting effect. The skirt is composed of three skirt layers, first being a sheer dark blue layer, the secondary layer a green satin layer and then the velvet overskirt. I hand pleated the overskirt to attain the screen diagonal accurate folds. All skirt edges are heat-sealed. The bodice is made from the same navy stretch velvet and hand-pleated on the diagonal to form the sweetheart shame of the bodice top. The marbled blue and white top portion is composed of a batik fabric, and I carefully hand cut tendril shapes and hand placed them on top of the bodice to attain the branching effect. Additional tendril lines were painted using dimensional puffy paint. Additional color-shifting green and gold paints were hand-painted to complete the bodice transition to the overskirt. The collar is formed using velvet fabric and a pleated cream fabric.

Capes

The capes are five panels all hand-pleated and hand-pressed from over 20 yards of dramatic purple chiffon intended to billow in the breeze. The edges are all heat-sealed using a candle to finish the edges. I select particular chiffons that would blow elegantly with the leaf blower during filming and photography. The pleats were then sewn at the edges and joined with the front and back pleated panels to form the cape. I added pearlescent paint to select pleats so that they would catch in the light. I sewed silver chains and bead toggles at the panel joints as seen in the show. The cape collar is achieved by hand-pleating the purple velvet fabric and adding hooks to attach to the bodice.

Sleeves

The sleeves are sewn from navy blue sheers. As an elegant and more sustainable solution to Agatha’s evil hands, I hand-painted champagne colored satin gloves using black and purple fabric paints so that you couldn’t tell the model is wearing gloves at all; this is a time-saving measure when working with makeup paints which gets messy; painting it on permanently is a more workable solution. The forearm pieces I sewed out of purple embroidered fabric and sewed black lace and I hand-painted with green and gold color-shift paints similar to the overskirts.

Brooch Cameo

I handmade Agatha’s signature cameo brooch out of EVA foam and dimensional puffy paint. I re-created the design of the three women using vector software and printed it onto paper. I used dimensional paint on top of that to create a raised cameo brooch effect. The setting frame is made out of foam and I handplaced all the beads, and handpainted the setting gold.

Darkhold Book Prop

Agatha’s Darkhold book is lovely recreated out of EVA foam, cardboard and paint. I meticulously made vector designs and handcut all the pieces out of 4mm and 2mm EVA foam and laid on foam-covered cardboard. All the spells come from historical arcane magick grimoires. I tea-stained all the pages and singed all the edges and added flames using edge-singed yellow chiffon, and bound the pages to the book cover. During the shoot, the Darkhold is suspended in the air using invisible filament attached to a boom pole and flown in and out of shots, as a nod to practical effects in movie magic. 

Wig Design

Agatha’s wig is composed of two wigs both styled by me and stacked to create the fullness of her hair in addition to strategic placement of pieces so that they would swept up by the leaf blower during photography.

Film production credits: 

With the assistance of production volunteers, I directed and produced a cinematic highlighting moments from WandaVision showcasing the completed cosplay and Darkhold.

Costume, Hair, Prop Design: Philip Odango

Agatha Harkness: Sarah Storminger

Tommy Maximoff: Quinn

Billy Maximoff:  Locke

Photography: With An H Media

Production Assistant: Christina Rhodes of Viva Valentina

Makeup consultant: Jessica Martinez

Makeup assistant: Christina Rhodes

Film directed and edited: Philip Odango

Assistant Cinematography: Christina Rhodes

Puppeting: Philip Odango

Special thanks: Matthew Prible and Naro Cinema

Watch the Full Cinematic Video Online

You can watch the full cinematic online at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPc4t43dD5c

Watch a Hyperlapse Video of Cosplay Transformation

https://www.facebook.com/1730309683872460/videos/169883294987032

Biography: 

With the success of Marvel Studios' WandaVision on Disney+, costume designer and teaching artist Philip Odango sought to recreate the insidious and perfidious witch Agatha Harkness. Portrayed expressively by Kathryn Hahn, Philip sought to bring to life Agatha's costume design and cruel, kooky and menacing presence, and the mystery of the Darkhold. 

Philip's love of artistry and crafting first cultivated with directing theatre. Expanding upon his technical skills, he parlayed his love of spectacle and visual storytelling into sewing, quickly gaining attention in the cosplay world. After crafting his first cosplay of Edward Scissorhands out of garbage bags and pizza boxes, Philip has designed and displayed numerous costumes across the world. His "cosplay your way" approach to cosplay is inspired by diverse and vibrant creators, ideas and communities he has met all over the globe. Philip curates his creations to reflect those journeys and demonstrates that cosplay is, above all else, a personal reflection of one's creative self-expression.

With a keen eye for style and craftsmanship, Philip has established himself as both a tastemaker and influencer continually inspiring those around him through various partnerships, television series, and branded collaborations. An award-winning crafter for needlework and special effects, he has taught workshops and panels at conventions, universities and makerspaces worldwide. He has been featured by The Jim Henson Company, Threads Magazine, Sew Daily, Forbes, Business Insider, GQ, MARVEL, D.C., Disney, The New York Times and SYFY. Since 2017, Philip has served as a global ambassador for SINGER™ Sewing Company, and founded the "Bros Who Sew" campaign to encourage the craft of sewing. Brand collaborations include FISKARS™ Crafts, VELCRO™ Brand, IKEA, Plaid Crafts, Mehron, Kryolan Professional Makeup, Cosplay Fabrics and JOANN Stores. 

Philip owns a creative consultancy in Virginia, United States, and leans into 15 years of marketing, theatre, event production and community engagement experience to write the Cosplay Professional Development Series of books. He completed Harvard Business School's Sustainable Business Strategy program, has certifications in inclusion and diversity and is a grant panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts.

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