Scarlet Witch Avengers 2 – Costume Study

UPDATE: As more details become available, we try to maintain the conclusions as accurately as possible. To that end, a new page has been created, which logs all the current research.  Please find it here.

Oh, Wanda, Wanda, Wanda.  You’ve been my favourite mutant for so long.  Well, you and Kitty Pryde, but that’s not what this post is about.  So long have i wanted to dress up like you, but… and i’m ashamed to admit it… i’ve never really liked your costume.  Red and pink… uhhhh.  I was not blessed with a body that could effectively pull off her Ultimate Universe costume.  Xmen Evolution was cool, but as I am not a 15 year old girl, it didn’t quite have the draw to motivate me enough to make it.

There is her House of M gown which is gorgeous, but that’s a cosplay for another post… *wink*

LOVE LOVE LOVE her new Uncanny Avengers dress, and the second I saw it, I filed it away in my brain on my cosplay wish-list.

But then… magic happened.  Magic in the form of leaked set photos from the filming of Avengers 2: Age of Ultron. The film which Joss Whedon in his brilliance decided to include Scarlet Witch and finally let our gorgeous awesome mutant/avenger take form in the real world.  I saw her costume, and it clicked.  “AWESOME!  I could actually wear that to work!!”

(I should note that as a geeky computer programmer who buries her head in her laptop and is continually thought of as ‘nice’ but ‘weird’, i can actually get away with wearing just about anything to work… and I have.  Fairy gown and Mother Gothel top the list of many strange things I’ve worn into the office.)

So, let’s dive in.  I’ve spent quite a bit of time collecting as many photos as can be found and studying them for any minor detail which can be ascertained. The following is my own brain dump of observation as this cosplay starts to take shape.

Components

More detailed photos are below, but just from this main fairly-ok resolution photo, we can get a pretty clear list of her ensemble. More detail on the minutia of each component further down the post.

• cropped red jacket with 3/4 sleeves – most likely leather
• black chiffon dress
• black leather bracers
• black ripped stockings – 2 pair
• black combat boots
• 2 necklaces
• 8 rings
• various bracelets, 4 left-hand, 6 right-hand, approximately…
• gold circle earrings
• deep red/wine coloured bra – yes, that’s part of her costume

A large majority of her costume is quite straightforward with a high degree of accuracy.  There are really only 3 things I’m still not 100% sure on:

1. a few pieces of jewellery, specifically her bracelets and the rings on her left hand
2. the sleeves of her black dress (no photos with her jacket off)
3. the exact construction of her jacket, but drawn assumptions and conclusions seem pretty close

Since the jacket is the most involved component, i’m getting the easier to examine items out of the way first, from the bottom up.

Accessories

These are all items in her costume other than the jacket, and her black dress.

Boots

Obviously, these are standard combat boots worn half laced with the laces wrapped around the ankles.  The boots themselves have the following traits:

• black leather
• 1 – 1 1/2 inch heel
• rounded toe
• NO side zipper

You’d think plain combat boots such as these would be easy to find, however, a few rather involved internet searches have still not revealed exactly what boots they are.  The lack of side zipper and the rounded toe would make me think they might be male boots, but I’ve never seen a male boot with a heel that high. If anyone knows what kind of boots these are, PLEASE let me know. 🙂

Stockings

View of Scarlet Witch’s stockings

Exmaple of the secondary torn pair of stockings

Enlargement of photo for Scarlet Witch Avengers 2 stockings

She’s actually wearing 2 pair of thigh-highs, a black opaque ‘holed’ pair on top, and a black sheer pair with a run in them underneath.

As thoughts of the right way to take scissors to a pair of tights ran through my mind, it occurred to me that not only are those holes a little too perfect, but that costumers, even professional ones, will use pre-fab when ever they can get away with it (think famous cheap-ladies-razor-turned-communicator for star wars ep1, only in costume form), and i thought, ‘i’ll bet she bought those somewhere while research-shopping for the wardrobe’.  Sure enough, the clerk at my local Hot Topic said they used to have those in stock.  An internet search has lead me to believe the Scarlet Witch is actually wearing Women’s rip torn gothic black tights from Dysfunctional Doll, cut-off and pulled just over the knee instead of all the way up.

The second pair worn underneath can really be any old set of sheer stockings, with a run down the outside right leg. When choosing these stockings, try to go for a more ‘soft’ black, or a loose weave.  The more dark black sheer stockings will probably be too dark since they aren’t being stretched as far as intended.

UPDATE – A commenter left a helpful-hint for fabrication: follow me.

Bracers

Scarlet Witch Avengers 2 bracers on right hand

View of ‘inside’ of the bracers

Scarlet Witch Avengers 2 bracers with zipper

‘Inside’ of Scarlet Witch’s bracers from Avengers 2

Photo evidence that the right-hand bracer includes a 1/8” ribbon loop through the zipper head.

View of the right-hand bracer and the opposite side seam which may aide in fit.

Scarlet Witch’s bracers appear to be custom-made leather cuffs tapering toward the wrist and flaring slightly as it meets her hand.  The gold zipper closure is actually inset opposite the way you’d think.  it’s base is towards her hand, with the zipper closing up her arm.  In the zipper photos above, you can clearly see the zipper-head at the top of the zipper-teeth, instead of the bottom.  It’s likely constructed this way to accommodate an opening in the narrow wrist portion to slip her hand through, while still allowing the bottom edge to be ‘locked’ closed. Plus it looks cool.

UPDATE – new photos show 2 additional notes.  This photo (last in gallery) illustrates an opposite side inset seam (probably to adjust for fit), and this photo (2nd last in gallery) clearly shows a 1/8” black ribbon lopp insert into the sipper-head that is not photographically evident on the left-hand bracer.

• black leather (or ‘fake leather’)
• 10-12 inches long
• tapering toward the wrist
• flare over the hand
• trimmed with 5in gold zipper closure going the opposite direction
• left-arm bracer has 1/8” black ribbon looped and knotted through the zipper head
• no evidence for ribbon loop on the right-arm bracer

It should be noted, based on the ‘look’ of the leather in different shots, it’s possible these are made from a faux-leather garment fabric, not unlike the many faux black leathers you can find at your local Joann’s which are quite soft.

The zipper I’m guessing is a commonly found item at fabric stores.  I couldn’t find the item listed on Joann’s website, however, if you visit your local store, you will see in the zipper section, a small selection of ‘fashion’ zippers which are used more for detail than functionality.  I found the perfect 5 inch gold zipper right there, without even knowing such things were made.

Jewellery

Necklaces

UPDATE – New photos and commenter related evidence have vastly effected the accuracy of this section.  Until we can fully update, please refer to the most recent posts for all new Scarlet Witch Wanda Maximoff Avengers2 Age of Ultron cosplay costume notes.

Scarlet Witch wears 2 necklaces.  One standard necklace with a kuchi coin pendant, and a second disc/bead pendant on an extension.

First Red Necklace

Enlargement of Scarlet Witch Avengers 2 red pendant

Red pendant for Scarlet Witch in Avengers 2

The first pendant appears to be:

• a kuchi coin – found on Etsy or Ebay.  See recent post
• review on recommended seller
• around  1 1/2 inch long
• circular shaped
• oval deep red ‘jewel’
• 18” silver chain, named ‘snake chain’, ‘cord chain’ or ‘smooth chain’. found in any beading/craft/fabric store.
  • Snake Chain
  • Smooth Chain

This particular pendant is not manufactured. It is a ‘found‘ item from artisans in the cultural markets of Afganistan, however, they pop all the time on Etsy.

However, fabricating something similar could be quite easy.  I’ll go into the process I used in the next post as inspiration for anyone else who may want to try it. You’d basically need:

• Translucent/glass red oval bead/jewel
  • have seen many in independent bead stores
  • also can be found in the glass/tile mosaic section (in large quantities) at Michaels or Joanns. (wrong colour, but just to give you an idea of what to look for)
• gold bail
• flat round object, half-dollar coin sized
  • could be fabricated from Sculpty
  • could use existing kuchi coin (which are more easily found)
• gold-coloured setting to hold the glass bead
  • could be fabricated using sculty
  • could be flat gold-coloured ribbon wire, soldered into place

Second clock pendant necklace Second Long Necklace (Updated)

For more detailed information on the long necklace, see this post – Long Necklace Update.

Clear view of Scarlet Witch from Age of Ultron, and her long necklace pendant. It’s a metal disc! Not a watch!

Original image which shows the details for the long pendant.

Disc Pendant with green bead

Long Pendant close-up

Glimpse of ribbon extension attached to the main chain

Photo illustrating the extension is made of ribbon

The second necklace is a really awesome example of what I expect was spur of the moment costumer adjustment.  Around her neck, you can see a the necklace chain, but it’s been extended by a ribbon that matches the detail of her black dress. More on the dress later. First the specifics:

• plain antiqued gold chain-link chain, around 14inches
• 1/4inch steel-blue stain ribbon, around 30inchs long, knotted into the open chain
• 1 1/4inch wide center-drilled disc pendant, flat-coloured metal looped individually onto the ribbon
• jump ring which holds the remaining items of the necklace:
  • bright green bead with gold edged detail
  • jade-coloured plain round bead
  • 1cm diameter silver disc bead

It’s this necklace ‘extension’ detail that i absolutely love. it adds texture and dimension to her accessories, and was probably a last-minute organic fix when the costumer wasn’t completely pleased with where the pendant was hanging. In the last photo, you can clearly see it’s a ribbon extension by the way it’s twisted, and the first photo of the red pendant shows the knot in the ribbon where it attaches to the open chain.

The other items are still rough guesses, but it has become quite clear that aside from the large center-drilled disc, there is a jumpring holding 3 other items. For recreation purposes, any 2 green beads with a silver disc mounted on a jump pin and threaded next to the large disc will do fine. For more detailed information on her long necklace pendant construction, please visit this post – Long Necklace Update.

Rings

UPDATE – New photos and commenter related evidence have vastly effected the accuracy of this section.  Until we can fully update, please refer to the most recent posts for all new Scarlet Witch Wanda Maximoff Avebgers2 Age of Ultron cosplay costume notes.

Scarlet Witch wears 8 rings, 4 on each hand. The rings on her right hand are fairly ok to identify, but her left hand is remarkably under-documented, so I can only guess.

Right Hand

Rings on right hand for Scarlet Witch Avengers 2

Rings on right hand for Scarlet Witch Avengers 2

Cropped photo showing Scarlet Witch Wanda Maximoff’s large silver ring on her ring-finger right-hand from Avengers 2 Age of Ultron

close-up of red ring and small index finger ring for Scarlet Witch

Close-up of red ring on right hand

Rings on right hand for Scarlet Witch Avengers 2

Close-up of large silver ring on right hand for Scarlet Witch Avengers 2

On her right hand, she wears 2 rings on her index finger, one on her ring finger, and one on her pinky. Fortunately, her right hand looks well documented from the limited photos we have.

• RH Ring 1 (top index finger) – small antique gold ring with a ‘black'(?) disc for it’s embellishment
• RH Ring 2 (base index finger) – red ring with a gold front
• RH Ring 3 (ring finger) – large-sized silver ring
• RH Ring 4 (pinky finger) – small thin silver ring

New in-depth analysis of her right-hand rings coming soon.  In the meantime:

• RH Ring 1 (base index finger) – plain round red ring, with a ‘painted’ gold embellisment 1cm wide on the front.
• RH Ring 2 (index midi ring) – small antiqued-siliver colour, crescent moon, pointing towards hand
• RH Ring 3 (ring finger) – large silver ring, which flares into 3 bands
• RH Ring 4 (pinky finger) – small thin plain silver ring

Left Hand

Crop from High-res photo displaying rings on the left-hand from Scarlet Witch Wanda Maximoff in Avengers 2 Age of Ultron

Crop from High-res photo displaying rings on the left-hand from Scarlet Witch Wanda Maximoff in Avengers 2 Age of Ultron

High-res photo of the accessories rings on the left hand of Scarlet Witch Wanda Maximoff in Avengers 2 Age of Ultron.

Med-res photo cropped from released shot during filming. Reference for silver ring on index finger of left hand from Scarlet Witch in Avengers Age of Ultron.

Close-up of rings on left hand for Scarlet Witch Avengers 2

Detail shot of the ring on the left hand, middle finger. Midi ring, with a ‘spike’ detail, possibly an arrowhead.

Example of the silver ring, with a crow/raven foot detail, on the ring finger of her left hand

Detail shot of thin gold ring on the pinky finger, left hand for Scarlet Witch Wanda Maximoff in Avengers

Now for her left hand.  From every photo i sorted through, I found only 2 that had any reliable documentation of what the rings looked like. I’m also making an educated guess that the pixel peaks in the photo near the base of her pinky is probably an indication of 4th ring, although, I’m not positive.

• Ring 1 (index finger) – silver ring
• Ring 2 (top middle finger) – thin ring with front detail
• Ring 3 (ring finger) – another silver ring, possibly with set stones
• Ring 4 (pinky) – thin silver ring

New in-depth analysis of Scarlet Witch’s left-hand rings can be found here.

For a quick summary:

• LH Ring 1 (index finger) – double stacked silver twist
• LH Ring 2 (midi middle finger) – small arrowhead
• LH Ring 3 (ring finger) – silver crow/raven foot wrap style ring
• LH Ring 4 (pinky) – thin gold ring with a red center bead, flaked by 2 smaller gold ‘beads’

Bracelets

UPDATE – New photos and commenter related evidence have vastly effected the accuracy of this section.  Until we can fully update, please refer to the most recent posts for all new Scarlet Witch Wanda Maximoff Avebgers2 Age of Ultron cosplay costume notes.

Unfortunately, her bracelets are mostly covered by her bracers with just a few details poking out in random photos.  Here are the few things that can be known for sure.

Right Hand

Right hand bracelets for Scarlet Witch Avengers 2

View of inside edge of bracelets for Scarlet Witch Avengers 2

Glimpse of blue bracelet on right hand of Scarlet Witch

On the right hand, there appears to be 3 bracelets, potentially 4.  This assumption is based on the following observations:

• a red bracelet with a centered green gem in a gold trim/setting
• a black knotted/jump-ring closure bracelet (closure can be seen on the left-side of second photo)
• a bar/ring closure clasp – (center of second photo) – attached to what?
• a hint of blue, indicating another bracelet, or bracelet attached to the closure listed above  (seen in first and third photo)

The red bracelet gives me instinctual visions of an embroidery thread wrapped-bracelet with a ‘bead’ threaded in the centre. The black bracelet could really be anything, but a similar bracelet i bought at Hot Topic has the exact same ‘clasp’ closure indicated in the photo, I will elaborate in an upcoming post. The bar/ring closure stumps me as I don’t know what it’s attached to, perhaps it’s the glimpses of blue seen in the other photos.

Left Hand

small glimpse of bracelets on left hand for Scarlet Witch Avengers 2

enlargement of view of something silver on left hand of Scarlet Witch

enlargement of view of something silver on left hand of Scarlet Witch

enlargement of view of something silver on left hand of Scarlet Witch

view of red and silver on left hand for Scarlet Witch’s bracelets

The left hand is severely lacking in detail. There are a few photos, but they don’t give much indication of what she has on, so there are only 2 conclusions I can draw: there is one red bracelet, probably another embroidery thread wrapped-style, and a silver bracelet, leading to the ‘peaks’ in the photos… perhaps a ‘tennis’ bracelet of some sort. We can only draw inaccurate assumptions until more high red photos become available.

Earrings

Thanks to MCU Fashion, we have discovered what Scarlet Witch’s earrings are.  They are a silver double loop, made by Coops London, that actually ‘squeeze’ onto your earlobe.

For info here.

 

Red Bra

There is a glimpse of a deep red/scarlet coloured bra underneath her dress, and since it’s so obviously shown, I’m including it as part of her costume.

 

 

 

to be continued…