Recently Lou and Chris Sherlock speculated that Notta’s costume was inspired by a costume Diana Rigg wore in a 1966 episode of The Avengers named, “A Touch of Brimstone.” Neil Wick and I were intrigued by this, and we put our heads together and researched the matter and posted our results in this forum. I thought it might be worth posting my results again for more people to see, since it seems to solve one of the mysteries about Mrs. Chin Chillar — the inspiration for her costume.I believe Lou and Chris nailed it. You can see in the photos below the clear similarities between Mrs. Peel’s outfit and Mrs. Chin Chillar’s. The corset, spike-heeled leather boots, and beehive hairdo are all reminiscent, and the choker collar/necklace is especially telling, though Notta’s necklace is more feathery instead of spiky. Add a few tweaks and accessories and you have Notta! The timeline fits well in relation to when the Avengers’ episode aired, about a year before Gould began working on Mrs. Chin Chillar. It also fits that Gould traveled to England on occasion and seems to have had a special interest in British fashions. (Sydney Phillips told me once that Gould visited England in the mid-60’s and remarked about all the miniskirts he saw.)I’ve wondered at times if Gould modeled Mrs. Chin Chillar after a specific look. Saloon girl? Playboy bunny? I have little doubt now that Mrs. Peel’s roaring hot “Queen of Sin” costume was his primary inspiration.By the way, the Avengers’ episode in which Diana Riggs dressed like this (“A Touch of Brimstone”) was the most watched episode in the history of the Avengers. (Interestingly, it was banned in America for being too racy! Never shown here in the 1960’s, though Gould could easily have gotten his hands on some still photos, as there were magazines that printed them.) This parallels the success of Notta’s original story, which sparked a Dick Tracy newspaper circulation peak (late 1967, the peak for the decade), and it’s also interesting because in a 1968 NBC documentary, Gould identified Mrs. Chin Chillar as one of his most popular characters ever. The fans obviously loved Mrs. Chin Chillar’s look, just as the Brits were dazzled by Emma Peel’s.Mrs. Peel’s attire (designed by Diana Rigg herself along with fashion designer John Bates) was definitely intended to be a dominatrix submissive costume, which fits with what some have wondered about Notta’s costume. It appears conclusive that Notta’s look was heavily influenced by dominatrix attire.Note, too, in the below photo that Mrs. Peel was shown with a chain on her left wrist and a collar around her neck. She, the “Queen,” was also a collared and leashed submissive. It’s an ironic erotic combination, and it correlates well with the Tracy story, where we saw Notta play the role as Piggy’s love goddess, along with her dual role as his submissive and slave. The following is a quote from the article I linked in the last paragraph (I’ve bolded the most pertinent language):“Emma may see her role as the Dominatrix Royale, but Cartney has also cleverly garbed her as the collared and leashed submissive, he wants to discipline her, enslave her, possess her…Is it possible that Mrs. Peel provided inspiration for Moon Maid’s costume redesign, which launched two months before Notta first appeared? There are clear similarites between Mrs. Peel’s corset and the corset Moon Maid wore for the first time in April 1967, as well as between the opera gloves and stiletto-heeled boots (MM almost always wore flat-soled boots before then).All in all, it’s pretty compelling evidence: the primary inspiration for Notta’s attire was Mrs. Peel’s dominatrix costume, circa 1966!
Recently Lou and Chris Sherlock speculated that Notta’s costume was inspired by a costume Diana Rigg wore in a 1966 episode of The Avengers named, “A Touch of Brimstone.” Neil Wick and I were intrigued by this, and we put our heads together and researched the matter and posted our results in this forum. I thought it might be worth posting my results again for more people to see, since it seems to solve one of the mysteries about Mrs. Chin Chillar — the inspiration for her costume.I believe Lou and Chris nailed it. You can see in the photos below the clear similarities between Mrs. Peel’s outfit and Mrs. Chin Chillar’s. The corset, spike-heeled leather boots, and beehive hairdo are all reminiscent, and the choker collar/necklace is especially telling, though Notta’s necklace is more feathery instead of spiky. Add a few tweaks and accessories and you have Notta! The timeline fits well in relation to when the Avengers’ episode aired, about a year before Gould began working on Mrs. Chin Chillar. It also fits that Gould traveled to England on occasion and seems to have had a special interest in British fashions. (Sydney Phillips told me once that Gould visited England in the mid-60’s and remarked about all the miniskirts he saw.)I’ve wondered at times if Gould modeled Mrs. Chin Chillar after a specific look. Saloon girl? Playboy bunny? I have little doubt now that Mrs. Peel’s roaring hot “Queen of Sin” costume was his primary inspiration.By the way, the Avengers’ episode in which Diana Riggs dressed like this (“A Touch of Brimstone”) was the most watched episode in the history of the Avengers. (Interestingly, it was banned in America for being too racy! Never shown here in the 1960’s, though Gould could easily have gotten his hands on some still photos, as there were magazines that printed them.) This parallels the success of Notta’s original story, which sparked a Dick Tracy newspaper circulation peak (late 1967, the peak for the decade), and it’s also interesting because in a 1968 NBC documentary, Gould identified Mrs. Chin Chillar as one of his most popular characters ever. The fans obviously loved Mrs. Chin Chillar’s look, just as the Brits were dazzled by Emma Peel’s.Mrs. Peel’s attire (designed by Diana Rigg herself along with fashion designer John Bates) was definitely intended to be a dominatrix submissive costume, which fits with what some have wondered about Notta’s costume. It appears conclusive that Notta’s look was heavily influenced by dominatrix attire.Note, too, in the below photo that Mrs. Peel was shown with a chain on her left wrist and a collar around her neck. She, the “Queen,” was also a collared and leashed submissive. It’s an ironic erotic combination, and it correlates well with the Tracy story, where we saw Notta play the role as Piggy’s love goddess, along with her dual role as his submissive and slave. The following is a quote from the article I linked in the last paragraph (I’ve bolded the most pertinent language):“Emma may see her role as the Dominatrix Royale, but Cartney has also cleverly garbed her as the collared and leashed submissive, he wants to discipline her, enslave her, possess her…Is it possible that Mrs. Peel provided inspiration for Moon Maid’s costume redesign, which launched two months before Notta first appeared? There are clear similarites between Mrs. Peel’s corset and the corset Moon Maid wore for the first time in April 1967, as well as between the opera gloves and stiletto-heeled boots (MM almost always wore flat-soled boots before then).All in all, it’s pretty compelling evidence: the primary inspiration for Notta’s attire was Mrs. Peel’s dominatrix costume, circa 1966!