Flying Suit Mystery Revealed...
Or is it?

 

   In episode #5, Help, Help, Don't Save Me, audiences get their first peek at Samantha Stephens in her witch's flying suit. Since the show was in black and white, fans of the show have long since speculated on the color of the dress. It appeared on the original film as a shade of gray; thus, ruling out the traditional black gown typically depicted for witches. The Samantha doll by Ideal Toy Corp. was released in 1965. That doll had a gorgeous red dress, which led most to speculate that the original flying suit was also red. As you can see by this photo, the dolls gown was laced with sparkles and she had a coordinating hat.

   It is clear from watching episode #5 that the gown was not an exact replica. On the show, the flying suit was sans sparkles and the sexy slit in the front and Samantha did not wear a hat. Samantha went on to sport many variations of the flying suit in 22 episodes during the 8 years that Bewitched was on the air. The suit appeared in the black and white episodes 6 times (# 5, # 15, # 30, # 51, #67, and # 71). The flying suit was different in 2 of the 6 black and white episodes. Where the flying suit looked like a medium shade of gray in #5, it looked black in the other 5 shows. For the most part, the dress had a high, stand-up collar, with a tight bodice that laced up to a v-neckline, a cape that attached to the sleeves like wings, tight full-length sleeves, and a flowing skirt. The collar and cape vary in episode #67, and Samantha wears the heart necklace with the flying suit in this show. Of the 16 appearances of a flying suit in the color episodes, green was the most popular color for trim and the bodice of the suit. Variations of the suit appeared in episodes: # 95, #96, # 100, # 102, # 110, # 123, # 127, # 132, # 144, # 165, # 170, # 177, # 204, # 207, # 239, and # 252.

   In episodes #102, # 127, and possibly # 132 (there was not a full view of this dress in this show), the black cape had light blue lining. The most elaborate of the flying suits was in # 123, Humbug Not Spoken Here, where the Christmas suit had silver sequins and appeared to be a dark blue with light blue lining inside the cape.

   In July of 2000, Canada's Prime network began airing the Dynacs Digital Studios colorized version of Bewitched unedited for an extended 33-minute time slot. Of course, the first question many want to know is the color the first flying suit. Harpiesbizarre.com is proud to present these colorized photos of Samantha and Endora from Help, Help, Don't Save Me. As you can see, the artists chose a drab bluish-gray color. It is quite surprising and not what most would have guessed. Victor Mascaro, a webmaster who does near-professional colorization for other Bewitched and Elizabeth Montgomery photos on his site, has already found another inaccuracy in the color used for Endora's garb. According to Mascaro, Endora's cape was lavender, not green as shown here, until 1966. So, the first flying suit was interpreted by Dynacs Digital Studios as stormy blue, but this may not be the actual color. Maybe some mysteries are better left to the imagination...

 

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