Create a Get Smart Halloween Costume: Maxwell Smart or Agent 99

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" If you're thinking, "Maxwell Smart is so incredibly cool...how can I look just like him this October?" then I have some answers for you; a Maxwell Smart costume should be one of the easier looks you can design for yourself at home. Throughout most of the film, Steve Carell wears a rather simple gray (or in some cases black) suit, with a matching gray or black tie. Underneath, he wears a white dress shirt. If you already have a suit and shirt of any or all of these colors, pulling off the costume should be easy. You'll also need a pair of black dress shoes, as well as an optional third shoe for the famous "shoe phone" that Maxwell uses.

Maxwell's hairdo is also rather simple; it's combed straight across his head, very slickly. You can use hair gel or pomade to achieve this effect, if necessary. If you don't have black hair, and are concerned about looking nearly identical to the character, there are temporary hair dyes and gels that you can use, such as Manic Panic DyeHard Temporary Hair Color Gel. Or, if the color doesn't matter to you, you can skip this step entirely.

In some scenes, Maxwell wears a tux; if you're up to it, you can easily pull off this look as well. The tuxedo should be black, with a black bowtie and white shirt underneath. The film version ends up ripped to shreds at one point; if this happens to be a cheap tux, you can tear up the cloth in places to resemble the character. On the other hand, if this is your only tux, and you plan on using it in the future, ruining it for a holiday isn't recommended.

If you want to do a couples' costume, the Agent 99 look is also rather simple to achieve. Her signature outfit is the white overcoat with black buttons, as in this photo: IMDb: Anne Hathaway as Agent 99. While finding an identical jacket may be time consuming and expensive, almost any white jacket will do. If you have time, you can even sew on the buttons at home. Anne Hathaway has her hair in a simple straight style throughout most of the film, so this should be relatively easy to achieve as well. Your hair may be naturally curly, however; CP Emma has a separate article on straightening hair, if you want to put in the extra effort.

While makeup isn't absolutely necessary, you can add some for the full effect. In this picture from MTV.com, Anne Hathaway is wearing medium-coverage foundation, a rose blush, and apparently, a light champagne eye shadow, combined with a medium brown shadow. Although this particular shot isn't from the film, her look as Agent 99 is very similar (with the exception of the hairstyle).

Agent 99 also carries a gun in some scenes; while almost any sort of toy handgun will do, this particular one on ToyArsenal.com is fairly close to the one she uses. Again, if you want to go all-out, you can spray-paint it silver to look more like the gun from the film.

Besides the basic looks, you may want to add one of Maxwell Smart's signature gadgets to your costume. There is, of course, the infamous Swiss Army knife with the working crossbow, blowgun, and flamethrower; hopefully, for your costume, the regular version will do. As referenced above, the shoe phone is rather simple to design as well. For authenticity, you can add something resembling a rotary phone dial to the heel. If you don't happen to own a rotary phone (which many don't these days), then you can simply find a circular piece of plastic, and glue it onto the shoe.

Once you have your costume(s) together, simply practice emulating the characters' movements and mannerisms, if you really want to "play the part." This works especially well for a costume party; surprise your friends with the shoe phone or the Swiss Army knife...you never know what kind of reaction you'll get! Again, since the basic costumes are rather simple, there isn't a whole lot to adjust to, so the main point is to have fun.

Have a great Halloween...just don't get too much into character.