When Calls The Heart Had A Wild Issue With Its Corsets In Early Seasons. Now It’s Giving Hope Valley: 1874 A Big Assist

Costumes on period dramas can be elaborate. In the Hope Valley setting for Hallmark’s When Calls The Heart and its Hallmark+ sister series Hope Valley: 1874, those looks can include layers, corsets and so much more. Costume designer Barbara Gregusova told CinemaBlend that When Calls The Heart had a wild issues with corsets in its early seasons, but her work on that show has led to a much more streamlined spinoff.

I Had No Idea That Corsets Could Cause Sound Issues!

When Calls The Heart is well over 100 episodes in at this point, and I think it's safe to say it's a well-oiled machine. However, in the beginning, the corsets were causing problems on set, and not of the too-tight variety. Instead, apparently, the clothing items were so noisy they were causing problems in the editing process before the show went to air! Barbara told us:

When I visited the set of Hope Valley: 1874 last month, I was obviously fascinated with the fashion. Jill Hennessy told me dozens of extras have to be outfitted, and Barbara Gregusova said the show put together at least 200 outfits for the period series, which tells the story of the origins of Hope Valley. The styles had to be period specific, but also practical and warm, since Hope Valley films in the colder and grittier winter when When Calls is off.

When Calls The Heart Filming At A Different Time Than Hope Valley Has Led To Crossover

Yet, despite the differences in the eras of both shows, Hope Valley: 1874 actually uses the same corsets as the OG series! I had no idea that it would be possible for there to be so much costume overlap given both shows are set in completely different periods, but it’s delightful there is.

This isn't a huge surprise, because there's been a lot of crossover between both shows. Each films on MacInnes Farm in Langley, BC. Much of the crew went from one show to the other, and a lot of the permanent outbuildings built for the Erin Krakow starrer were reworked and repurposed for Bethany Joy Lenz’s and Benjamin Ayres’ series. I’ll go ahead and add “corset crossover” to the list.

We’d asked Barbara about the corsets on When Calls The Heart specifically because star Roan Curtis told us the costume designer had fitted her for one and then told her she was ideal for it thanks to her “squishy bones.” I had no idea what that meant, but it doesn’t literally mean her bones are soft. It just means her body is supple enough to handle the look well.

I mean, shout out to the Hope Valley: 1874 casting team for hiring the right women for the job!

New episodes of Hope Valley are currently airing on Thursdays on Hallmark+ We’ll, of course, keep you posted about all the additional upcoming Hallmark titles as they come down the pipeline, and here’s hoping the Bethany Joy Lenz and Brendan Ayres series gets the chance to don their frontier gear once again! I would certainly like to see more corset crossover.