The 'HSMTMTS' Costume Designer Reveals What the Cast Took from Set — and Who Got Ricky's Hat (Exclusive)

Costume designer María Aguilar talks PEOPLE through some of the biggest looks from season 4, including all the recreations of 'High School Musical 3' costumes

High School Musical: The Musical: The Series is going big with its last season, and that includes with the fabulous costumes.

The fourth and final season of the hit Disney+ series follows the East High students as they prepare to put on a stage production of High School Musical 3: Senior Year. However, their plans are quickly derailed when it’s announced that Disney is making the long-awaited High School Musical 4: The Reunion movie at their high school, and they'll all be playing featured extras.

Between the school production to the return of many OG High School Musical stars, there are plenty of nostalgic costumes this season, from a spot-on recreation of Sharpay’s (Ashley Tisdale) iconic pink Betsey Johnson necklace to a Halloween costume that pays tribute to Zac Efron (the original Troy Bolton).

PEOPLE spoke with the series' costume designer María Aguilar about how they prepped the costumes for this special season — and she also revealed which notable pieces the cast ended up taking from set when the series wrapped (including who got the iconic “Rina” hat).

Here, she walks PEOPLE through some of the show's most iconic looks.

PEOPLE: The High School Musical 3 costumes are so spot-on this season! How did you go about prepping those costumes? 

Aguilar: We re-watched the movie before we even started the project. We would have it on in the offices day after day. The editors would pull apart the frames that [creator] Tim [Federle] wanted and we had them on our wall. I love to do everything as a collage. I do paper dolls.

Did you try to get any of the original pieces from the movie on second-hand stores online?

We did. I think it was Poshmark. [Sharpay’s] necklace was there, the heart necklace, it was $500. And I was like, “I'm not paying that for that Betsey Johnson. We're making it.” Then everybody was off to the Hobby Lobby.

Most of this cast grew up on the show. How emotional was it for them putting on the caps and gowns for the musical?

I put them in the cap and gown first and I never thought about it. I'm just like, “Okay, this is your costume. We can glance through it and see how it looks.” And it was a wow moment for them. They were having an emotional moment. I was like, “Wow, this is their [graduation] moment.”

Related: 'HSMTMTS' Cast Reflect on Show's Legacy Ahead of Final Season: 'Best Times of My Life' (Exclusive)

We really loved the Halloween episode. There are so many Easter eggs with the costumes there as well. Can you talk us through your process for that and why you chose those specific looks?

We went through a lot of variations on that. Some people definitely knew what they wanted to be, so they asked for that costume. Basically, I do a board of what's available, and I bring it in to Tim and I say, “What do you like?” And then he circles everything. He does his art project.

I love the little Zac Efron nod with Ricky’s Baywatch costume. Whose idea was that?

It was Tim's idea and then he sold it to Josh [Bassett]. Josh is so great to dress. He's like Olivia [Rodrigo], they're just models. It's effortless for that guy. But the Baywatch thing we had to talk [him] into it. We had several shirts and then you want to see how they were on the camera, but it's so great.

Gina’s dress in the finale is spectacular. How did you decide on that look?

Tim wanted a really fabulous gown when Gina was in the limo. It was a Carolina Herrera and it was like $13,000. I've never spent that in my life, but it was so perfect, the way she got in the limo and it was so big and it was just so ridiculous.

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There’s also a big flashback this season. Were any of those costumes the same ones the actors wore from season 1?

We're very good at keeping stuff. That's Tim's thing — he never lets anything go. We had the costumes and we just had to refit them. It even blew their minds when they got in because it was like, “Oh my God.” Then they cried again. It was so emotional for them to be in that costume. I was like, “I can't believe we have it four years later and then I can't believe it fits.” Those were the original costumes pretty much. Maybe they lost something along the way, but then we find it in Poshmark. Everything is available now and it's amazing what you can find.

On top of all of the incredible costumes for the cast,  you get to create really cool costumes for the High School Musical 4 movie. How did you go about creating those updated looks for those characters while also making sure they felt authentic to the original franchise? 

I love it because I love fashion. So I'll take Monique [Coleman], her bows or her fussiness and then look at her on Instagram and then we figure out what she may be doing. I went for Black designers for her.

Then Corbin [Bleu] is amazing. The first time I met him, I was like, “Do you want to come to Bloomingdale's?” We went to mall and he pulls everything off the shelf, his Burberry. Then I'm showing Tim the pictures at the same time. He's like, “Love it.”

Related: 'HSMTMTS' Creator Tim Federle Says the End Credits Scene Is the 'Grace Note of the Whole Series' (Exclusive)

[Lucas Grabeel] definitely helped out because he told me he had the initial on his hat and his color theme. He knew a lot of things he wanted on his costume.

I just really did what everybody wore in that original series and we just upped it a little bit. That's not hard to do. I did love working with all of them because they were all surprised. At first you're nervous, you're like, “How are they going to react? What's going to happen?” And then they come and you are like, “Oh my God, so much fun. I love you.”

Did any of the actors take specific costumes when filming wrapped?

My favorite thing at the end of [a] show is giving the actors everything they want. It's their memory. That's the only time you can do it, because other than that, it's inventory and it's stuck in a costume house. I give them big IKEA bags, they fill them up.

Dara [Reneé], we filled up her whole entire car that her mom could barely drive home. And Tim was looking out the window and he was like, “What?” I said, “Dara wants everything from everybody.” She took her whole closet for her whole entire time on [the show]. She has her memories and she deserves them.

Matt [Cornett], he's been desperate for his varsity jacket forever. We lost it several times. I don't know what happens. It goes in archives, it can get pulled out of archives, back to archives. I said, “You can buy that varsity jacket online. It's like $99.” At the end, he got his varsity jacket.

Joshua had some pretty iconic costumes. Did he take Ricky’s hat from Gina?

Yeah, he took the hat. I think he was trying to find himself in there. I think it was hard for him. To take that stuff meant you're not coming back because at some point, Tim might've been like, “Let's not say that this is over.” He didn't want everybody to say it. He changed our language. He wrote us a script and he was like, “Don't say we don't know.”

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