‘Wicked’: How the Beauty of Oz Is Reflected in the Costumes of Elphaba and Glinda

Early on, “Wicked” costume designer Paul Tazewell decided that the beauty of Oz needed to be reflected in the wardrobes of Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) and Glinda (Ariana Grande). This would help define their identities as part of the magical world envisioned by director Jon M. Chu. He took inspiration from “Oz,” the “Wicked” novel, and nature.

“‘The Wizard of Oz’ was definitely one of my springboards,” Tazewell told IndieWire. “And when you read the Gregory Maguire [‘Wicked’] novel, you realize that it’s referencing so much of the culture and icons that are from the movie. The images within that were definitely very inspiring.”

Get a glimpse into Tazewell’s process in the video above.

For Glinda, this took the form of the bubble shape and the color pink associated with Billie Burke’s Good Witch from “The Wizard of Oz.” “But then we made it our own and how we wanted to tell the story,” Tazewell added. “Glinda was aligned with all that was airborne and sparkly and effervescent. There was a great sense of artifice because of the sense of magic that her character adopts. Where I’ve taken that is the pink of bubbles as we imagine them: the iridescence of bubbles.”

For the pink ball gown Glinda wears during the opening musical sequence, Tazewell designed the silk organza into Fibonacci spiral shapes. “What I was looking for in that dress was a translucent quality that would feel lighter than air,” he explained. “What I needed for her was to be able to appear as if she’s floating.”

Ariana Grande in ‘Wicked’©Universal/Courtesy Everett Collection

For Elphaba, who possesses real magical powers, Tazewell wanted to embody different elements of Oz. “I wanted to make sure that Elphaba looked as interesting and rich and beautiful as Glinda did,” he said. “It’s just a different point of view, a different sensibility. But all the texture that goes into her costumes has just as much depth as the dresses that you see Glinda in.”

While Glinda’s costumes sparkled, Elphaba’s possessed the fibrous quality of mushrooms, which was tied organically to the forests of Oz. “There’s an inherent magic in how they’re interconnected,” Tazewell added. “You think about trees with mushrooms and fungus, how they’re all talking together. That’s how I saw the texture for Elphaba.”

The best example is the black dress that Elphaba wears to the Emerald City to meet the Wizard (Jeff Goldblum), which was inspired by the silhouette of the 1890s-style dress worn by Margaret Hamilton’s original Wicked Witch of the West.

“I wanted to tap into that,” said Tazewell. “For our version, it’s a bit shorter. And then the surface of it is covered in these undulating micro pleats that reference the underside of a mushroom. So that’s where the texture is pulled in.”

In addition, there’s a layer of purple and black lace that’s like a web pattern just beneath the pleating. “In some scenes, it’s lit in a way where you can actually see that iridescence come through, just to give it more life,” Tazewell added.

‘Wicked’Giles Keyte

Meanwhile, Elphaba’s Ozdust ballroom dress for her life-changing dance with Glinda is even more dazzling. “If you look at her ballroom dress,” Tazewell said, “the top portion is a sheer blouse, but then the ruffles as they’re applied in this kind of swirl around her body look like the fungus that grows on the sides of trees, which are beautiful. Then we took that and applied it into the world of black. What’s tricky is when you’ve got black on black, you have to work to get that to read [well]. And I think [cinematographer] Alice Brooks captured that with lighting to actually see the depth in it.”

The layering of different textures in black posed another challenge. This involved combinations of velvet, hand felting, and swirls of silk with a bit of purple worked into it. “I think this is a world of delight and part of that is you see these swirls kind of moving through the film all the time,” Tazewell added.

Elphaba’s green skin was an important factor as well. She’s proud of her skin, and the costume designer wanted to see the green at all times. “She knows she’s being judged, but there’s nothing apologetic about it,” said Tazewell.

By contrast, Glinda’s silk Ozdust dress is a stunning combination of ruffled pink and gold. Tazewell was inspired by a rose in Regent’s Park. “It’s almost like when you purchase a silk flower, it’s been formed into that shape to resemble a real flower,” he explained. “That is the same technique that we used to design the dress. The shape of the dress is like two flowers: one turned up and one turned down, and it continues that idea of nature that runs throughout.”