Eight costume details to look out for in the Wicked movie

Paul Tazewell has dressed founding fathers, a neighbourhood in Washington Heights, jets and sharks, suffragettes, and more. The award-winning costume designer now lends his hands to witches, Ozians, Munchkins, flying monkeys, and more in Wicked!

Pulling from the 1939 Wizard of Oz film, the 1995 Wicked novel by Gregory Maguire, and Susan Hilferty’s designs in the Stephen Schwartz/Winnie Holzman stage musical, there was no rest for the wicked as he tackled costuming some of musical theatre’s most iconic characters.

Here are eight things to look out for in part one of the Jon M Chu-directed movie starring Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande. Caution, there may be spoilers ahead.

Pink does go good with green (or is that “well with green”)

This is a fact evidenced throughout the adaptation. Tazewell was largely inspired by the original 1939 films and the pink of Billie Burke’s gowns. “Her dress is emblazoned in my memory,” he says, “I used that colour throughout for Glinda, showing the different facets of it.”

As for Erivo’s Elphaba, who is not seasick, who didn’t eat grass as a child, and who has always been green, Tazewell credits the “brilliant” makeup artist Frances Hannon for “finding that perfect green,” that lights well and can be filmed.

However, Tazewell was adamant that no character at Shiz was to wear green until they arrived in the Emerald City. “You don’t see any other green on anyone… it is reserved until we enter that ozmopolitan hotspot.”

The devil is in the details

Tazewell worked closely with Nathan Crowley (production designer) and Alice Brooks (cinematographer) to ensure each of the “lands were somehow ‘speaking’ to the others.”

Some swankified details to look out for include Shiz pins on Glinda and Elphaba, Pfannee’s broch, the Shiz University university buttons, the origami pattern that is part of the Oz emblem on the Emerald City military’s belt buckle, which is then referenced in the Wizard’s ascot.

“All of this imagery goes into the cracks and crevices visually, it’s what makes this world complete for an audience to enter and have a full understanding of what their environment is.”

Galindafied silhouettes

Tazewell is the legendary designer who gave us the Schuyler sisters’ dresses – silhouettes are his signature! “Having a nostalgia or a familiarity with certain silhouettes allows for an audience to enter into a story in and see it in a fresh way.” He starts, “I was, very insistent for myself to not be too completely reflective of something that was modern – that we were seeing on the streets, let’s say, or that is directly evident in fashion, because I think that that would then date.”

Instead, he used corsets and “reimagined” Glinda’s bubble dress, in a way “that is nostalgic of those other silhouettes.” He explains, “It’s specific to how Grande plays that role and how she has created a new icon for who Glinda is.”

“It was interesting as we were working through our filming, we realised that so many younger people that would be in the audience haven’t necessarily seen the Wizard of Oz film, so their point of reference is Wicked the musical, which is beautiful.”

You know black is this year’s pink!

Erivo has the green makeup, the long hair, the eye contacts, and then she adds the hat. “It completely sets the perfect icon for who Elphaba is,” Tazewell says, he pulled inspiration from nature and the textures of mushrooms to create her costumes. “That is such a huge moment for me, when I realise and know that it’s right when my skin is tingling. I know I’ve created the perfect visual moment when I have a visceral response in the fitting room.”

The same happened for Glinda when she’s in the bubble dress: “It’s not the simplest dress to get into because of the structure and all of the engineering. But then, with the blonde hair and adding her crown, it’s magical.”

Cynthia Erivo’s influence

Erivo is a “huge fashion icon” in her own right, as is Grande. “It brought joy to the process of designing for them and these characters with them in mind because I knew that they would wear and appreciate the clothes as much as I do. And that makes my job easier and so much more gratifying.”

He explains that before being on set there were multiple fittings at different stages: “We look at them in the mirror and figure out how can we perfect this? What will create a stronger bond between the design that I’ve created and how you want to play the role?” The interactions refine his ideas for the character.

“We will now be hard pressed to not think of Cynthia as our Elphaba. It was Chu’s very brilliant idea to cast her, and how she represents people of colour and is now in this role, albeit green-skinned, rings very true to our hearts. And I think that is what is so powerful about this film. With Grande as well. There’s no one else that has a personality in the way that feels as genuine, as honest as Ariana does as she is playing Glinda.”

Stylish, and practical!

Whether they’re performing eight shows a week on stage, or filming for hours on set, the costumes need to be able to flex and move. Tazewell references Jonathan Bailey’s athleticism in “Dancing Through Life”: “In that number, we had to build his breeches in just the way so that he could do all of the moves that he needed to do. And so that he always looked great and like the handsome prince character that he was playing.”

Luckily, Tazewell loves problem-solving: “Perfecting the fit and then also having it function in a way that directly relates to how we want to tell the story.”

Updating the dear old Shiz uniforms

Part of Tazewell’s responsibility is creating a believable world and setting up the rules in it. Part of that is establishing the principal characters and their stories. In Wicked the characters spend a lot of time in uniform, so he used classic colours and garments like a solid blazer and a trouser or kilt, all in a pinstripe. “You take that and modify it so it’s reflective of young people figuring out what their own style is and how they’re relating to each other.”

Glinda has her own version of this. The stripes are the same scale, “but it is in her signature pink, and it speaks to her vanity and her artifice.” Whereas once Elphaba steps into uniform, it is “very structured and very restrictive in a way, until she starts to open up and soften.”

“That’s the kind of storytelling that I love to do when I’m designing and creating a world where the lead performers can come in and tell their story in a clear way.”

Look to the cloak…

One of Tazewell’s favourite moments in the movie is during “Defying Gravity” where Elphaba becomes the icon of the Wicked Witch of the West in front of our eyes. The moment is completed with Glinda handing her a silk velvet cloak. The material allows her to “whip it around” and it “carries the energy for when she’s going to jump out of the window and start to soar.”