At the end of “Wicked,” Cynthia Erivo’s Elphaba leaps out of the Emerald City palace window in her velvet cape with her hat, and she flies off on her broom.
“That is the moment where she embraces her power,” says the film’s costume designer, Paul Tazewell.
In the film’s conclusion, “Wicked: For Good,” the community of Oz has made Elphaba into the villain, falling for the propaganda churned by Madam Morrible (Michelle Yeoh). Glinda (Ariana Grande) has become a pawn in Morrible’s plans. Elphaba has been forced into exile.
Tazewell leaned into the idea of repurposing and deconstructing looks that she had previously worn. Because the film was a continuation of the same story, he didn’t want anything to feel brand new. To keep that continuity, Tazewell says, “The dress that was her very best dress that she wears to meet the wizard deteriorates into a tunic that she then matches with trousers that we’ve seen her in at Shiz.”
With Elphaba wearing trousers under her tunic, she’s allowed to move more freely throughout Oz. Her sweeping coat has also been upcycled from a previous look. “It’s the trench coat that she carries with her into the forest when she’s with Fiyero, when they’re taking the cub back into the forest,” he says.
Tazewell says the coat was a wax linen that creates an organic quality. He then manipulated the fabric to give it “this wet bark feel.” The whole idea is rooted in the first film, in which her clothes aren’t just organic — they connect her to the forest and nature.
Her hat has also expanded, with the brim becoming bigger and the tip longer, while her shoulders are bolder. All the subtle details within Elphaba’s silhouette are infused with symbolism to show her growth and power as she fights back against the Wizard and she becomes the Wicked Witch of the West.
Lara Cornell
When “For Good” opens, audiences see the superhero she has become. “It’s self-created completely,” Tazewell explains.
Production designer Nathan Crowley gave Elphaba’s nest a loom, which supports the narrative that she can create and transform her clothing.
Glinda, who has now has fully immersed herself in the Wizard’s propaganda machine, is living an idyllic life. “It’s a princess in a tower, and she is wearing clothes that are true to that,” Tazewell says, adding that she is a woman “completely embedded in the culture of Emerald City, and wants to impress.”
Paul Tazewell wove elements of Audrey Hepburn into Glinda’s looks.
Giles Keyte/Universal Pictures
Her style has elements of Audrey Hepburn; “It feels very glamorous and elegant,” Tazewell says. The one dress he found tricky to design was Glinda’s wedding dress. It needed to reflect all of the above and be magical. Her dress was multi-layered, made from organza and silk tulle. The main dress was made from silk satin, which was embellished with swirls of butterflies.
Given this was a huge moment for Glinda and the citizens of Oz, Tazewell made a 25-meter veil. A crystallized tiara, which comprises a collection of interlocking butterflies, completes the look. He explains, “It’s about the presentation of her coming into the hall of grandiosity,” and as she walks toward a waiting Fiyero, “she’s parting all of these golden butterflies that are sitting on the aisle. They fly up and become the atmosphere of her wedding dress.” He adds, “Collectively, it becomes this very theatrical moment.”
Her iconic bubble dress as seen in the first film nods to Billie Burke’s “The Wizard of Oz” pink dress. The dress has bubble patterns and swirls and lean into her journey in becoming Glinda the Good.
