‘Wicked’ costume designer shares the story behind the film’s iconic look

When Paul Tazewell was hired to be the costume designer for Evilhe knew it would be the opportunity of a lifetime. “The fantasy aspect and how our director, Jon Chu, wanted to tell the story opened up a wide range of creativity,” says the prolific Tony and Emmy-winning designer, who was nominated for an Oscar for Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story.

An opportunity of a lifetime is a tall order for Tazewell, who has designed costumes for three decades and has worked on all mediums from Broadway shows to film to television and opera. His credits include Hamilton, Suffs, Ain’t Too Proud, MJ, Death Becomes Her, The Wiz! Live, Jesus Christ Superstar Live! in concert with John Legend and on and on and on.

The long-awaited film from Universal Pictures tells the back story of the witches of Oz. There’s Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) and Glinda (Ariana Grande), who form a complex multi-layered connection before and after Dorothy enters. And Tazewell was tasked with creating over 1000 costumes with the help of over 70 people with a wide range of skills working. in eight workshops at any given time.

Tazewell sees himself as a sort of conduit between actor and character. The fittings, where the actors test-drive their costumes, play a key role in helping them build who they are becoming. “The passing room is a sacred space for me, where people can be vulnerable,” says Tazewell. “We’re figuring out how the actor sees themselves as the character they’re preparing to play. And I’m there to help them get to that place by providing visual opportunities that will allow them to assume these roles.” He added that both Erivo and Grande were not only lovely to work with and devoted to the film, they always arrived wearing something fabulous.

The experience of working on Evilwhich will be released in two parts, the first part on November 22, 2024, and the second in November 2025, was changing for Tazewell. “The sheer expansiveness of the world that we created gave me an opportunity to expand creatively in a huge way,” says the designer, who spent two years working on the project. “I am forever changed by all the amazing talent involved in creating this film from the superlative costume designers to the epic cast.”

From Elphaba’s asymmetrical power hat to Glinda’s dreamy bubble dress, Tazewell shared some of her favorite looks from the film and their backstories.

Elphaba’s power hat:

“Elphaba’s hat is one of the most iconic elements. It is based on our cultural icon of the witch’s hat and refers to the Wicked Witch of the West. I was able to reshape it into something that has a strong narrative element.

When I started figuring out what it was going to be, some of the idea was inspired by John Chu, who said he wanted to start the movie with a long shot of the hat and he wanted to move in on it. Far away is a triangular formation that could be a mountain or architecture. You don’t know exactly what you’re seeing until you’re right on top of it. That was part of the inspiration for texturing the surface and part of the shape. It’s not a perfectly pointy symmetrical hat, but it’s got more personality. The hat also carries power for Elphaba and her self-realization. When she puts on the hat, she transforms.”

Elphaba’s dress when she meets the wizard:

“Elphaba’s Emerald City dress features micro-pleated chiffon applied in a billowing wave pattern. When you are far away from her, it almost looks like velvet. Move closer and you can see that it is a textural and meandering wave pattern that wraps around her body, while the overall silhouette remains very untouched. It has strong shoulders, a drawn waist and opens into a skirt that moves in space. I really love this piece and am so happy with how it turned out.”

Glinda’s dress when she floats into Munchkinland:

“Glinda’s pink bubble dress is an engineering feat of dressmaking. I collaborated with our tailor in London to create a pink iridescent sculptural form that would sit on iridescent and translucent fabrics that continue to flow. It speaks to the bubble that she is riding into Munchkinland at the beginning of the movie. All the elements of it were very involved.

The original inspiration for the pink bubble dress is based on the iconic Glinda from the 1939 MGM film The Wizard of Oz, designed by Adrian and worn by Billie Burke. I adopted the same signature pink that I used in the rest of Glinda’s color story. It was also important to reflect the silhouette of that dress in the bubble with the silhouette that I created for our own iconic Glinda.

I wanted to achieve the sculptural quality with a clean silhouette, which required a specific support from below without adding weight. A light-as-air crinoline petticoat was constructed underneath, with the spiral shapes of layered stiffened net and silk organza added to create the sheer surface of the skirt and bodice. Each of the coils has support inside to ensure it maintains its shape. Each of the shirt spirals is individually printed with a swirling bubble pattern that is then over foiled with an irredescendant print and embellished with crystal beads and iridescent sequins. The bodice is paved with swirls of pearls and crystals and topped with a butterfly neckline to accentuate Ariana’s beautiful shoulders and neck.”

Glinda’s Crown:

“The bubble dress is topped with the bubble crown, which I absolutely love. It is silver-plated with diamonds. The crown refers to the spiral and cluster of bubbles as it wraps around Glinda’s head.”

Nessarose’s slippers:

“Another of my favorite pieces are Nessarose’s silver and diamond slippers, which were given to her. It refers to the tornado from The Wizard of Oz. The heel swirls up, crystallizes and then wraps around the foot with spiral waves encased in Nessarose’s (Marissa Bodes) feet. It is an iconic piece that reflects the ruby ​​shoe and the meaning we attach to it. Then it changes to something that directly references the original silver shoe in the novel. The shoes connect with the original story and film.”

Glinda’s peignoir:

“I had the opportunity to design every aspect for the Glinda and Elphaba characters, one of which was nightwear. When I thought about what it would be for Glinda, I decided to look at the glamor of Hollywood and then consider how I would evoke that in Glinda’s world of sensibility. With that, I dipped into my spiral image, as reflected in the circular shapes that are on the shoulders and hem, and married it with the frill as a hint from the pink dress in the original Wicked Broadway production. We completely reimagined it as a polka dot net peignoir and a custom embroidered silk charmeuse teddy. I finished it off with curled toe satin slippers.”