The Wicked costume designer has shared the stunning inspiration behind Elphaba’s iconic black dress.
The first installment of the two-part film adaptation of the beloved Broadway musical hit theaters last month and was immediately a huge hit.
Now, the man who created the stunning outfits worn by his on-screen characters, Paul Tazewell, has opened up about what goes into selecting their looks.
He explained to the Today show recently that he was “very intentional” in the way he dressed main characters Glinda (played by Ariana Grande) and Elphaba (played by Cynthia Erivo) because what they wear tells a story as much as what they say and do.
‘Glinda is privileged. She sees the world through rose-colored glasses. (Her pink clothes are) her armor, the same way Elphaba wears black as armor,’ he explained.
‘There is nothing accidental about his style. I wanted each of them to feel and appear as beautiful as possible, even in the way they represent themselves.’
Paul said he had “deep discussions” with the director about how the characters’ clothing could “reflect their emotional arc.”
The actors were also heavily involved in choosing her look, as it was revealed that Cynthia tried on ‘multiple versions’ of her witch hat before settling on the perfect one.
Evil costume designer Paul Tazewell (seen) has shared the shocking inspiration behind Elphaba’s iconic black dress.
He recently explained to the Today show that he was “very intentional” in the way he dressed the main characters because what they wear tells as much of a story as what they say and do.
When it comes to the black dress she wears near the dramatic end of the film, Paul revealed that it actually had a very special hidden meaning behind it.
She said the texture of the all-black dress was inspired by mushrooms, something she wanted to incorporate because of Elphaba’s love of animals and nature.
‘I started looking for mushrooms, mushrooms and trees. There was something that seemed very magical about that idea,” he shared.
“In contrast to her ability to fly and manipulate gravity, keeping her connected to Earth was really important from a narrative standpoint.”
He noted that the character always wears all black in the play and in the original Wizard of Oz film it was inspired by, so it was vital that he stick to that.
And without the ability to add any color to liven up her look, it was vital to focus on the texture of her garments.
As for Glinda’s stunning pink bubble dress that she was seen wearing in the film’s opening segment, Paul explained that it was a direct tribute to the Wizard of Oz.
“My intention was for it to reference the original Wizard of Oz dress but be different,” the costume designer explained.
When it comes to the black dress Elphaba wears near the dramatic end of the film, Paul revealed that it actually had a very special hidden meaning behind it.
Paul said that the texture of Elphaba’s all-black dress at the end of the film was actually inspired by mushrooms, something he wanted to incorporate because of his love of animals and nature.
‘There is nothing accidental about his style. “I wanted each of them to feel and appear as beautiful as possible, even in the way they represent themselves,” she added.
As for Glinda’s stunning pink bubble dress, she said, “My intention was for it to reference the original Wizard of Oz dress but be different.”
He said the intricate design contained a whopping 20,000 beads and took 225 hours to make.
“It’s really a pleasure to be a part of this,” Paul concluded.
Wicked broke box office records with a US box office debut of $114 million, the most ever achieved by any musical adaptation, part of a global gross of $164,180,000.
The play turned into a film tells the story of how the Wicked Witch of the West came to be from the Wizard of Oz.
It is based on Gregory Maguire’s best-selling novel, Wicked: The Life and Times of the Witch of the West.