My initial connection to Wicked, strangely, is material-based — my 7th grade crush wore a heather grey merch sweatshirt with “Wicked” embroidered on the front almost every day at my California middle school. He told people that seeing it on Broadway with his family changed his life, and instantly, I was determined to feel the same.
I downloaded the soundtrack on my pink iPod and memorized every lyric to the production’s award-winning soundtrack. I pored through Gregory Maguire’s book, which I asked for on my 13th birthday. And I hounded my parents to take the family to New York for the first time so we could see the show on Broadway.
A year and change later, my pestering was indulged. I did see it — and it did change my life. The glittering Oz Dust ballroom, the “othered” girl finding unexpected love and understanding, the vocals that bounced off the atmosphere. I bought a heather grey hoodie and wore it almost every day of 8th grade, finally appealing to my crush, who I came to call my boyfriend for six weeks.
He is now an out-and-proud gay man, as I am an out-and-proud bisexual woman, but that’s beside the point. I went on to have a career that has orbited fashion, and he went on to have a career that has orbited performance. And our simple cotton hoodies symbolized the initiation of a potent, intractable connection to one of the greatest musicals of the 21st century. I am a Wicked superfan.
With the arrival of the Wicked film, after a years-long wait, my fellow theater kids are finally being fed; not only by the untouchable performances of songs I could recognize from single notes, but by the creation of a world that feels like home — from the scenery to seams. A whole new generation of young people will sing “For Good” at their graduations and will wear their takes on Bubble Dresses and structured black hats for Halloween.
The illustrious Paul Tazewell, Costume Designer of the Wicked films with storied experience on both stage and screen (think: Lin Mauel-Miranda’s Hamilton and Spielberg’s West Side Story), let Teen Vogue pick his brain on the more than 1000 incredibly detailed pieces he’s designed for the two films. While working with over 70 craftsmen and artisans, each piece was reimagined for the new telling of this fantastic story, from heel to crown.
Teen Vogue: I’d love to start by asking you about the moment you found out you’d be designing for Wicked. What were your immediate thoughts on approaching this story that has such intense fandom surrounding it?
Paul Tazewell: I’m very familiar with The Wizard of Oz film throughout my lifetime, and the beauty of it. I read the book by Gregory Maguire before [I saw] Wicked the musical. When Wicked came to Broadway, I would see the costumes in the costume shops because I was designing professionally at that time as well, but I didn’t actually see the production until it had been running for a couple years. When I saw it, I was completely blown away. It’s incredible what [Susan Hilferty] was able to do for the stage. When I was offered the design for the film by Jon [Chu], it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to take this and make it our own. When you’re approaching a musical for the stage You’re seeing it as a painting. For this, we were making it a 360 view of what that world would be.
TV: I’m sure one of your biggest challenges was striking the tricky balance between honoring all the source materials, while also creating something new, original, and that feels “yours.” What were your favorite flourishes that you added to the costuming of the film — stamps that felt special?
PT: My approach to Elphaba was to connect her to nature and to a world that is organic and grounded. That connection to nature speaks to her advocacy for animals. I was looking at a lot of textures of roots and design lines of roots, bark, mushrooms, and all those things when you turn over a log in a forest — the mystery and beauty of what that is and how that relates to her as a character. I decided to use black as her defining color, some of which it is from the original Wizard of Oz film, but then some of it makes sense for what her personality is and who she is within her story. You think about other young people who tend to dress in very dark colors to be ‘more severe’ or ‘put people off’, but it’s about finding your own way. For her, it was mourning her mother when she lost her early in her life, and that became her signature color.
For Galinda, I loved her Bubble Dress. The process of creating that was very exciting. Mainly because we had amazing artists who figured out how we were going to engineer this dress that was referring to the Billie Burke dress in pink, but then making it our own. There were so many hands that went into it. Our top layer was silk organza, but then when you open it up, it’s almost like a Charles James evening gown where there’s structurally a hoop skirt underneath. There was nylon organza, as well and all these crinoline cons that are made out of spirals that then carry the fabric that’s been printed and foiled with a bubble fabric that swirls around. All of that is then beaded and sequined. It was a big process to get that to be the magical shape that it became , and then create it so Ariana Grande could wear it and float around the space. For her crown I was imagining that it was carrying bubbles, and how bubbles would swirl around her head.
TV: I’ve read that you had over 70 specific craftsmen and artisans working on all aspects of costuming, from gloves to glasses to shoes and hand-embellishing… I’m curious, what was your role in the creation of the props: wands, brooms, scepters, tiaras? Do you have a history of creating these “objects as accessories”?
PT: Hat-making, and jewelry-making — they have forever been in my life since I’ve been designing costumes. The approaches that we took, because we had access to major technology where we could 3D print items, whether it was as a prototype that we then could cast and set with stones — that part of the process allowed for us to create these very original and refined elements. All of those elements were designed and then digitized so we could then create 3D elements that we could fit, and then it was recast into something we could wear. That process was hugely exciting. It’s a process I couldn’t do 20 years ago. Our approach would have had to have been completely different. Now, with technology, you can imagine what it is and bring it to life.
TV: I’ve heard you say that Galinda is air, Elphaba is earth, and that her final costume in the film draws on the natural textures and patterns within fungi, which I love. Did you attempt anything for Elphaba that didn’t feel quite right? What were the moments of trial and error?
PT: There was a lot of trial and error — I think function is a huge priority for me when I’m designing costumes. It has to be allowed to come to life, so it has to fit the actor properly and do everything it needs to do visually, but also move in space. With the Bubble Dress — there was a lot of trial and error in figuring out what our products would be. It was always going to be shot and lit so that it emanated a certain amount of light. We wanted light to pass through. So the question was, how do we retain that translucency and layer fabrics to retain this lighter-than-air quality?
We created probably five or six Wicked Witch hats, all going in different directions. There was one that had the same texture, but it was completely pointed. We had an origami shape that kind of collapsed. There was another that had a different swirl and texture. I was getting at what would be the perfect — the icon — for the film. It needed to live on Cynthia’s head in the perfect way so that it set off her face and was the right scale for her hair. You can’t do that until you have the piece in front of you. We ended up combining two different ideas so that it could collapse and open up, and then when it went on her head it became the perfect thing. I knew she could wear a wide-brim hat with great swagger, but I needed to make sure it fit all the other elements, scale-wise.
TV: I’m sure one of your biggest challenges was striking the tricky balance between honoring all the source materials, while also creating something new, original, and that feels “yours”. What were your favorite flourishes that you added to the costuming of the film, your stamps that felt special?
PT: The image of bubbles is a big one. The silver and crystal slipper on Nessarose, which is a tornado heel — it’s a tornado that spirals up the heel and opens onto he foot. I hope people notice that one.
On Mrs. Thropp, Elphaba’s mother, you see her passing through her home [as] she invites her secret lover in. She is dressed in a dress that is a poppy turned upside down, and there’s a poppy at her waist.
On the Wizard, on his ascot, there’s this spiraling eye, and it kind of ombres in, but then we used that as an image on all the other Oz elements. You see that on the buttons, on the monkey guards, but it’s the Oz emblem sitting on top of this origami shape. Those are magical themes that run throughout.
TV: What were some of the actors’ favorite pieces?
PT: With Ariana, her Oz Dust dress was one of her favorites. When I speak of collaboration, it’s more when you’re in the fitting stage. You’re getting it to be the perfect thing on their bodies. The amount of shoulder and neck and emphasizing that was really important [to us both]. For the Bubble Dress, how we established that as a shape was very important for [Ariana], as well…I wanted for [Ariana and Cynthia] to feel beautiful in everything that they wore. I wanted to establish the perfect silhouettes for them. Part of that was corseting them and giving them the underpinnings for the dresses to hang in just the right way. It’s almost as if it was drawn or rendered — animation — but it’s actually alive.
TV: I love that Galinda’s wardrobe is a range of these very specific shades of pink. Why did you settle on pink, and how specifically did you end up choosing the shades you did?
PT: Pink was inspired by the original Billie Burke Glinda. In the original Wicked musical, [Galinda] wears one pink dress, but the other is blue, for legal reasons [jokingly]. I thought it would be a wonderful, iconic thing to have the original Glinda dress. So, I carried that through even in her uniforms. There are butterflies applied to her blouse. Iridescence and translucence are very important in the theme of her wardrobe as well. I had the opportunity to design so many different elements — different points of their day, week, and year, so when I was designing two nightwear looks and their activewear and what they would wear running through the forest, it gave me the opportunity to explore different shades of pink [for Galinda]. It always tied back to the warm pink from the Bubble Dress. With her Oz Dust dress, we have a very strong pink that ombres to a golden tone. It’s inspired by a bank of roses I found in Regent’s Park in London, which was hugely inspiring to me, so I used that as a point of reference. She ends up wearing this petal dress that is the same ombre.
TV: What would you say to a young person looking to get into costume design? What are your keys to success within this world?
PT: Hold your passion. If you are a person who is passionate about clothing, performance, theater or film, or television, and you find that you have abilities that are adjacent to that, there’s a great gift to be able to give and support performances and productions. What I bring to storytelling is really important to audiences and how they experience a film or theater piece.
Passion is first, then knowing and understanding your field front-to-back. Understand that it takes a huge community of people to come together to make something happen. I can’t do this alone. It’s imperative that I draw the creativity, experience, and expertise of other people who are very talented. I acknowledge that and honor that and that’s what is beautiful about doing what I do.
[This interview was edited and condensed for clarity.]
