Friday, January 09, 2026
Paul Tazewell Reveals Wicked Costume Design Secrets That Demand a Rewatch
Broadway Buzz | Broadway.com: Audiences around the globe can marvel at Paul Tazewell's talent as a costume designer, thanks to the recent home entertainment release of Wicked: For Good. But Broadway fans have been privy to Tazewell's creations long before his historic 2025 Best Costume Design Oscar win for the first Wicked film. A two-time Tony winner, Tazewell is behind Hamilton's 18th-century silhouettes and Death Becomes Her's glamorous, illusion-heavy gowns. His other Tony-nominated works include The Color Purple, In the Heights, Memphis, A Streetcar Named Desire, Ain't Too Proud, MJ and Suffs.
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I love how Paul Tazewell focuses so hard on the silhouette and what each characters silhouettes make the audience feel. I was so happy to hear that Elphaba’s outfits in the second movie, Wicked: For Good, was all recycled from the 1st movie, I think that it really symbolizes how she isn’t pretending to be someone else, and that this new version of her self has always been there, and shows how she is finding herself throughout this second movie. Something that I love about Galind’s costumes in the second movie is that each of her dresses has complicated lines and designs that seemingly never connect and that wrap around each other, this, to m,e reflects Galinda’s feeling of losing herself to the temptation of fame and power, and how she is fighting in the inner fight of doing what is right. I am very excited to continue to follow his work, and I can’t wait to see what he does next!
The costumes play a vital role in Wicked’s production. I love to learn about the minutia of the design beyond the differences between green and pink, because while the strike symbolism shows up fast, the evolution of their characters emotionally as time passes is far more interesting to me. Paul has demonstrated his skill and attention to detail time and time again, but Wicked specifically is a lovely example of visually seeing the characters change as they approach emotional turmoil and discover themselves. While these movies may not be my favorites, I can’t deny how wonderfully designed they are. I quite admire Glinda’s costume transition, especially from the end of the first movie to the beginning of the second. It’s a perfect demonstration of how that conflict had left her, and how their society would treat her; a gracious tie to the infamous Wicked Witch of the West we all know from the Wizard of Oz.
In the past few months, I have read multiple articles specifically about Paul Tazewell, and every time, I am shocked and fall in love with his designs. Each of his designs is so intricate and intentional to the character’s personality and development throughout the story that it shows he really connects with and understands the character. This understanding of the character is what creates some of his most iconic and well-known pieces, while also showing just how important the details are when telling the story. After reading how the costumes in Wicked part two connect to part one is very smart on his end. I love how he uses elements from the costumes of Glinda’s and Elphaba’s costumes from the first movie to show the development and evolution these characters have gone through since they left school and adapted to how Oz has changed due to the involvement of the Wicked Witch. Overall, I just love how intentional he is with his design details wether that be the fabrics used or how it was constructed for the character.
I found this article extremely interesting! I have commented on a few articles about Paul Tazewell, and I always learn something new and super cool about him and his process! The level of detail that Tazewell goes into is really inspiring! All of the hard work that goes into his designs definitely translates into the final products! Specifically with the Wicked movies, when we can get even closer to his costumes than on stage, you can really appreciate how intentional he is with every piece that he designs. I think every time that you watch the Wicked movies you will pick up on new details that you have never noticed before. I never noticed that Elphaba's first costume in the second movie was made of the same costume that she wore at the end of the first movie. I am really excited to see his upcoming work in Joe Turner’s Come and Gone with the CMU Drama grads!
I absolutely love Paul Tazewell’s style and costume design work, he was the first costume designer I ever knew by name and was a huge inspiration on why I got into theater in the first place. I am not a huge fan of Wicked, the musical or either of the movies, I have not seen the musical on broadway but I have seen both the movies and I personally just don’t really love the plot or music and just find it to be a little too long for my attention span. However, the design elements of both movies were absolutely phenomenal. The set worked so well with this fantasy world and it truly felt magical. The costumes had to be my favorite part though, I think he did so well at summarizing these complex characters and putting together a look for them that go so well together and also contrast at the same time, he is an excellent example of how using the elements/principles of design intentionally in your work can make such a huge difference in final product. I also love his collaboration with Susan Hilferty, the original costume designer on Broadway.
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