OZ THE GREAT AND POWERFUL

The Witches' Wardrobes
There are three very distinct witches in the film, Evanora, Theodora and Glinda, who had to be costumed to reflect not only their personalities but their surroundings as well. Jones and Kutsche's designs for the three witches were carefully worked out, using concept illustrations as a preliminary guide before designing the costumes and choosing the fabrics.

In creating the look of the sisters Evanora and Theodora, Kutsche says, "I could make a fresh start with the characters by looking at Rob's [Stromberg] work and how he imagined the world of Oz. I used this to inform the costumes because there was a certain logic to his designs that I wanted to reflect in my illustrations.

"For Evanora, the ruler of Emerald City, the starting point was looking at the architecture of the city," Kutsche says. "I really wanted her to not just be some person in this place, but to actually be this place. The shape and color of her wardrobe actually reflect the architecture and feel of Emerald City, which was Art Deco inspired. So, by resembling and reflecting that, I could make her more of a mighty being that stands out against all the other citizens, and the other witches as well."

Commenting on the costume for her character Evanora, Rachel Weisz says, "I wear a green dress pretty much all the time. It's very glittery with a lot of feathers and slightly militaristic, because I'm sort of the military leader of Emerald City, as well. "The costumes are very fantastical and very heightened. It's complete transformation; it's just high-concept, high-fantasy. It's really fun," Weisz adds.

Once Kutsche had sculpted the characters' looks in a two-dimensional sketch, costumer Jones began his process of bringing the illustrations to life with the chosen fabrics. "With Evanora, we took a little detour towards the Duchess of Windsor for a moment, and then came back to Michael's drawings because of the iconic silhouette that you need to balance the sets and scenery," comments Jones.

In defining the pair of opposing enchantresses (Evanora and Glinda) through wardrobe design, costumer Jones describes his approach: "The witches are very clearly light and dark to contrast good and evil. We used a mercury green color, all having to do with Robert's Emerald City design, to portray Evanora. Glinda, of course, is basically a white, pristine kind of girl in the story, and we created three different white dresses or gowns for Michelle's [Williams] character.

"In the circus part of the movie, she is (Oscar's) girlfriend who is sort of pushed aside," Jones explains about Williams' role in the opening scenes of the film. "So, we started with an old-fashioned blue calico dress. Then when we see her as Glinda the queen, Michelle knew exactly where she wanted to go with her look, and it was great."

Michelle Williams liked the transitions that Glinda's costuming took during the course of the story. She says, "When we first meet Glinda, she's more demure, cloaked in these very delicate fabrics. Then, as the battle dawns, she has a wardrobe change and appropriately suits up in something that is tougher, like fairy-princess armor."

When we first meet Evanora's little sister, the bewitchingly beautiful and vulnerable Theodora, she is wearing a Victorian-styled riding outfit, with a large-brimmed red velvet hat that Kutsche devised when he sat down to give life to the character in his concept sketch.

"Theodora in her riding outfit is how we first meet her in the film," Kutsche says. "There was a little inscription in the script about her wearing pants and having a white blouse. Other than that, I could work freely on the character's look.

"It's in a fantasy world while still being a period piece in a way," the illustrator/designer offers. "So, I looked at fashion around 1900 when they had some pretty crazy hats. Theodora's look is almost like a patchwork of different periods that makes it look like no distinct period. And that's what I guess gives it this slightly fantastical feel."

Comparing the sister witches Evanora and Theodora, costume designer Jones states that "one of the first times that the characters appeared together, you realize that they do have similarities in the cut of their clothes, but not at all in the feeling of the clothes. They're two completely different worlds. Mila's Theodora is a little more 23on the sporty, physical side, while Rachel's costumes for Evanora are a little more of a reigning empress.

"Theodora has three costume changes," Jones states. "The first one is the riding costume which is when we first meet her. In my opinion, it's a beautiful costume, beautifully structured with a hint of contemporary pizzazz. A big, handsome velvet riding hat, a red coat, black riding breeches and a white blouse. All very beautiful with a sense of the pastoral fun of the eighteenth century one might find in a Fragonard painting."

"The character goes through transformations with her costumes," Mila Kunis remarks. "When you meet her, she's very demure, very quiet, very sweet. She falls in love with Oscar and when you next see her, she's in this big, beautiful ball gown."

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