# Wicked’s Costume Designer on How to Tell Stories with Clothes | Paul Tazewell | TED Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZflSdA4Q44 Recap page: https://rapidrecap.app/video/BZflSdA4Q44 Generated: 2025-11-21T16:33:34.856+00:00 --- ## Quick Overview Costume designer Paul Tazewell argues that clothing is a powerful, non-neutral storytelling language that shapes perception by conveying character, history, and emotion, demonstrating this through costume choices in productions like "Wicked," "Hamilton," and "West Side Story" to show how attire communicates inherent goodness or wickedness, historical context, and modern relevance. **Key Points:** - Costume designer Paul Tazewell asserts that clothing is a form of storytelling that shapes perception before a word is spoken, influencing whether an audience views a character as a hero or villain. - Tazewell specifically analyzes character costuming from "Wicked" (e.g., Elphaba's green skin and black attire versus Glinda's sparkling pink dress) to illustrate how color and texture immediately establish moral alignment. - He discusses the costuming in "Hamilton," contrasting the vibrant colors worn by the American founders with the muted, regal tones of King George III, to show how attire communicates historical context and power dynamics. - For the two gangs in "West Side Story," Tazewell used specific textures and colors (e.g., denim/earth tones for Jets vs. vibrant florals/reds for Sharks) to highlight cultural and conflict lines, even when the underlying story theme is shared humanity. - Tazewell emphasizes that costume design is never neutral; it is a subconscious language that carries memory, aspirations, and biases, such as using denim for the Jets and vibrant textiles for the Sharks. - He concludes that good costume design helps the audience relate to characters, even those who embody historical antagonists, by allowing them to see the shared humanity beneath the surface differences. ![Screenshot at 00:09: Costume designer Paul Tazewell contrasts the costuming of the Wicked Witch of the West \(green skin, black attire\) with Glinda \(sparkling pink dress\) from "Wicked" to immediately establish the visual dichotomy between perceived wickedness and goodness.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/BZflSdA4Q44/00-00-09.png) **Context:** Paul Tazewell, a costume designer known for his work on Broadway hits like "Hamilton" and "The Color Purple," presents his philosophy on how clothing functions as a powerful, non-verbal language in storytelling. He uses examples from theatrical productions, including the recent film adaptation of "West Side Story" and the musical "Wicked," to explore how costume choices—including color, texture, silhouette, and fabric—are instrumental in guiding audience perception of a character's morality, historical context, and group affiliation. ## Detailed Analysis Paul Tazewell begins by questioning what makes someone wicked, suggesting that the answer lies not in skin color or the story we have been told, but in what they wear, emphasizing that clothing is a fundamental language that shapes perception. As a costume designer, his job is to use assumptions viewers carry about clothing—like dresses, hats, and fabric textures—to communicate character traits. He illustrates this by showing Elphaba (green skin, black) next to Glinda (pink, glittery) from "Wicked," where color instantly assigns good/evil roles. Tazewell then moves to "Hamilton," contrasting the vibrant suits of the American founders with King George III's regal but static costume, showing how clothing defines historical identity and power. He further contrasts the Jets (denim, concrete aesthetic) and Sharks (vibrant florals, Latin textiles) in "West Side Story" to show how costumes delineate conflict lines while still allowing the underlying humanity to shine through. Tazewell argues that costume is a form of subconscious communication, carrying memory and aspiration, and that good design must be intentional, not relying on fixed stereotypes. He notes that even when designing figures like King George III, he sought to give him complexity rather than just painting him as purely villainous. Ultimately, Tazewell contends that costume design is about creating a visual dialect that helps the audience relate to the story's characters and their struggles, regardless of whether they are heroes or marginalized figures. ### Costume as Storytelling Language - Clothing shapes perception before words are spoken - It dictates initial judgments of hero vs. villain - Assumptions about fabric, color, and silhouette are relied upon by the audience. ### Case Study - Wicked: Elphaba's green skin and black attire contrast with Glinda's pink, glittering dress, immediately establishing visual duality and perceived morality. ### Case Study - Hamilton: Vibrant colors for the founders contrast with King George III's regal, yet static, costume, setting up the conflict between the old world (King George) and the new (Hamilton). ### Case Study - West Side Story: The Jets' muted, concrete-inspired clothing is contrasted with the Sharks' vibrant, Latin-inspired textiles, visually representing cultural conflict while maintaining character authenticity. ### The Role of the Designer - The designer's job is to use these visual cues to tell a parallel story, finding the human element within the historical or fantastical context, rather than simply reinforcing stereotypes. ### Conclusion on Neutrality - Design is never neutral; it carries memory and bias, and the goal is to design clothing that guides the audience to see the humanity in all characters, even the antagonists. ![Screenshot at 00:09: The Wicked Witch of the West \(green makeup, black hat/clothing\) stands next to Glinda \(pink, voluminous dress\) to show the initial visual contrast.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/BZflSdA4Q44/00-00-09.png) ![Screenshot at 00:37: A split screen showing the detailed pink gown worn by Glinda \(left\) next to a close-up of its intricate, feathered sequined texture \(right\).](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/BZflSdA4Q44/00-00-37.png) ![Screenshot at 01:49: A side-by-side comparison of the Jets \(left, 2021 film, muted colors\) and Sharks \(right, 2021 film, vibrant colors, running through water\) illustrating gang visual identity.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/BZflSdA4Q44/00-01-49.png) ![Screenshot at 03:03: A comparison of two costumed figures from "Hamilton": the protagonist in bright green vest \(left\) and King George III in full red and ermine regalia \(right\).](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/BZflSdA4Q44/00-03-03.png) ![Screenshot at 08:20: A close-up of the Wicked Witch of the West character looking intensely at the camera, emphasizing her non-neutral, judgmental portrayal through costume and makeup.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/BZflSdA4Q44/00-08-20.png)