"Well, we can't all come and go by bubble!"


(I'm going to cover my ass up front: a crapload of these pictures come from Pink Goes Good With Green, an incredible reference site for a bunch of Broadway costumes.  Corbyjane gets all the credit, and you should check out the blog anyway, as a lot of my info comes from her site and I'm not going to repost it here.)

So, TLC got a bunch of JoAnn gift cards for Christmas. TLC decided it was finally time to start her dream costume: Glinda's Bubble Gown from the musical Wicked.

TLC then discovered that JoAnns doesn't stock the right color blue sequins.

So TLC decided that she'd make the gown- in pink.

TLC isn't sure why she's referring to herself in third person, and will stop right now.

So yeah. I'm making it pink. And desperately trying to ignore the Sleeping Beauty references that can be tossed around.

I finally mastered the art of using Photoshop color replacement (kindof), so here's a comparison shot of the original gown (apologies to the actress whose head I chopped off) and what I'm kind of shooting for.

 
The original...                                                ...and my concept.

I've actually had this concept cooking in my head for a while now. I grew up on the MGM film, and to me, 'Glinda' and 'Pink' are synonymous. Then I saw the musical, and fell in love with the blue gown. But it's always bugged me that Glinda's only pink gown is her Popular dress. So- I'm rectifying the situation. :0) Susan Hilferty, please don't kill me.

I can't even begin to tell you how much debate goes on over the construction of this gown. And that's not to mention the fact that there's at least three to four versions of the design!

-Kristen Chenoweth, the original Glinda, had a rather simply styled A-line gown:


-The European productions, specifically the UK, favor a sweetheart neckline, pointed waist, stiffer petals, and full skirt:


-And the US productions, with a straight neckline, rounded waist, very flexible petals, and a very full skirt:

Personally, the US style is my favorite, and is the style I'm basing my gown off of.

Now, the debated topics:

1) No one can tell how many petals are in the skirt. The sequins throw off the count even more, as they tend to 'wisp' up the petal (as seen here). I have my own theory to how it is constructed, but there doesn't really seem to be much rhyme or reason to the number. I do know that the skirt is symmetrical (as pointed out by Corbyjane on her awesome blog. Yes, I am going to plug that thing as much as I can- it's been invaluable to me), so there has to be some method to the madness, but I digress. My method is going to be cutting all of the petals in muslin before I cut my precious 8.99-a-yard organza.

2) The fabric. Oy, the fabric. It's a pearlized organza. This has been confirmed by a number of sources. But different gowns seem to use different backing methods for the petals. I've seen ones like in the picture above where it doesn't look like there's anything lining the petals, to the German version, which uses a stiff holographic material to back the petals. Again, I'm following the US version, and won't be using anything to back my petals.

3) The crinoline. Yes, there is no hoopskirt under there. It's all tulle. Fights range over how much poof is appropriate. As you all should know by now, I love me a fluffy skirt, so mine will be pretty damn full.

4) The sequins. I'm not even going to get into this one here. Just know it's a hot topic.

5) The shoes. Now, both times I've seen it, Glinda wears silver character shoes (although in Act 1, she wears her Shiz shoes, due to her quick change. You learn something new everyday on this site, don't you?), but apparently it's also believed that some Glindas wear the same shoes they wore for 'One Short Day' and 'Thank Goodness', which are usually goldtone pumps. Again, I like the silver character shoes theory. It's easy. And I already have them :0P

6) The construction of the skirt. This is where I'm going to start my narrative, as I really don't want to type this twice.

Ok. A lot of people believe that all of the petals are individual, meaning they're all cut like this:

and are sewn individually to the waistband.

Personally, I think that theory is crap.

While this theory is definitely true for the upper layers of pearls, it's not for the lowest tier. The last time I saw the show, I was fortunate enough to see it from the 10th row (thanks, Mom! :0P). There is no way in hell that the bottom petals are individual. In addition to an under layer of a fabric that looks like some kind of satin, I'm pretty sure that the bottom-most tier of petals is actually a full-circle skirt with a hem that is scalloped, like this:

You can really see it on Megan Hilty's gown:


It sounds odd, but if you've seen the gown in action, there's no way that the bottom petals are individual. When she spins, when she crouches during the Catfight- the skirt does not behave like those are individual. They'd be going all over the place, and they don't. So I rest my case. I'll be cutting it as a full circle. I just can't figure out any other way for it to move the way it does without that being how it's constructed.

The bodice looks like a basic princess seamed bodice, but looks are deceiving: there's actually quite a few panels that go into it!


I haven't decided if I want to attempt to draft the pattern. More than likely I'll use the same pattern I made for my Belle Yellow Gown.

Now, fabric. As I said, we're making it pink. Although the actual gown is made out of a pearlized organza (JoAnns carries something that looks pretty damn close), I don't like how the sheen looks close up, and since I (sadly) won't be wearing this gown on the stage of a 2,000 seat theater, there's no reason I need to use the pearlized stuff. On top of that, JoAnns tends to run out of it, and they almost always have their Casa collection in stock. So I'm using Casa organza in light pink.

The sequins are going to be the real headache. According to various people who have attempted this gown, there's upwards of 80,000 sequins used, all varying in shape, size, and color. Yeah, you just threw up a little in your mouth too?

Defying Gravity on the Galinda's Wardrobe forum found this brilliant pic of the sequins on one of the actual Glinda gowns:

(click the pic for a bigger image)
As you can see, it's pretty helter skelter. I see domed, flat, square, AND paillette sequins in that shot. And the colors-

I have a feeling the sequins are going to be the biggest headache on this project. And the most expensive detail. Although I'll admit, there's a part of me that really wants to see what $130 worth of sequins looks like (approximately 120,000, just in case you were wondering).

As far as the coloring goes, on the blue gown they range from translucent to navy to green to purple, and I'm going to try to continue that theme with my coloring. I'm thinking pinks and lavenders should do the trick, along with the translucent accents.

So that's the plan. I'll post pics of my petticoats with the skirt lining soon. I'll probably start the bodice first, just so I can start sequining it, but that might change.


Photos and updates to come!!