“Wicked” details the origins of Elphaba Thropp, a green-skinned outcast later known as “The Wicked Witch of the West,” and her complicated friendship with her college roommate Galinda, later known as “Glinda the Good.”
Calamito’s dress pays tribute to Dorothy’s iconic blue-and-white gingham dress, albeit as a ball gown. “Dorothy, all grown up,” Charles said. The garment features a light blue moiré fabric on top with a blue-and-white gingham lining underneath “so it wasn’t so literal” of an interpretation, he said. And the fabric, like all the fabric in Charles’ shop, was acquired secondhand. The design process took roughly one month to complete.
The gown has received quite a bit of feedback, including some a shout-out on social media from a cast member from the movie. Actress Ariana Grande, who plays Glinda, shared her love of the outfit in an Instagram comment: “gorgeous omg,” followed by a blue heart emoji and an emoji of a face crying with happiness.
Charles’ inspiration for the dress came from an online rumor that Calamito was playing Dorothy in “Wicked: For Good.” Director Jon M. Chu had teased that the identity of the actress playing Dorothy would be a deliberate secret until the movie’s release.
“I responded [online to the rumor] and said, ‘That’s very sweet of you all, but I am pushing 40 years old and Dorothy’s a child. No, it’s not me.’ Unfortunately, despite my best efforts, Joseph and my husband Nick decided it would be hilarious to keep perpetuating the rumor, and it’s still going around to this day,” Calamito told the Gazette at Paper City Fabrics a week before the premiere. “Jon Chu has said publicly at this point that we will not see Dorothy’s face, and everyone takes that as confirmation that it’s me.”
“I haven’t seen the movie yet, so I’m still waiting, I don’t know …” Charles joked.
“I have seen the movie, and I can tell you, it’s not me,” Calamito said. “I wasn’t there!”
Charles’ opportunity to make Calamito a dress presented itself because he was following her content online. Charles, who called himself a “long-term ‘Wizard of Oz’ fan,” recalled reaching out to her on Instagram in advance of the first “Wicked” movie’s release last year: “I was like, ‘Hey, girl, you need a dress? Let me know. I would love to make you a gown.’”
Calamito said to him that she wasn’t sure if she’d even be invited to a premiere event, but Charles was confident she would. A few months later, Calamito reached back out to share some exciting news: she had gotten an invite, but for the time being, it was a secret.
“We met and realized we were kindred spirits,” he said.
Besides a shared love of the “Oz” world, they’re also both from Sicilian families, “which doesn’t sound like a big deal,” Calamito said, “but it is. Meeting other Sicilians in the wild, it’s fairly rare, so we had this shorthand with each other that just doesn’t require explanation; it just makes total sense.”
Plus, she added, “He is so talented. His shop is so beautiful. He said to me, ‘This is my vision,’ and I said, ‘Yes, whatever you think is the vision is the vision.’” A few other designers reached out with similar offers, too, but Calamito turned them down.
“I said, ‘I’m holding out for the best,’” she said.
Charles and Calamito collaborated to create a dress that took inspiration from Old Hollywood and the character Glinda, whose signature color is pink. From that collaboration, Charles created a pink mermaid-style gown that Calamito wore to the “Wicked” premiere in Los Angeles last November. Earlier this year — even before Calamito knew she’d be invited to another “Wicked” premiere — Charles reached out to her again: “So, round two?”
“I know less than nothing about fashion because I wear nothing but Oz-inspired clothing,” Calamito said, “so I trusted him implicitly.”
Interestingly, this may not be the first time that western Massachusetts has found its way into the “Oz” universe.
The costume designer for “The Wizard of Oz,” who worked with stars like Joan Crawford, Greta Garbo and Katharine Hepburn, was Gilbert Adrian, who was known professionally mononymously as “Adrian.” When Charles was opening Paper City Fabrics, he discovered a 1931 poster for Skinner Silks, which, for decades, produced its goods at a mill in Holyoke. The Skinner family’s home is now the Wistariahurst Museum.
The poster noted that Adrian’s gowns “are often made of Skinner’s fabrics.” On it, Adrian is quoted as saying, “Skinner’s Crepes combine the perfect texture and draping qualities needed to visualize and appreciate a new model long before the lines of the dress are actually completed.”
Calamito said that she can’t know for sure if fabric from Holyoke ended up in “The Wizard of Oz” — in part because the only surviving records of Adrian’s costume design process are a few concept sketches of the Munchkins — but it’s not implausible. Though Judy Garland’s dress didn’t include silk, the Skinner company also made a variety of fabrics, including satin and rayon.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if there was some Skinner fabric [in ‘The Wizard of Oz’],” Charles said.
“We can only dream to find out,” Calamito said.
When the Gazette spoke with the pair, Calamito was looking forward to wearing the gown to the premiere the following week.
“I’m really excited. I am still pinching myself. This never gets old. This is just unreal and such an honor,” she said, turning to Charles. “If you had not reached out to me, I would have gone to Macy’s and found whatever thing looked closest and would have hoped that I looked nice, but, thanks to you, I feel like a star.”
