Name: Elphaba’s sex cardigan.
Age: Elphaba is a character in Wicked: For Good – Jon M Chu’s fantasy film, the sequel to last year’s mega hit Wicked Part 1, which was adapted from the 2003 stage musical, and has just been released. That was loosely based on Gregory Maguire’s 1995 novel, which was a reimagining of L Frank Baum’s 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and its 1939 film adaptation starring Judy Garland.
I noticed – it’s hard not to. No spoilers, please, I might see it. It’s certain to be massive. And reviews, including the Guardian’s, have largely been positive. But we’re less concerned with its artistic merit, more with the wardrobe department, and one item in particular …
Go on. Elphaba’s “sex cardigan”.
Who’s calling it that? The internet.
Isn’t sex cardigan, like, an oxymoron? And why am I suddenly thinking about my grandparents? Ew … Old people can – and do – have sex too. But again, we’re not concerned about them here.
Who’s Elphaba then? The Wicked Witch of the West, played by Cynthia Erivo, who has a massive crush on Fiyero (Jonathan Bailey), as has Elphaba’s former-bestie-now-arch-enemy Glinda the Good Witch (Ariana Grande).
And Elphaba gets her man? [Warning: bit of a spoiler alert]. She gets him, takes him up to her treehouse hideaway, and … you know …
Sexy time? Afraid so, while singing a song called As Long As You’re Mine.
And wearing a cardie? [Close your eyes, kids], there is some black lingerie involved, but the cardigan goes on top.
Almost as if to say: you can open your eyes again, children? Well, there has been some speculation that that was what Chu was thinking, and a PG rating means more bums on cinema seats and so more money at the box office.
Or just tapping into the trend for winter knitwear? Elphaba’s doesn’t have a lot in common with any of Vogue’s seasonal choices (primary-coloured jumpers, stripes and argyle). It’s kind of pinky grey, chunky, holey, straggly. Put it this way: I don’t think Tom Daley would be proud if he’d knitted it, and if you saw it on the beach, you’d probably think it was a discarded fishing net.
And yet strangely alluring when loosely wrapped around Erivo. True. Kurt Cobain also looked pretty hot in a chunky greyish cardie, which went on to sell for $334,000 at auction, 25 years after his death.
How is Elphaba’s going down? It’s proving a hit – certainly a talking point – on social media.
Memetastic? Oh yes. For example, the Instagram account @bravohistorian posted a picture of Anne Hathaway as assistant Andy from The Devil Wears Prada in a garment that looks like it’s been knitted from cobwebs. The caption read: “Are you wearing the –” “Elphaba’s sex cardigan? Yes, I am.”
Do say: “Excuse me while I slip into something a little more … woolly.”
Don’t say: “Why can I only think of Mrs Doubtfire?”
