Although I got to see Wicked: For Good at previews, you best believe I was seated for a second viewing on opening weekend. But as the horny harmonies of As Long As You’re Mine rang out, one of my companions leaned over and whispered: “What the hell is Elphaba wearing?!”
Because holding a conversation in the cinema is the act of a psychopath, I had to hold my tongue. But I was disappointed to witness first hand that the gorgeous nightgown worn by Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) as she hooks up with Fiyero wasn’t landing with audiences. Obviously I’d already read Vulture’s — very funny — viral take that birthed the ‘sex cardigan’ meme. I can see why it’s a hit; sex is very funny and everyone loves a fashion gag.
But my reaction upon witnessing the notorious knitwear for the first time was entirely positive. There is video proof (see above!) of me telling costume designer Paul Tazewell that I thought it was pretty and looked like it was made out of baby mouse fur.
He was even courteous enough to correct me. It is not a mere dressing gown but a peignoir — the fancy French word for a robe that a stylish lady might wear around her boudoir.
“That look was greatly informed by Cynthia,” Tazewell told me. “It came out of lots of conversations around how we represent this very intimate moment, the big moment where the two lovers are coming together.”
Does anyone genuinely think that an Oscar-winning designer of Tazewell’s calibre would chuck on some random cardie onto the leading lady for her big moment? Hell no. Tazewell and Erivo have a long history of collaboration, having worked together on 2019 film Harriet. They came up with this design together, and Erivo clearly loves it enough that she included it in an emotional Instagram post paying tribute to Wicked: For Good.
“are you wearing the—“
— Samantha Bush (@stillonzoloft) November 23, 2025
“Elphaba’s sex cardigan? Yes, I am.” pic.twitter.com/R0OFrYYqg6
The importance of the cardigan as a narrative device is — at minimum — threefold.
Firstly, it’s entirely consistent with Elphaba’s character and where she is on her journey. The buttoned-up witch who has been ashamed of her green skin and afraid of her power isn’t going to suddenly rip off her clothes at the first sight of Fiyero’s abs. Obviously she’s put something more demure on for some gravity-defying seduction techniques.
It’s not-not sexy, however! Fiyero’s chill-ness with Elphaba’s unusual skintone is what endeared him to her in the first place. So putting a robe on over her black underwear is a halfway house between her long-sleeved dress and the full reveal. “We see the green skin of her legs and her arms, normalising that for the two of them, so that we [the audience] can actually feel that love connection,” said Tazewell.
She’s clearly learned from co-habiting with Glinda that the done thing is to have at least one hyper feminine peignoir to swoon around in. But she could hardly raid Glinda’s wardrobe and borrow a pink fluffy dressing gown, like she might have done back in their Shiz roommate days.
Elphaba is now a renegade/outcast freedom fighter/terrorist fighting for animal freedom from the despotic wizard. She is busy studying the Grimmerie and freeing the fauna, so she doesn’t have time to go shopping, nor could she just pop out from her forest lair to Emerald City’s finest ateliers without getting captured.
Y’all are laughing at Elphaba’s “sex cardigan” as if Anthropologie isn’t currently planning to sell that thing for $140 and people will buy it. #WickedForGood pic.twitter.com/hG6hlam0Ws
— Courtney Howard (@Lulamaybelle) November 22, 2025
It’s entirely likely that she’s having to make her own clothes now. But Elphaba is the Governor of Munchkinland’s firstborn daughter. She grew up with staff! Dulcibear wouldn’t have taught her tailoring.
Tazewell, Erivo and the set designers came up with a backstory where Elphaba would be upcycling and making her own clothes, and if you look closely there’s a loom in her treehouse. She’s been weaving her own fabrics and likely knitting and crocheting that lingerie set and cosy shrug. Yes it’s got a few holes and ladders in it, but she should be commended for taking up a new craft!
Thirdly, it’s part of a larger narrative device where Elphaba’s costuming reflects her connection to nature and the land. When you see her silhouetted against the openings in her home, it blends her shape into the foliage that its made of. “That beautifully knitted peignoir is like the roots and vines of the forest that she's in,” said Tazewell.
— arianators wildin (@arianatorswildt) November 22, 2025
This is even more important to underscore in this moment, because her relationship with Fiyero began in Wicked with him almost running her down on his horse because he didn’t see her in the forest. Then in Wicked: For Good he either can’t spot her hiding in the trees or decides not to blow her cover because he’s secretly in love with her.
It bears repeating that Tazewell and Erivo designed this piece together, to encapsulate all this and probably more. Erivo loves it so much she posted a candid of her in it. There’s even the one-and-only Sainsbury’s Bag For Life hiding in the background, like everyone’s favourite photo of Rhianna.
In short: the sex cardigan, as it shall unfortunately henceforth be known, is iconic.
What we really should be working ourselves up over is whoever did Ariana Grande’s strip lashes for Glinda, because they should be locked up along with Madame Morrible for their crimes against beauty. But that’s a discussion for another time.
Wicked: For Good is in cinemas now
