Dizzy Dandelion: Being Glinda

My mother has wanted for years to make me a Glinda the Good Witch costume from The Wizard of Oz movie. After I dressed up as Sleeping Beauty for Comic Con last year, she brought the idea up again. I'm not as big a fan of the movie as Mom is, but I loved being a pretty princess for a day, so I said if she wanted to make the costume, I would wear it every chance I got.

Six months ago, Mom called me out of the blue and told me she had a coupon for fabric, so we should pick a pattern. She's been working like a fiend ever since. It's been fun to see her progress and her excitement as it's all come together. She finished the gown and the wand the Sunday before Salt Lake Comic Con was scheduled to begin. She had a difficult time figuring out what material to use for the crown. She'd worked so hard on the costume, I hated to think it would be spoiled by an iffy crown. It needed to last through the day even with me taking it off for panels (since I wasn't about to sit in the back row for every one). She tried a thin plastic, and it looked lovely when I put it on, but the next morning -- the day before the Con -- it had cracked on both sides. I nearly started crying when I called to tell her, but she philosophically said, "We knew it was a possibility" and found another solution. She created it and a backup in less than a day. The new crown is flexible and looks beautiful.

The original crown - RIP

I'd made a point of not telling too many people beforehand what my mom was doing; I was a little afraid that people would steal the idea if I gave them too much time. But a few days before, my Con-buddy Theresa asked if she should put together an Elphaba/Wicked Witch of the West costume so we could walk around together. I told her it was up to her, though it would be fun to walk around dressed up together. She had a witch costume already, so it was just a matter of finding a wig and some green make-up. The result was perfect -- she looked so good!

It was quite the departure for Theresa to grimace and growl in photos.
She has one of the prettiest -- and most ready -- smiles in the world.

We planned to cosplay together on Thursday and Friday. I thought that little girls would be excited about the pretty princess, and that maybe some older folks would think our costumes cool. The book is, like, a century old, the movie is 76 years old, and even Wicked opened on Broadway about 12 years ago. It's not new.

I was not prepared for the reaction from the public.

I was even less prepared for how much people responded to Theresa and I together. We had our photo taken at least 10 times while waiting in line to get inside the Con, and that doesn't count the people who were piggy-backing on the op. We could barely go five feet without a photo request. Sometimes they wanted a photo just of us, but we preferred to include others with us, mostly because they were so delighted. It took a while to figure out our poses (something we should have considered) but I don't think we embarrassed ourselves too much. Older folks and little kids gushed about the movie, and teenagers geeked out over Wicked. Many people took photos for sisters, dads, sons and daughters. We never once said "No," to a request for a photo. After all, "We didn't dress this way to be ignored."

Several people said they had seen wicked witches before, but I was the first Glinda. They couldn't get over how much I look like Billie Burke (one lady said I could be her daughter). Good call, Mom!

Billie Burke as Glinda the Good Witch in The Wizard of Oz

Even more unexpected was the media attention. We were interviewed by a Gephardt guy (though our segment didn't air), filmed for a promo with KJZZ ("Whether you're a good witch or a bad witch"), photographed by the Deseret News (which ended up in the paper and on the website and then got picked up by KSL) and at least 5 official Comic Con photographers, and were embraced wholeheartedly by the cosplay community. Wow! Legit!

Deseret News/KSL photo

The lady from KJZZ
(Can you see me in the camera monitor?)

We asked every Dorothy we saw for a photo (there weren't very many). There was a teeny-tiny toddler who was afraid to let us weirdos hold her, so her cosplaying dad stood with us (I should have asked for a photo of my own of her, darn it).

The only photo I have of this Dorothy smiling. After several shots of her straight-faced,
her dad said, "Try to look less enthused" and we all laughed.

I always gave my mom all the credit for my costume and all the details, and Theresa was thrilled to claim her own. It was so fun playing with her all day. She really got into character, and, yes, we did break out into song once or twice. We had to laugh when fans of the musical would ask, "Yeah, but can you sing?" Pfffft! Don't get us started (though Theresa sings the higher part and I love the harmony.) On the second day, we realized that this was probably our fifteen minutes of fame. We enjoyed it and took full advantage of all the random things that happened.

For example:

While walking around by myself, two teenage girls approached me to ask who I was. Apparently they had a bet going on. One thought I was Glinda, and the other thought I was the fairy from Pinocchio. She forgot that Pinocchio's fairy is the Blue Fairy. Otherwise, I can kind of see it.

Another time while walking alone, a young lady and her boyfriend dressed as Anna and Hans from Frozen came up to ask if the Wicked Witch was with me. Sounded like she'd seen us earlier in the day. Several people had asked for photos while I was alone, so I waited for her to ask. But when I said the other Witch was elsewhere, Anna and Hans walked away. Rude -- hahahaha!
I stopped to talk with a friend and her daughter right outside of the Kid Con area... and got stuck for about half an hour because a ton of little girls and boys wanted photos with me. I missed the panel I was trying to get to. Whoops!

We walked past several green screen booths, and one of the ladies pulled Theresa in because she wanted to see what it looked like when the cosplayer had green makeup on. The result was fantastic. I mentioned that Theresa has a great smile, right?

At another booth, the workers gave us weapons -- a lightsaber for Theresa and a nerf gun for me -- and took some photos. The epic battle of North v West. It was hilarious. They told us they'd put it on a t-shirt. I need to get one.
Several people, while Theresa and I were together, expressed sympathy with her and antagonism to me. Ouch! It's hard to be this pretty and popular ;)

Speaking of pretty, a Captain Picard cosplayer approached me to clarify my meaning when I asked Dorothy, "Are you a good witch or a bad witch?" Before he could continue, I said, "I know where you're going with this, because the next thing I said was, 'Only bad witches are ugly,' right?" Yep, he was offended that I basically called Dorothy ugly. I responded that I didn't say that bad witches couldn't be pretty. Of course Dorothy is pretty. But she'd ALSO just killed someone by dropping a house on her. That's not exactly a nice thing to do. So I had to make sure. I agreed that my choice of words was poor but pointed out that it was a stressful situation. Captain Picard looked convinced and impressed by my argument, so he thanked me and left it at that. I could have added that bad witches are ugly because true wickedness comes from the inside out and eventually shows in your face and demeanor, but it didn't seem necessary at the time. I was proud that I'd thought about that ahead of time and had a ready answer. Hooray for a literary and analytical background! Not every girl can say she went head-to-head with Captain Picard in a logic battle and came out the victor. Glinda FTW!!

In conclusion I learned two lessons about cosplay this year, especially if you're hoping that people ask for your photograph:

Wear something beloved (and well-made)
Coordinate costumes with one or more people and walk around together (plus, it's much more fun to share fame)

I loved getting to show off my mom's hard work and goofing off with one of my favorite people two days in a row. I'm excited to wear the costume again for Halloween parties, and FanX, and any other occasion come across. The only downside is that it sheds glitter like you wouldn't believe (it's still all over my car), so I probably won't be wearing it to just sit around the house and read. I have a few other princessy gowns I can wear for that ;)