Wicked Witch of the West's Hat

Last year I remade my hat for my Wicked Witch of the West costume. I found an auction description that gave the measurements of the original. The cone is 14" high; the brim to crown measurements are 5 1/2" in the front, 8" in the back, 5" on the left, and 5 1/2" on the right.

The hat is made on a buckram base with millinery wire on the brim, covered in wool felt, and has a silk chiffon scarf.

Whenever I think of a witch, that classic Margaret Hamilton getup is what comes to mind. Your hat atleast seems to be pretty much on the money there. :thumbsup

That hat is beautiful!!!!!!!!

I think I need to bug you for more info.

Looks very close to the hat on display in the 'Out of this World' exhibit.

Great job! thumbsup

jme3 said:

Whenever I think of a witch, that classic Margaret Hamilton getup is what comes to mind. Your hat atleast seems to be pretty much on the money there. :thumbsup

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This hat was actually the second hat made for Hamilton. The first one was the standard witch's hat - upright cone in the center of a circular brim. After a few scenes, the director thought it wasn't evil enough and had Adrian, the costume designer, create this new version.

Lynn

I saw your broom in the props thread... Any chance we'll be seeing an entire costume soon? I just read Wicked btw, and have had my interest in old Elphie re-piqued.

MaulWalker said:

This hat was actually the second hat made for Hamilton. The first one was the standard witch's hat - upright cone in the center of a circular brim. After a few scenes, the director thought it wasn't evil enough and had Adrian, the costume designer, create this new version.

Lynn

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It's definitely more "stylish"! :lol

Darth Mule said:

I saw your broom in the props thread... Any chance we'll be seeing an entire costume soon? I just read Wicked btw, and have had my interest in old Elphie re-piqued.

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Reading Wicked was actually my inspiration for doing the costume. As far as costume pics, I have included a couple from the DragonCon costume track contest. Unfortunately, an all black costume photographs pretty much as a black blob. (Darth Maul's did the same.) To make matters worse, the contest stage had a black background. Friends of mine said I looked pretty much like a disembodied head and hands.

You don't happen to be the one that won the award with the two winky guards at the Friday night contest last year are you?

Now that's a hat!

Darth Mule said:

You don't happen to be the one that won the award with the two winky guards at the Friday night contest last year are you?

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Yup, that's me. One of the Winkies has always wanted to do the guard costume and when I indicated that I was doing the witch, she asked if she could join. Her husband was the other one. They also made my facial appliances.

Great looking costume, one of my favorite characters.

Excellent costume. I'd love to see more pics. Love the hat, dead on accuracy!!!! She was the first really cool evil villain on film. She was both beautiful yet horrifying to look at. That would be a fantastic mannequin to have in the window at Halloween.

Dave

Awesome.
Laffo.

MaulWalker said:

Yup, that's me. One of the Winkies has always wanted to do the guard costume and when I indicated that I was doing the witch, she asked if she could join. Her husband was the other one. They also made my facial appliances.

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Ha! Too cool! I got there as they were doing awards. My friend and former teacher was one of the judges. I only liked two of the winners. You and the Steampunkers. Even clicked this.

Ok I must know how you made this complete costume!!! Did you create your own patterns or did you use the Simplicty pattern, if so did you modify the pattern? What fabrics did you use?

This is a costume that I have always wanted to tackle but never got past buying the Simplicty pattern.

Are there any Wizard of Oz costuming sites that can steer me into the right direction?

I also want to do Glinda the Good Witch too someday. :lol

Darth Mule, which judge was it? One of the judges worked the auction where one of the original Winkie uniforms was sold. He called Brandi's and Jimmy's "dangerously accurate."

Cleverlilminx -
I started with the Simplicity pattern but had to heavily modify it. Simplicity uses basically the same pattern for Dorothy and the Witch. I made the dress, cape, and belt out of black cotton sateen, wrong side out as I didn't want the sheen. But it had the best drape.

The witch's dress needs more gathering at the neck in the center front. The neck also needs to be tighter. The puffed part of her sleeves needs to be raised to just above the middle of the upper arm. The pattern calls for wide grosgrain ribbon on the puffed part of the sleeves. The movie's were of the same material as the dress. The lower part of the sleeve needs to be narrowed substantially. Make them so narrow that they fit tightly around your wrist. "The Wizardry of Oz" book indicates that the sleeves were closed with hooks and eyes. That way you can put the dress on, make up your hands, and then close the sleeves. Add a small train to the back of the dress.

You can use the cape pattern but the pattern calls for felt and cording. Wrong! In the movie, the cape appears to be about two feet longer in the back. Walking around with a cape like that in a con is asking to be stepped on, so mine is only about 8" longer. I faced the neck opening and used velcro on the underside to hold the cape closed.

Throw the belt pattern away. For that I reused a pattern that I had drafted for a Pirates of the Carribean bodice. The belt should start at the point of the bust, tapered to the waist, and flair to about 4" below the waist. The front opening is wider at the top than it is at the bottom. The bottom is tabbed - I'll have to go back and count how many. Lace the belt up the front, from bust to waist, with grommets spaced about every 1 1/2 - 2".

The pouch is best seen in two scenes - when she is walking towards her sister's feet and when she is skywriting. That was made of black cotton twill, upholstery cording, and a self covered fabric button.

I also wore black paddock boots. Her shoes changed throughout the filming. (In MunchkinLand, she is wearing pumps.) I went with comfortable.

Edited to add: The Glinda Simplity pattern is wildly inaccurate. Someday, Brandi and I will research that one.

MaulWalker said:

Darth Mule, which judge was it? One of the judges worked the auction where one of the original Winkie uniforms was sold. He called Brandi's and Jimmy's "dangerously accurate."

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It was the guy with the bowl cut and the mustache. Probably bounced when he talked. Freddy if you remember names. Marty Gear was likely the one that worked the auction.

Darth Mule said:

It was the guy with the bowl cut and the mustache. Probably bounced when he talked. Freddy if you remember names. Marty Gear was likely the one that worked the auction.

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No, Marty didn't work the auction. I don't remember that judge's name. But I do remember Freddy. You should have seen his face when Brandi and I re-introduced ourselves to him on Sunday night - as John and Ringo from the Sgt. Pepper album cover!

Lynn

Ha! I remember you guys. I was there when you came up to re-introduce yourselves. I was one of the others teaching panels with Freddy. The one with the shoulder length red hair.

What makeup are you guys using? It looks a little too dark and too even if that makes sense. That was about the only criticism I can give here. Unless you don't bring them back out this year at D*Con. Then I'll criticize you for that.