HOLYOKE ― When “Wicked: For Good” premieres in New York tonight, a Holyoke designer will share the spotlight with a bit of local history.
Joseph Charles, owner of Paper City Fabrics and a fashion designer, created a gown for “Oz” historian Tori Calamito to wear at the event — a modern nod to Holyoke’s textile past, where Skinner Silk once supplied costumes for the original 1939 “Wizard of Oz.”
Iconic dress, a new twist
This is the second time Charles and Calamito have teamed up. Last year, they wowed crowds with a pink Glinda-inspired gown at the Los Angeles premiere of “Wicked.”
This year, Charles and Calamito are honoring Dorothy Gale’s famous blue gingham dress with a twist: something fresh, simple, classic and old Hollywood.
“I didn’t want to copy Dorothy’s dress exactly,” he said.
The two talked about the concept of Dorothy all grown up and how she might look, said Calamito, of Danbury, Connecticut.
“It’s like an evolution of Dorothy,” Calamito said. “We’re paying homage to what was and imagining what could be.”
The finished gown has exactly 1,257 inches of ruffle, weighs about 15 pounds, and uses 36 yards of cornflower blue fabric, Charles said.
Charles said the gown — from sketch to finished look — did not take as long to create as he thought it would.
Off and on, it took about a month, he said during a Nov. 11 interview with The Republican.
“This year’s gown takes everything we loved about the first collaboration and raises the bar even higher,” Charles said. “Designing for Tori is such a joy — her passion for ‘Oz’ is infectious.”
Two strangers
Both Charles and Calamito said they’ve been fans of “The Wizard of Oz” since they were toddlers — that’s what brought them together.
“I actually followed her online before we met,” Charles said. Last year, he sent Calamito a message on Instagram, suggesting they team up for the LA premiere of “Wicked.” She wasn’t sure she’d be invited, but Charles was confident.
“From there, we were two strangers who hit it off,” he said.
The two will share the experience with her followers through live coverage, behind-the-scenes clips and “get ready with me” videos showing how the gown was made and styled.
“Legend has it I was 2 years old the first time I saw it,” she said of the first “Oz” movie. Her grandmother showed her the 50th anniversary edition on VHS tape, and she couldn’t stop watching.
“Me, too,” Charles said.
“I’d rewind and play it again and again,” she said.
And her favorite scene? The poppy field. “It’s stunning — the music, the look — it’s overwhelming,” Calamito said.
All sewn up in WMass
The partnership between Charles and Calamito blends fashion, fandom and sustainability — all rooted in Western Massachusetts.
Paper City Fabrics is a secondhand fabric store that receives all of its fabrics from donations and resells it at $5 a yard.
“We get incredible fabrics from all over the place, like home sellers, Broadway movies, and more,” he said. “For me, it’s always just important if I can incorporate those fabrics into something that I’m doing. I would obviously love to do that rather than buying new fabrics, especially in Massachusetts where now you can’t throw fabric away anymore.”
Holyoke also has a historic link to “The Wizard of Oz,” Charles explained.
Gilbert Adrian, the film’s costume designer, used Skinner silk made in Holyoke for the original 1939 movie, Charles said.
“It was just this crazy ‘Wizard of Oz’ connection,” he said. “What’s interesting is Ariana Grande actually wore one of his gowns to one of the earlier premieres, so that was super cool.” Grande plays Glinda in the new films.
When building his shop, Paper City Fabrics, Charles discovered old Skinner Silk ads, now displayed on the store’s walls.
Adrian also designed costumes for the 1939 film “The Women,” which inspired Charles during the creative process.
That movie is mostly black and white, except for a fashion show scene. In that scene, there were gowns from which he pulled inspiration.
Charles said the gown is more than a dress — it’s a conversation starter about fashion and film.
“With Tori wearing it, it connects her work as a ‘Wizard of Oz’ historian and content creator to my business,” he said. “It’s an homage to the original film, and anytime I can do something tied to ‘Oz,’ I’m all for it.”
Calamito, known to her 400,000-plus followers as the creator of The Oz Vlog, is thrilled to wear the one-of-a-kind gown at the New York premiere tonight, she said.
She said there is a lot of buzz and excitement around the premiere, including a viral rumor on Twitter that she was playing Dorothy in the movie.
“My husband took great delight in like fueling the fire online,” she said. “I’m sitting here trying to dispel the myth, and he is not helping.”
For Calamito, stepping onto the red carpet in a Dorothy-inspired gown feels like the next step in her journey as an “Oz” historian.
“‘Oz’ is really a story about self-actualization. You follow your path with your family and friends to get that place over the rainbow. It is an honor to be included in this major motion picture release, and it is a major moment in history that feels like another step towards that rainbow for me,” she said.
She added that while this might be the last “Wicked” movie for a while — unless there’s a surprise announcement next year — there are plenty more stories for “Oz” fans to tap into, she said.
“Oz,” she said, is a deep well of tales.
“There’s an entire book series that came before the 1939 classic starring Judy Garland,” she said. “If you haven’t read the books, explore them, then rewatch the movie — and go see ‘Wicked: For Good’ in theaters Nov. 21. It’s amazing.”
Calamito said she feels lucky Charles reached out.
“I never would have thought to ask someone to make a dress,” Calamito said. “I would have just gone to a store and hoped to find something nice. Because of Joseph, I feel like a star.”
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