Brittany Noethen on Fashion

She was originally a character in the L. Frank Baum’s novel ‘The Wonderful Wizard of Oz’ and reappears in most of its sequels. Because of the classic 1939 movie adaptation of the book she is often now thought of as wearing a blue and white checked gingham dress and her hair in pigtails.

In the movie Dorothy was played by Judy Garland. Garland was sixteen years old and played the part with a brace on her chest to keep the young look. She has become an icon for many sections of society not least of all the gay and lesbian fraternity. This status has raised both Judy Garland and Dorothy to a level above many other ‘superstars’ and they are both cherished equally for many reasons but mainly because of this conjunction of actress and film role.

The easily recognisable outfit has become a blueprint for the wizard of oz fancy dress. The typical outfit described above is quite often substituted for any pale blue material dress with an ever shortening skirt.

Always though with pigtails! The concept of film fancy dress was never easier than this!
With Halloween coming up it has to be a firm favourite for one of your ladies Halloween costumes.

The options for a girl wanting to achieve this timeless look are many and varied. One could search the second hand and charity shops for the near perfect dress to start with and then use those finely honed dressmaking skills to bring it up to the standard Dorothy fancy dress costume.

Or one could just hit the web and do a search for Dorothy costume and the choice is extensive – from knee length gingham with a white bib to a very short sexy Dorothy outfit ready for some serious fun out with the girls (or boys!).