This is Susan Hilferty's design for Elphaba's costume for the Shiz University Ozdust ball in Wicked,complete with witch's hat. Glinda had been given the hat by her grandmother, but to humiliate Elphaba had persuaded her that it was a fashionable item to wear to the ball. Instead Elphaba was ridiculed. She wears the tunic with pleated skirt that she wore in an earlier scene, without the turtle neck and jacket, but with the brown boots that designer Susan Hilferty chose for Elphaba, to connect her to the earth. Blue and white are the Shiz University colours so Susan Hilferty dressed Elphaba in dark blue and Glinda in white, with both colours for the ensemble outfits. As Hilferty explained: 'What I was trying to get at the end was an icon for each of them, where they become specifically representative: Glinda for goodness and Elphaba for evil. By using blue and white as the school colours, I was able to have Elphaba all in blue, and Glinda all in white. The goal was to make the two women be the most outstanding thing in every world they entered.'

Wicked has broken box office records in cities around the world since its opening at Broadway's Gershwin Theatre in 2003. The musical tells the story of the witches of Oz, and focuses on the relationship between the two witches Elphaba and Glinda. Susan Hilferty has designed costumes for more than 300 productions all around the world, and in 2004 was awarded the Tony Award for best costume design, and the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Costume Design for her designs for Wicked.