The Orono High School production of Legally Blonde the Musical has closed recently. The cast and crew spent weeks building sets, memorizing lines, and getting ready for opening night. With such a popular and flashy show, the costumes define how a character is portrayed to the audience. The use of special outfits to differentiate between characters has been used since the time of Shakespeare, and have continued to be of great importance to any television show, movie, and broadway show.

The cast of Legally Blonde stepped out and used everything they had to create amazing outfits that worked perfectly, and senior Tessa Ostvig was no exception. Ostvig pulled all the pink she had and put her best foot forward as Elle Woods. The process of finding the right pieces to create an outfit is essential, and must be executed to enhance the personality of the character.

“We based the costumes on the the ones in the Broadway show, but also, because there are so many costume changes, the different costumes sort of blend into each other to make the transitions easier,” said Ostvig. If you were to see the number of quick changes that occur during this entire production, you would be impressed. It takes precision and organization to have everything in order so that each new scene flows as smoothly as possible.

With all of these fun and pink outfits, there had to be a few pieces that Ms. Elle Woods adored. “My favorite outfit is probably the denim jacket with the skirt because it is easy to slip on, and pretty comfortable,” was a trendy response from Ostvig. Denim jackets have actually been popping up around school and in different stores everywhere. Designers have even used bleach, studs, gem, and distress to alter the look of a traditional piece. Ostvig sounded off on this trend by saying, “Denim jackets are so cool, with all of their crazy embellishments..”

Tessa Ostvig was an amazing lead, and worked every single outfit change that she had. “It’s been so cool to play Elle Woods, and I feel that the costume progression also adds to the progression of the story and how Elle feels,” said Ostvig about her fabulous role throughout the musical. Congratulations to the entire cast, crew, and volunteers! It was truly an amazing set of shows.

Mackenzie Iversen is a Staff Reporter for The Spartan Speaks.