The witch costume or witch dress has come into the lexicon of fashion and holiday celebration as a fairy tale trope and style statement. Women, even in fairy tales, are all about how they look and how they are dressed. In the world of fairy tales, where anything is possible, the princess looks pure and beautiful, and the witch looks dark, ugly and nightmarishly flawed. The cartoon elements of the witch dress are obvious, flowing robes, rope belts, pointed hat (for spells) and a wand make up the basic witch dress costume. Making a witch dress outfit or helping design a witch costume starts with the basic black witch dress.

Men and women, boys and girls generally form their first impressions of witches form fairy tales, book, movies and even musicals. “Wicked’ is one of the most successful Broadway shows ever, exploring the tropes of witch dynamics and interpersonal witch relationships. “The Wizard of Oz”, a fable seen  by billions,  has a stereotype witch, with green skin and a black pointy hat and gnarled fingers. Repulsive to look at, with a scary voice, and threatening to our heroine, the Wicked Witch of the West was Hollywood’ conception of a fairy tale trope for the big screen.

A witch dress turns away for the “princess’ cut and becomes something else. Dark, dark dark fabric and trim, dark boots or shoes, a dark hat and rough or messy hair complete the witch dress up costume. Robes, hoods, and capes, pointy hats and accessories like rope belts and chatelaine keyrings complete the witch concept. Witches putatively have dungeons that hold prisoners and the rope can be dyed black or left plain.

Enchantment is a big part of a witch lifestyle and spells and rituals need props and accessories to complete the full witch dress. Witch rites, witch lore, and witch ancestral traditions make TV series like “Sabrina the Teenage Witch” popular everywhere. A witch dress can be set off by a crystal pendant, a stuffed cat, or a fake bulbous nose with a wart on it. The witch dress itself can be very plain or elaborate and ornate with additional tailoring and luxury features.

The witch dress can carry the lines from a specific period or follow an artist’s conception of a Gothic horror look. Flowing dresses with long sleeves, wisps of streaming tulle, airy black gauze, curious charm jewelry, dark colored witchy looks with hats and a head-to-toe dark look are commonly termed “witchy” by observers. Witch dress costumes may be accompanied by wands, cats, bats, or brooms. Cats are familiar, animals who help witches communicate with the spirit world. Bats, spiders, and cobwebs may be part of the witch dress for a Halloween costume look.

Movies like “Enchanted” and “The Witches of Eastwick” show us that witches are far from pagan exiles of modern central culture.  Films like “Hocus Pocus” relate the comic fun and holiday mock terror associated with the culture of witches in the American pop culture. The Disney version witches from “Sleeping Beauty” and ‘Snow White” color the imaginations of countless filmgoers around the world forever.

Witches in America are folkloric fables embraced for their specialness, holiday scariness, and magical potential. The dark origins of Hallow’s Eve and Druidic rituals have been replaced by modern vegetarian Wiccans and the savvy splendor of silver witch themed jewelry. Today’s witch may not dress in black, but the concept of a witch costume will always have a classic form with black coloring, a medieval or Renaissance folkloric cut, and important props like a wand, pointy hat, broomstick or charms and crystals.