Bringing a Dream to Life: Austin Scarlett redesigns Land of Oz costumes in rural Piedmont (2024)

Ann FishSpecial to RockinghamNow

BEECH MOUNTAIN—When Dorothy clicks her heels three times in September on the Yellow Brick Road at North Carolina’s “Wizard of Oz Festival,” she’ll be resplendent in dresses designed by a famed couturier who makes his home in the rural Piedmont.

Renowned wedding dress designer Austin Scarlett has navigated “a whirlwind of activity” the last few months, he said. Scores of yards of gingham went into the 12 copies of the updated costume he designed for Land of Oz’s lead character Dorothy.

And he outfitted the other Oz characters starring in the popular annual “Land of Oz” theme park event with new looks and four copies each of their fanciful finery.

Bringing a dream to life

A lifelong fan of the Wizard of Oz film, Scarlett heard about the North Carolina theme park before moving to the state from New York City four years ago.

By September 2019, he took his nieces and nephews, ages 5-10, for a spellbinding adventure to the park, which is open periodically throughout the year.

“It was magical,” said the designer, explaining he looked forward to watching the televised 1939 film starring Judy Garland nearly every year of his childhood.

Land of Oz delivers him back to that special time, said Scarlett. After gaining popularity with his show-stopper evening and wedding gowns, he went on to become creative director for the major bridal fashion house Amsale before launching his own signature collection of couture bridal and evening gowns. His collection debuted in 2012 at Neiman Marcus.

Land of Oz transports him

“They really do a wonderful job. It’s like the original sets are recreated in the mountains. When you step out of the house, you are on the Yellow Brick Road and there are Dorothy and all the munchkins,” Scarlett said of the transformative shift from the park’s Kansas set to the land of make believe.

The 1970s theme park, carved into the naturally enchanting landscape atop Beech Mountain, has inspired families for decades, retelling the story penned by L. Frank Baum and published in 1900.

The park has reopened each autumn for nearly 30 years, with different programming each season for a few select weekends in September.

The schedule allows visitors a chance to relive childhood memories amid iconic sets and characters, organizers said.

In addition to the park’s majestic Gates of Oz are the Yellow Brick Road, Dorothy’s house, the Wicked Witch’s castle and the Haunted Forest.

The Beech Mountain production attracts Oz devotees from around the world, many of whom make the pilgrimage to N.C. with their own elaborate Oz costumes to wear.

Dressing and impressing

Scarlett’s first visit to the park inspired the design star to return to Oz last fall donning a costume with friend, Mikey Sevier, who lives near Lake Norman.

The horror mask designer and horror movie host is “very theatrical and a fabulous artist,” Scarlett noted.

The pair stepped onto the Yellow Brick Road attired in original Emerald City Gentlemen costumes Scarlett made.

Committed to the original looks from the film, Scarlett said he did lots of sketches before stitching the deep green ensembles, one of which features dangling giant green crystals styled from Lucite. Sevier did the cunning makeup.

Not only were Scarlett and Sevier a hit with fellow Oz fans, but the cast rushed to tell the park’s Executive and Artistic Director Sean Barrett that he had to see the standouts.

When Barrett found Scarlett and Sevier: “(I) said how much I loved the costumes and if (Scarlett) ever wanted to part with them, I would love to have them.” They exchanged business cards, but Barrett said he really didn’t expect to hear back from Scarlett.

Connecting and connections

Four months later, Scarlett emailed Barrett, offering to bring his vision to the park’s costumes.

And as their collaboration grew, the pair learned they had lots of mutual contacts.

In fact, they had worked together briefly at a Manhattan benefit concert where all the actors performed in Judy Garland costumes furnished by Barrett.

“Everything fell in place,” the director said, noting, “It was a really cool full circle for both of us. It’s been about five years since we had an overhaul on the costumes.”

Always a “huge Wizard of Oz” fan himself, Barrett said his mother learned about the park years ago and drove him down from New Jersey to see it in 1998 when he was in the seventh grade.

While visiting a family in North Carolina a couple of years later, Barrett met then-park director Cindy Keller, who hired and cast him as the Scarecrow.

For 13 years — from his sophom*ore year in high school to his late 20s — Barrett brought the role to life. During that time, he recruited New York friends to Beech Mountain to play the roles of all the main characters.

Although he never really wanted to be an actor, Barrett said his alliance with the park’s owners and longtime role as the Scarecrow led him to the top billing as the park’s executive/artistic director.

His duties have included designing the park’s layout. And in 2017, he began his project of boosting the park’s profile by hiring a new team.

“We have a lot of original cast members (from) when the park was fully functional in the 1970s,” Barrett said. “Many come back every year. All of our (Good Witch) ‘Glindas’ come back every year.”

In an uncanny twist, former Dorothy actresses have returned to take on the more mature role of the benevolent sorceress, he said.

“This year every Glinda we have was a Dorothy … across the board,” Barrett said. To wear the peachy-pink confection that is Glinda’s gown, the women have come from Boone, Charlotte, Orlando and Nashville.

The lively production utilizes 60 actors a day who take shifts since the characters are posted in multiple locations throughout the park.

Barrett has added more shows at the park and in 2018 introduced a new Emerald City parkscape to replace the original.

Inspiration from the original

Working mostly from his home, Scarlett uses pictures from the film to get his designs as close as possible to those created by Adrian, the director and head of the MGM film studio’s costume department during production of the classic movie.

“As a fashion designer, I love his work,” Scarlett said. “It is the most glamorous Hollywood style. When he did Oz, he showed the fantasy side of the design,’’ Scarlett said of Adrian.

“He did a wonderful job. He made each of the characters iconic and everyone is so distinct,’’ he said. “Anytime I see blue gingham, whether it is a tablecloth, a man’s shirt or a baby’s outfit, I think of Dorothy.’’

And the mononymous Adrian’s original designs were cohesive, Scarlett noted.

“They all looked good together,” Scarlett said. “He made all these characters that have lasted for so long and become so beloved.”

Building the fantasy

Scarlett created patterns, then fashioned prototypes of each costume from muslin, he said.

He distributed patterns and materials far and wide to fellow designers and seamstresses, including some volunteers in Rockingham and Guilford counties, who’ve helped him execute the big project.

Some costumes, including those for Good Witch Glinda and the Tin Man, are already taking shape in bright fabrics ready for the show.

He tasked one of his most trusted seamstresses from his days as a wedding gown designer with sewing all four copies of Glinda’s gown.

And during the last week of July, Scarlett fitted costumes to the Tin Man and the Lion at his home, marking and refining his designs for the perfect fit.

Such costumes typically require at least two fittings with the actors who will wear them, though simpler ensembles, such as the dress for Dorothy, require only one, the designer explained.

“I am overwhelmed, to be honest.” Scarlett said of his task. “It definitely is a lot of work. In addition to all the multiples of each costume, each is completely different from one another. The materials are all different, and I have to take a completely different approach as to how I build them,’’ he said.

“Whereas Glinda’s is a beautiful gown, the Tin Man is all mechanics, and the Cowardly Lion is all fur,” he said, noting, “The Tin Man is the most technically challenging, but there are different details to consider for each costume.”

Scarlett said the work is fulfilling.

“To me, Dorothy represents the all-American child. Bringing a classic American icon to life has been a very satisfying project to get to work on.’’

Talking with the Tin Man

This year is Matthew Lewis’ second to portray the Tin Man, and he is enthusiastic about the new costume Scarlett created for him — a hinged get-up that allows the heart-seeking metallic hero to move with ease and stay as cool as possible.

The Tin Man actor before Lewis was tall and Lewis inherited his oversized hand-me-downs. Last year’s costume was “like wearing your dad’s clothes,” he said with a chuckle.

Lewis learned about the Beech Mountain production through a friend in college. And in past years, he had a role at the park as a farm hand.

“I was stuck in Kansas the whole time,” Lewis joked.

Have sewing kit, will travel

Scarlett will be on hand at Land of Oz for the season opening on Sept. 9, ready with needle and thread and a keen eye in case costume adjustments are needed at the last minute, he said.

And he plans to help maintain costumes throughout the season so cast members look their very best, he said.

“They are scattered all over the country, and they don’t come together until the week before the festival. Some of them I won’t be able to see at all for fittings,” Scarlett said.

A designer’s duties are many, from creating beauty to more practical concerns, and Scarlett has made several three-hour trips to the mountains to meet with Barrett and other cast members.

“For this particular Oz project, it is bringing all these costumes to life, making them washable as much as possible, and making sure they are durable and comfortable,” Scarlett said.

Scarlett admires Barrett and his work and said he is especially moved by the fact the director makes sure to include cast alumni and their children in the show.

“Austin is a gem, and I am blown away by the costumes,” Barrett said. “The cast is so excited he is onboard. I am very detail-oriented, and he is very detailed-oriented, as well. It has been a lot of fun to dive into how the costumes were made in the 1930s. It is great watching him figure out how to make the costumes functional for a theme park.”

Threads bind Scarlett to show

“I cannot wait until the official opening when all the characters will be there together on the Yellow Brick Road,” Scarlett said.

“As a designer, your designs represent yourself,” Scarlett said. “So, whenever my costumes are on stage or a bride is getting married, I feel like I am there and a part of it all. Through the costumes I feel like I, myself, am performing along with the actors.”