Wicked: For Good designer Paul Tazewell defends Elphaba's 'sex cardigan'

Instead of slipping into some sexy lingerie, Elphaba puts on a comfortable grey sweater that looks like it's been through a war or two.

Of course, the internet had a field day with the cardigan, making it into one of the most meme-able moments of the film.

Now, Paul Tazewell, the costume designer who won an Oscar for the costumes in the first film, has spoken out in defense of the "sex cardigan."

"It came out of very literally an organic decision of what does Elphaba have access to?" Tazewell tells NPR. "And living alone, what choice would she make when she's looking for a robe, some way to be protective and warm?"

"She's got a loom in her treehouse, where she's weaving her own clothing. She's manifesting all these things from the elements that are around her, and the sweater is just in keeping with that," he adds. "Now indeed, you could say, 'Well, why wasn't it a black, sliny peignoir?' But where would she get... that? Why should she even have it?"

"I think that it just follows through with reasonable choices that define who a character is and what is important for them, where their priorities are."

Erivo also said something similar in an interview with Bustle, even noting that she and Tazewell had discussed it.

"I was like, if she’s in her home where she lives, why would she still be in her war outfit? Why wouldn’t she be in something comfortable, the thing that makes her the most vulnerable?" Erivo said. "I wanted a moment of real softness for her, so it was something that I had talked to Paul about, to find something that made her really womanly, like that she was there in her space as comfortable as could be."