By Lydia PatrickShareNewsweek is a Trust Project memberWicked fans have been obsessing over one unlikely detail from the new movie, Wicked: For Good—Elphaba’s woolly cardigan, which has quickly become an unexpectedly seductive layer.
For those unaware, the so-called Elphaba "sex cardigan" appears during the sensual “As Long As You’re Mine” sequence—the moment Elphaba, played by Cynthia Erivo, and Fiyero, played by Jonathan Bailey, finally act on all their long-simmering tension.
In a recent interview with Variety, screenwriter Winnie Holzman opened up about the significance of the piece in this intimate scene. She explained that the moment is designed to draw Fiyero deeper into Elphaba’s hidden world, with the cardigan subtly intensifying the connection between them. Newsweek reached out to Winnie Holzman's publicist for comment via email.
..."That’s Paul Tazewell’s cardigan. I did think it was really sexy, the idea that he, Fiyero, comes to see her lair, where she has been hiding, living and keeping herself. It’s so sexy that she brings him into her secret world. I did write that he’s looking at her things. He plays it so beautifully. You’re seeing him fall more in love with her as he’s walking through her world and realizing how she lives," Holzman told Variety.
Holzman also noted that the scene shifts Fiyero’s entire sense of himself. She said he becomes unsettled by the depth of feeling it sparks—no longer the smooth-talking charmer audiences expect.
She described him as someone who has “seduced a lot of women” before even arriving at Shiz, yet now finds himself unsure of how to proceed.
According to Holzman, Elphaba initiates a more sensual tone, and Fiyero gradually realizes “he’s really there, and he’s really turned on,” something neither of them has truly encountered before. She praised Erivo’s performance, highlighting how her guarded yet intentional approach allows the moment to build slowly—a subtlety Holzman considers key to the scene’s heat.
Threads users have been obsessing over the cardigan–but not all agreed on its allure.
"I want Elphaba’s cardigan so bad," shared Kalen Allen, garnering 144,000 views.
"Idc what y’all say. Elphaba’s sex cardigan is a VIBE. The girls that get it get it!," shared Tiffany.
View on Threads
"Listen, it’s living rent free in my head, it’s a whole a** NEED," added Cassia.
"I saw someone say 'The main character during ALAYM is Elphaba's Cardigan' & I wholeheartedly agree," shared one user.
"I saw someone complain that Elphaba’s chunky-knit cardigan is ugly, but my immediate thought as a knitter was that it was going to be the new It-Pattern this winter season. (No pics because spoilers)," wrote another.
"I have something I need to say: That knit cardigan that Elphaba wore during the scene with Fiyero was so unnecessary. 2025’s Sexiest Man Alive deserved better than that cardigan," added another user.
"I liked Glinda's lacey white long sweater in the flashback. I LUST AFTER Elphana's chunky gray sweater," said one more viewer.
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