You’ve Been Galindafied

Galindafication feels like a sugar-high dream where nostalgia and couture spin endlessly in pink.

The good witch’s popularity is not fictitious, thanks to Ariana Grande’s immense cultural presence. Spilling over the edges of the Wicked (2024) fantasy world, Glinda’s trains and skirts are ablaze all across the world wide web. Here is a quick overview of the principle highlights, core attractions, and possible caveats of the growing – and glowing – Grande Glindessence. 

Ariana Grande is getting ready to host Saturday Night Live, wearing a nebulous Rodarte ensemble, selected and styled by Mimi Cuttrell. Floating and buoyant, it’s difficult to tell where Grande begins and where Glinda ends. Available via Instagram, @mimicuttrell. © All rights belong to their respective owners. No copyright infringement intended.

Jon Chu’s (2024) Wicked has revived the proto-princess image. Paul Tazewell’s Bubble Dress in particular, structured with crinoline and layered with organza, has raised a furore of pleasure. As if by magic, Glinda-inspired wedding gowns, Glinda-inspired makeup, and Glinda-inspired hair updos rocketed across pop-culture cyberspace. As cinemagoers anxiously await the second part of Chu’s Wicked, Galindafication is steadily perforating through the Internet.

The style comprises a particular palette range, a ‘dreamy’ appeal, layered skirting, chiffon drapery, and tulle detail. “For those wishing to ace Glinda-core”, advises PrestigeOnline, “there is a lot to play with in terms of textures, styles, and hues of pink”. Reminiscent of the vintage era, Galindafication breathes nostalgia. The tailored blazers, ruffle poplin shirts, and pleated midi skirts bring with them a whiff of classical Hollywood cinema. We are of course reminded of Billie Burke in The Wizard of Oz (1939), but also of Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady (1964), and even Eleanor Parker in The Sound of Music (1965). Ah, for those precious days!

Not surprisingly, (since nostalgia really is the air we breathe at present), Glindescent glamour also resonates with the most recent developments in haute couture. Suffice to look at Elie Saab’s Spring/Summer 2025 or Giambattista Valli’s Fall/Winter 2025-2026 collections. There we have it: the familiar breeze of floral embroidery, gaseous lightness, and gentle sunrise tints. As it happens, pink has been a strong and successful colour choice in 2024 and 2025. Fashion business consultant Carolyn Mair explains that the powder pink trend “reflects a psychological desire to reconnect with simplicity, childhood, and unfiltered joy” (WhoWhatWear). Such are the times: consciousness of historically conditioned gender dynamics (pink is for girls) and culturally fermented sentiments on ‘unfiltered simplicity’ (childhood is naïveté incarnate) is obscured by fond retrospect. This feeling is probably what enhances Glinda’s contemporary relatability despite her saccharine mannerisms.

Giambattista Valli Fall/Winter 2025-2026, Look 12. The ruffled fabric creates the illusion of floating and elongates the neck and legs. Courtesy GiambattistaValli. © All rights belong to their respective owners. No copyright infringement intended.

Elie Saab Spring/Summer 2025, Look 4. The mosaic of dusty rose sunflowers extends the fluid movement of the model’s silhouette, stroking the slender waist and tenderly elevating the sharp shoulders. Courtesy Elie Saab. © All rights belong to their respective owners. No copyright infringement intended.

On an ever more resonant note, Grande’s longevous fidelity to her character has turned into something journalists call "channeling her inner Glinda”. Ariana’s bubble peplum gown and Vivienne Westwood dress made the phrase especially catchy. Grande has embraced method dressing to the extent that others are encouraged to showcase their inner Glindas, too: platforms like Vogue and Femestella are happy to provide their readers with a step-by-step guide on how to do it. At this rate, we might as well call this Wicked trend Glindessential.

Ariana Grande at the 2024 Academy Awards. Still true to Tazewell’s concept, Grande’s dress is all pastel, pleats, bows, and bubbles. Available via Vanity Fair. © All rights belong to their respective owners. No copyright infringement intended.

Albeit dazzling, elegant, dainty, and – as is our wont to induce – irresistibly ‘feminine’, let’s hope that the charm of Galindafication speaks to us through fantastic inspiration rather than overenthusiastic consumerism. Many cultural critics have noted that Hollywood princesses find their identities through extravagant accumulation of goods and beauty products, leaping from rags to riches or passing some kind of iconic makeover scene to mark a critical moment in their journey. The sheer volume of Glinda’s purchases, high-end fashion items, and beauty contraptions suggest as much, especially in the song “Popular”. So let’s not develop too sweet of a tooth and lick our doses of fashion glucose with temperance.