Why Anita's New Dress In West Side Story Means More Than You Might Think

At an awards season panel in March 2022, "West Side Story" costume designer Paul Tazewell discussed Anita's costume for her dance number, "America": a vibrant yellow dress with red layers underneath. Tazewell explained that he wanted it to be reminiscent of the dress that Rita Moreno wore as Anita in the 1961 film, but that also had its own uniqueness (via TheWrap). Tazewell said, "There was a great love for the purple dress Rita Moreno wears in the original film. And my task was to create a design that would hold that same kind of energy, and that would live in the same way in people's minds on Ariana DeBose as Anita."

Eventually, after presenting three color schemes to Spielberg, Tazewell found the one that best fit Anita. The costume designer said, "It's become the yellow dress with the red petticoat, the red being, her life force and energy, as well as the yellow. She is the center, you know, and a metaphor for the sun. You know that everything is swirling around Anita."