Friday, January 15, 2010

Kitsch, "muggles" and my approaching return to college...

Just finished watching that preciously mentioned episode of What Not To Wear and I really want to go shopping now... (Not that we can solely credit the episode for this, I mean, I am a 19 year old female and I so enjoy shopping...)  My response is, on the whole, positive.

They played into the whole witch trials thing at the beginning, and it was a tad irksome.  I figured it was going to be that way from the commercials for the episode, so I was prepared.  From what I gathered, they let the woman keep a few kitschy pieces for special occasions, and I approve of that decision.  Her wardrobe was kind of extreme (goth-tastic to the max) and she looked even more gorgeous in her new clothes and it seemed to be a very positive experience.  Edit: For example, here's a clip from the YouTub when they went through her clothing:



P.S. - I have those same witch-flying-across-the-moon pajama pants, and they are FABULOUS (but I don't wear them outside of my place of residence...)

It was an interesting hour (the commercials reminded me how much I detest television) and made me long for a kitsch section of my closet so much.  I don't often think about fashion aside from whether or not clothes fit my body (going shopping with friends that have nice tastes helps in the aesthetics department though).  This episode made me a) want to go shopping for some more cute clothes and b) made me think; one of the hosts said that everyone judges people [to some extent] based on the way they dress.  That still leaves a lot of room for kitsch, which I adore, and I'm glad that was recognized.

Lesson for today: witches (even if they live in Salem) don't need to dress all in black with pointy hats in striped stocking all the time (especially if they have to attend a PTA meeting).  And frankly, it's not "what everyone looks for when they go to Salem", it's come to the point that it's what everyone expects to see, which isn't really a good thing, in my personal opinion.

One thing did bug me during the show though: the use of the word 'muggle'.  Honestly, I've never heard anyone use that term seriously to describe anything "non-magical" or "non-witchy".  Also, the fact that the word's first major usage was in Harry Potter and is now being used by actual witches in a seemingly serious way was a little irksome (but I'll get over it).

On a completely unrelated note: I go back to college on Sunday!  I'm really quite excited for another semester with 2 concurrent political science classes and am really looking forward to my Intro to Cultural Anthropology class!  I do love school, when coupled with living by myself I find that I am extremely balanced and happy.  I can't wait to return to that state of being and back into my element of academia.  Most of my friends have already had a week or so of classes so the transition will be quite easy.  Being only an hour away means I get to see my family more, which is yet another blessing.

Best wishes and blessings,

Ancasta

2 comments:

  1. I believe that we have to have more days like that one day over break. We can shop and do lots of fun stuff like that. We can find you lots of witchy little kitsch for you.

    as far as muggle goes... that just bugs me. Witches were around far before Harry Potter, it just seems dumb to me to use the word muggle to describe non witches.

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  2. I think the term muggle was around in the pre-harry-potter days (yes, I remember them even though I'm only 19) but it was definitely not used in the context JK used it for. Eh. I should expect such nonsense of syndicated television.

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