The Mary Sue: There are few things more iconic at Halloween time than the classic image of a witch. With her green skin, broom, and wide-brimmed conical hat, the Witch is an icon. Now we’ve talked already this month about how witches “flew”, but how did that very distinctive hat become associated with magical women, especially the kind that like to get a bit wicked?
6 comments:
It’s interesting how something so simple as our idea that a pointy black hat = witch, comes from so many years of history. It was interesting to hear about how the Quakers may have influenced the use of the hat, and if no one had told me that that really ornate painting of the woman with the two babies was actually just a Quaker woman in fashion I would have thought it was a very ornate photo of a witch with two babies. I guess this also just goes to show how influential our distinction of groups are in maintaining images over time. History and media set a standard, and it just continues for so many years until the real history of the origin is a thing of the past and everyone and their mother just assumes that witches wear pointy hats because that’s what witches wear. I haven’t had time to watch the video yet, but this article has definitely piqued my interest.
I found this so interesting. I also found it fascinating that there are so many myths about where the witch hat comes from because it seems like such a thing that could be traced back. But where this article was saying it came from is definitely not what I ever would have thought, so I found it really cool to read. This article also made me think that there are so many symbols in this world that come from somewhere and have so many historical contexts that so many people don’t know and will probably never know. So now I am just so curious about so many different things in this world that I will never know the history behind. This article also said that the Wizard of Oz was the first movie or piece of media to make the witch green and they say that most witches now are green, but I feel like the only green witches I have ever seen have been specific wizard of oz costumes and less so “generic” witches. But I guess I also don’t pay that much attention.
I think all the fun witchcraft kids are going to find this article really interesting and they'd probably disagree with parts of this. What I got out of this article is that fashion has the ability to tell some of the most interesting stories and capture history in a way that is undervalued. I think the idea of certain outfits, patterns, colors, and forms of clothing have direct connotations to the people that wear them, make researching fashion and costumes incredibly informative for both designers and historians alike. Its really interesting that there are certain styles that we just don't wear anymore because its a style that was associated with a certain group or movement. With the witch hat, its interesting to know that the basis around why people wear witch hats and why they look the way they do has almost entirely to do with the labeling and the stigma around people that were accused of witchcraft and not necessarily a magical entity.
I love learning about the historical origins of common symbols/icons so this article really intrigued me. A lot of things that we just accept in pop culture originated in Hollywood so it wasn’t surprising that it was made iconic by the wizard of Oz film.One the masses see something represented a certain way it becomes the accepted norm, so even though they probably didn’t realize it, a lot of old movie designers were creating icons that would last a century. I thought it was interesting that the author jumped from the 1700s to the twentieth century. I was confused if the black hat gained popularity or it was hardly ever seen after the original depiction they showed. I think it’s really important to do research like this when doing designs for a show. If I was in charge of doing a costume design for a which I would have to make the decision of using a popular symbol of witches that would be identied easily by the audience or doing something completely unique and more true to history. While I’m all for a good witch hat, I don’t think you need one to look like a witch.
This was a really fun read, especially because despite taking two yearlong costume history classes, I had no clue about the history of the witch hat… or why witches even had hats. Another interesting thing I learned from the article is that the first time a witch was green was during the Wizard of Oz movie, and as the author says, is more influential than we can fathom because so many witches are green today, and it was the wicked witch was never green in the book Oz. I am quite surprised that the witch hat came from the Quakers, and I also didn’t know the original hat was used to mark who was of Jewish faith at the beginning of the middle ages. We used the term “Fashion is not an island” many times during fashion history, which means we see trends come and go and spread- and things of the past often return or influence how things are done today. It is cool to see the history of this hat, and how such a simple shape is now influential and iconic for how we create witches in film and theatre today
Weird! To be honest I don’t have much of value to say beyond that, but, fear not David, I still can say things. I think that one of the most interesting parts of clothing is exploring the meaning that society has assigned to specific clothing items. If you knew nothing about human beings and their customs, that would just be a hat, but ask a random person on the street who wears that hat and the answer is a witch. I think that examining the origin of these symbols is fascinating because no one ever plants these seeds thinking “oh! This will define the world’s assumptions about witches for the remainder of times!”. It also goes to show the importance of dramaturgy and research. These little historical nuggets can do so much to reinforce the world that a creative team is trying to build. That is all I have got.
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