How to Dress Like a Hadestown Character
Dark secrets revealed, mysterious feelings dissected, sartorial truths discovered, etc.
Hi—first of all, I’m moving back to NYC on May 14th, and I’m vibrating about it, please oh PLEASE send job leads and fill my dance card with hangouts so I can return to the city in a blaze of glory— and secondly, this post is possibly my most vulnerable yet, because it reveals something I don’t think I’ve ever mentioned publicly, in writing, especially on this blog: I went to an arts high school for musical theater. I don’t advertise myself as a former theater kid for obvious reasons (I like having friends and dates), but the past few months have, as you all know, been a doozy (not to be premature, but I think the NYC move signals the end of the era of abjection), and in dark times, it’s almost impossible not to show symptoms of regression—luckily, Hadestown is good, probably the only good musical that’s come out in the better part of two decades.
My empirical evidence is that last night I forced a friend who’d pooh-poohed and mocked my insistence that he listen to a song or two to watch around 30 minutes of the show as bootlegged on YouTube, and…he BAWLED. I held my shaky phone camera up to the screen as he shuddered fragilely, impacted that much by a phone video of a phone video of a Broadway musical. Its cynic-agnostic emotional resonance (and a salacious set of intra-cast scandals, which I’m happy to divulge in detail if you’re interested) is accentuated by very strong costume design and styling, which I’ve noticed impact the clothes I’ve perked up for these past few weeks. I won’t try to get you to watch the show, but I will share the threads of influence I’ve plucked out of it in a sartorial sense. There’s also a surprisingly interesting write-up of the costume designer’s M.O. on Playbill dot com, of all places, if you’re interested. I PROMISE that I am not a theater adult, this is simply a beautiful aberration in my typically tenor-free time on this earth.
I need to get over my impulse, when doing one of these “how to dress like”s, to try to cover every square inch of each outfit in my curations—I feel panicked when I don’t address a shoe choice or hair accessory, as if you, dear reader, might comment: “Instructions unclear, walked outside in Brooklyn barefoot, contracted tetanus and scabies at the same time” or something like that, but I trust that I don’t have to hand-hold you through Googling a vintage black combat boot or something like that (if I do, please respond to this email—I’m happy to be hired as your research henchman). I’m just gonna focus on the aspects of each outfit that I was personally interested in expounding upon, and because this is my blog, you’ll have to live with that (unless, again, you shove money in my face, then I’ll do whatever you want with this godforsaken newsletter [kidding, I have a pretty stringent code of ethics, but I’m sure we can work something out]). The shoppable fashion show below is divided into characters for their spheres of influence, but I was really considering the show holistically and as a single unit when I picked the pieces.
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Eurydice
Apparently, the coat that covers Eurydice’s outfit for a chunk of the show was directly inspired by the below Madonna look. I didn’t really feel like getting involved in a coat search in March, but the huge shoulders and mucked-up felt with those asymmetrical flats and socks are beyond compelling, though maybe that’s just the Madonna of it all. Will keep in mind for fall. God, the hair too:
Most of the show sees Eurydice in probably the most boring outfit Hadestown has to offer: a black slip, a vest, black tights, combat boots, and the all-important accessories: a “boho” scarf tied tight, layers of very 80s-90s bangles, and a single feather fastened in her hair (visible in the coat pic above)—very Tragic Coachella. Maybe the feather in the hair thing will come back soon—remember the feather extensions? Did you know that now Coachella has an iron-clad rule against “cultural appropriation”? I am DYING to know how they enforce that.
Anyway, if I could glow Eurydice up, I’d put her in Kiko Kostadinov, especially the FW24 chocolates and moss greens, and morph the vest into a vest-shaped denim jacket:
She’d be more likely to wear KK’s upcoming Levi’s collab, because she’s broke as a joke, but the shaggy trimmings and uneven dye jobs feel very true to character:
She’d also be in SC103 FW24 (I’m so excited to hopefully see this collection in person once I’m in NYC! If anyone has a hookup at the brand’s studio, let me know), and a ton of 90s Cop Copine (see below). Plaids, patchwork, linen, wool.
I almost liked the above dress, but included it ultimately only to share that I can’t stop thinking about how right
was to call out dresses that only button halfway in a post about clothing phenomena that kill versatility. I can’t unsee how silly this is anymore and don’t think I could ever justify purchasing a half-buttoned shirt or dress again—they’re robbing us of OPTIONS.
I love the completely superfluous, sporty hood on this bizarrely-proportioned vest. I also like the random under-pocket eyelet gradient. This is a confounding garment in a way I think a perverse street urchin like Eurydice would appreciate.
People’s handmade stuff on Etsy is so slept on—check out the store in which the above set is sold’s entire stock of bizarro vintage upcycles that sometimes hit hard and sometimes miss awesomely.
I like the styling of this skirt with what I believe? to be Merrell Hydro Mocs. Very appropriate for someone who hates summer but must wade dramatically in a river for reasons known only to them.
Hermes
Sure, a shiny silver suit is sick, especially when layered so expertly with a nuanced casserole of patterns under its jacket. But the most important part of this look is:
Fucking cuff feathers! I want this to happen in real life!