Sometimes it’s fun to dress the part. Today I knew I would be attending a town event and I felt like being the Witch of Endor. I won’t go into the reasons why, but it has something to do with trying to have a humorous response to a local clergyman who believes women have no place in the pulpit.
So this is what I wore:
It’s a dress over a long skirt, with a witchy shawl over all. Grey tights and black/silver flats, a very long double necklace with a big skeleton key on it (I adore keys) and a black belt with silver buckle. What you can’t see is the long, dangly moonstone earrings and the big Mexican opal ring on one hand and an even bigger “evil eye” stone ring from Turkey on the other.
Don’t I look like I’m about to cast a spell?
I wore vestments for the worship service, but this was fun for coffee hour and my community event later, where I didn’t even run into Mr. Upholder of All Sacred Tradition/Girl Hater Boy.
P.S. I like my hair really well now. Thanks for all your support.
THIS hair, however, is the best ever:
Can you STAND the cuteness?!? If you come to coffee hour with little curlies like this, Rev. Vicki WILL smooch the back of your neck!
Humming “Rhiannon” (the Fleetwood Mac version, thanks)….
First of all: I do like your hair, too.
Re your dress: I´m surprised (no – shocked- to be honest). Did you attend the event as local clergy? Why dressing up like a witch?
Did your colleague understand what you wanted to express by wearing this kind clothes?
Honestly- I think the dress makes you kind of “square”. Why do you hide under all these layers of fabric?
That´s not the PB I know.
Sorry, truth must be said.
Kiss of peace.
I like your hair, very nice job taming it. I’m not so sure on the dress. I like the look but its a little too much fabric. The skirt is adorable, I like the whole “witchy” look and occasionally think all women should indulge. But the dress OVER the skirt is just a little to bulky. A lighter fabric perhaps to reduce the heft of it all?
Jo
As a Wiccan, I’m embarrassed when our clergy-folk go to public events dressed like that. There’s a time and a place, and any action in a ministerial capacity is neither.
Non-Pagan ministers doing it makes us continue to look flaky by association.
hmmm… not what I wear when *I’m* casting spells… but then I always look witchy. Mostly because I am a witch.
PB, I’d have dressed you all in white or cream, and put a green shawl and green or brown shoes with it.
[FUN! – PB]
The event was huge and I was actually lost in the crowd. On a rainy autumn day in New England, showing up for anything swathed in long skirts and shawls isn’t terribly radical.
But, um, how does a non-Pagan minister make wiccans look flaky by wearing dramatic, long skirts? No clergy in my part of the world is even aware of the existence of Wiccans. My wearing a long skirt and tunic, aside from maybe being eye-catching in that it’s not typical, would hardly bring associations of paganism. That’s just bizarre. If I was wearing a huge pentacle or something, it might raise some eyebrows, but this was just a skirt and tunic.
My parishioners loved this, btw. One said I looked like a diva. I think they enjoy it when they know I’m having fun with a look. Better dead than dreary, say I. It is too much fabric, but I still loved it. It was SO comfortable. I suppose I’m one belt away from total frumpdom… I could get used to this outfit. Better not!
‘No clergy in my part of the world is even aware of the existence of Wiccans.’
None at all? Wow. Are you sure?
Besos de paz…
[“My part of the world” meaning my little town — the people who would be at the community event. Overall, though, I’m amazed at how little pagan/Wiccan presence there is on the South Shore. It’s a VERY Irish Catholic area, but still… I think there’s probably still a more active presence near liberal MA cities like Cambridge, Northhampton, etc. Since you ask, what do you think about the size of the organized pagan movement? It seems to have shrunk a lot since the 80’s-90’s – but that may be a mistaken impression. – PB]
We have adorable babies at church too. It’s all I can do not to kiss them. I really don’t know how everyone resists.
The flaky-by-association thing is … well, if I were to show up to an interfaith gathering (or a mixed-faith gathering like a wedding) wearing that, and saying I was a Pagan minister, there would be snickering. Shawls and dramatic skirts are what folks expect flaky Pagan types to wear.
As a non-Pagan minister, PB, you don’t have to depend on your own dress to garner respect — you wear vestments during the service, and I’ll bet you lead a lot more services than the average Pagan minister, allowing folks to see you in more than one or two outfits — so you can afford to dress kinda witchy ’cause it’s fun.
But going “ooh, see how witchy!” just furthers the stereotype that modern witches dress in shawls and lots of skirts. We wear pencil skirts and Oxford shirts and tailored jeans sometimes too, y’know?
I hope that makes more sense. I’ve had a long day and probably should sleep before trying to write a coherent comment, but I felt bad about my late reply as it was. [Gotchya, and thanks! – PB]