Hester, the sinner.
About the Look
In eleventh grade I took an English class elective titled “The American Novel”. I don’t recall my teacher’s name — let’s call her Mrs. P — but in one very specific way, we were kindred spirits.
The Scarlet Letter by American novelist Nathaniel Hawthorne was Mrs. P’s favorite book of all time. She talked about it on the first day of class, waxing rhapsodic about going to Salem, Massachusetts for a Hawthorne inspired weekend. She’d walked where Nathaniel Hawthorne and Hester Prynne walked, breathed the same sea air Nathaniel Hawthorne and Hester Prynne breathed, and she purchased a long hooded cloak and fancy embroidered scarlet letter A of her very own. When we finally began our module on The Scarlet Letter, she, like me decades later, dressed up for the occasion.
“Hester Prynne rhymes with sin.”
My eleventh grade English teacher.
This is how Mrs. P introduced us to the protagonist of The Scarlet Letter, a character she considered a feminist role model for the ages. Hester’s society saw her as a pariah and a cautionary tale, a woman required to wear the emblem of her sin for the whole of her life. But Hester defied the premise of her punishment. She chose to call attention to herself and to her daughter, using fashion to make a statement. Rather than hide or run away, she chose to take up space within the same society that shamed her. She refused to cower and instead forced everyone else to look at themselves. Hester was Eve and Lilith and Pandora and Persephone and every other young woman invented to sin and then punished for it.
The men who’ve hidden their sins live miserable lives while Hester is free to experience and embrace joy, sorrow, anger, and acceptance. Both her own, and her society’s. By the end of the book, the town has not only forgiven Hester, they’ve forgotten why she was punished in the first place. It’s the atonement story I alway want though her “crimes” are hardly on par with those of the villains I want it for.
About My Look
My coworkers, correctly, likened this version of Hester Prynne to the modern adaptation Easy A.
I found this skirt at Walmart. Yes, Walmart. The brand is ‘No Boundaries’, which feels appropriate. In addition to the ‘A’ there are two heart patches that say ‘ILOVEIT’ and ‘LOVE ON’ and a black cloud that reads ‘JUST SLAYIN”.
I decided the ‘STAY RAD’ coffee logo from Perkatory fit right in. There are also skulls as buttons on my sweater and buckles on my shoes.
The cardigan’s Peter Pan collar references Puritan fashion. As does the black and white color scheme, which also allows the scarlet letter to pop. Finally, I wore the ‘A’ charm necklace first purchased for my Amy Pond look.