Ponytail Picks #42 - Clothes

Just call us a salad, cuz we’re dressing up nice for this week’s picks.

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LISTEN

Songs dressed from head to toe

Clothes can get left out of the details of a song. Not so in the 21 tracks below. From hats to shoes, these artists wear it best. Whether you’re dressing up or down this weekend, this playlist should get you through it.

-AK

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WATCH

Five films on the power of clothes

Wallace & Gromit - The Wrong Trousers (1993)

The first movie I thought of for this list was this classic claymation short film featuring the loveably klutzy and absent-minded Wallace and his clever dog Gromit. Wallace, an inventor, builds a pair of robo-pants to take Gromit for walks. They end up being used by an evil penguin for a jewel heist. Watch the film to see how this wild outcome comes about—you’ll have a blast. Hilarious, and also manages to pull off some surprisingly effective thriller and action movie vibes.

Catch Me if You Can (2002)

Dare I say my favourite Spielberg film? A fantastic cat-and-mouse romp with great character work. The power of attire here is made clear in an early scene when DiCaprio’s teenage Frank Jr. heads to his first day at a new school in a suit and tie and his classmates mistake him for the substitute teacher. Without missing a beat, he continues the ruse and writes his name on the board with authority, beginning his long journey of deception that includes becoming both a pilot and a doctor with little more than clothes, confidence, and a few clever con tricks.

A Knight’s Tale (2001)

A man in rags fights valiantly to “change his stars” by putting on the armor of another man, only to learn, in the end, that it’s what’s inside and not what’s outside (or isn’t outside at all, in the case of oft-naked Chaucer) that matters. Other great clothes moments in the middle include his modern equipment update and impromptu dress clothes.

Mulan (1998)

Another tale on the power of dress, for better or for worse, in the crafting of one’s identity, and in this case, how it interacts with our ideas of gender. “Why is my reflection someone I don’t know?” Mulan asks early on. An interesting exploration of this question follows, in typical fun Disney movie form.

The Dressmaker (2015)

“A dress can’t change anything!”

“Watch and learn Gertrude, watch and learn!”

An excellent dark comedy/revenge thriller where the just desserts are served in fabulous flambé fashion.

-JB

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READ

Now that’s a hat.

The use of clothing in Richard Brautigan’s poetry

If you’re into poetry, you tend to go through phases. In my early university years, I went through a John Donne phase. Then it was Milton, then Ginsberg. But one poet stuck to me from the moment I was introduced to him, the last of the Beats, Mr. Richard Brautigan.

Brautigan isn’t as well known as some of his colleagues, but he has one skill I wish more poets had in their repertoires—the ability to surprise with absurdism and humour. His use of clothing—and hats in particular—is one of the many ways he does this, but since we’re on the subject, here are a few examples.

(They’re so short, there’s no way I could be forced to stick to excerpts. I hope the publishers understand.)

Man

With his hat on
he's about five inches taller
than a taxicab.

Kafka’s Hat

With the rain falling
surgically against the roof,
I ate a dish of ice cream 
that looked like Kafka's hat.

It was a dish of ice cream
tasting like an operating table
with the patient staring
up at the ceiling.

Romeo and Juliet

If you will die for me,
I will die for you
and our graves will be like two lovers washing
their clothes together
in a laundromat
If you bring the soap
I will bring the bleach.

The Nature Poem

The moon
is Hamlet
on a motorcycle
coming down 
a dark road.
He is wearing
a black leather
jacket and
boots.
I have 
nowhere 
to go.
I will ride
all night.

If these short, beautiful ideas fit you as well as they fit me, find yourself a copy of The Pill vs. the Springhill Mining Disaster, wherein three of these four poems were originally published. I implore you.

-AK

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We’re hanging this week’s theme back in the closet. We welcome you graciously next time and hope you are satisfied with our

service.