Love That Journey For Me by Emily Garside

Author:Emily Garside
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: love that journey for me;the queer revolution of schitt's creek;emily garside;404 ink
Publisher: 404 Ink
Published: 2021-06-17T11:28:22+00:00

Chapter 5: Fashion, queer iconography and music

When we talk Schitt’s Creek, the fashion of Moira is never far off, nor the variety of David’s jumpers, as a starting point. As such, it’s interesting to examine how through costume and aesthetics the show ‘performs’ elements of queer culture, and how these choices add storytelling layers to the show’s narrative. Levy has been vocal about using clothing, design and curation as expression across the show, and so we delve into the use of styling, fashion and queer iconography more broadly.

‘The Queen hasn’t smiled since the ‘70s’:

Moira and camp

Queer sensibility, along with camp can be embodied by non-queer people: think Cher, or even one of David’s favourites, Her Majesty the Queen. Moira is a version of all our favourite camp icons – she’s Madonna reinventing herself, Liza still going strong, or Cher on her fifth farewell tour. They embody camp aesthetics: over-the-top dress sense, a flamboyancy or excess in their general demeanour, and often they’ve overcome adversity and judgment, and endured. Nobody embodies that like Moira Rose.

In the tradition of every iconic camp woman, she is strong, has a unique sense of style and is in personality and attitude over-the top. Jack Babuscio in Camp and the Gay Sensibility (1978) argued that camp has four necessary components: irony, aestheticism, theatricality, and humour. Camp is also that line between fantasy and reality, which is where Moira professionally lives her life. It stems from her clothing choices, naturally, but also her way of being.

There’s a long history of camp exemplified in the Hollywood stars who collide with reality. Joan Crawford shifting from glamour of the 1960s, falling from glamour but still idolised. Judy Garland and Liza Minelli giving the performance of their lives, totally over the top but slightly damaged underneath. These women become camp icons because they keep fighting but with a veneer of glamour as armour.

Queer people, like David, both embody campness but also admire camp female icons. In a sweet dual-layering of its meaning to the queer community, he looks up to and emulates his mother’s version of camp. He dresses in a version of her look – monochrome but with a twist. That it’s his own mum, that in his world actually she’s the ultimate camp icon to reflect in his queerness, is very sweet, and very Schitt’s Creek. But also, when you’ve got Moira Rose, do you really need any other icon?

‘The girls’: Moira’s wigs and the self-fulfilling drag prophecy

Drag erupted into the mainstream consciousness when RuPaul first took Drag Race to the screen in 2009. Moira embodies a lot of drag aesthetic, from her wigs, to her signature looks, even through the way she speaks – the essence of drag is exaggeration, about defying society’s expectations of how to dress and act, and being fully yourself, and Moira lives that in everything she does.

Moira’s wigs are of course a huge visual part of her identity – ‘my girls’ as she calls them. They each have their own personality, which she selects for a specific purpose or mood.

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