THE STORY OF THE DUNGAREES

As told through Buffy The Vampire Slayer.

Now I realise this would make it two 'Buffy' references in just as many weeks but recently I've been consumed by a wave of nostalgia. I'm debating a 'Charmed' dedication post and I mean 'Sex & the City' is ever present (did I mention a chapter of my dissertation was centred on the fashionable foursome?) 

(There's panic, there's a bloody forehead, so of course there's dungarees)

For those not of the 90s, or for anyone opposed to the sci-fi genre, Buffy Summers might be a bit of an anomaly, but before the days of sparkly skinned vampires and Twilight induced hysteria, Buffy was the vampire slayer. It's a marked generational shift, long gone are the days of villainous vampires, eroticised instead as these fanged creatures of perfection. 

But before the emphasis rested solely upon 'Team Edward' or 'Team Jacob', Buffy and her seemingly un-slayer like outfits were the focus (for me at least). I mean how was she able to high kick and backflip in those leather trousers?! Is that one of her superpowers? 

Clothing is always a rather handy vehicle for narrative exposition. Communicating so much without having to say a word. For example, when Faith entered the show in season 3, Buffy's style took a remarkably reserved turn. Gone were the crop tops and teeny, thigh grazing skirts, replaced instead with twin sets and pink, sooo much pink. Faith was the anti-Buffy, her schtick was that she could never live up to bubblegum Buffy and her goody-two-shoes ways. So to reinforce the dichotomy between the two, Buffy naturally evolved into the reincarnation of girl-next-door. 

Another example would be Willow's transformation from Crayola crayon to serious wicca woman, a storyline that could be told on mute just by focusing on her wardrobe development. I miss the fuzzy jumpers and single coloured outfits though to be honest.

But these are both side notes to my main point. What I'd really like to round back to is the function of dungarees in BTVS (Buffy the Vampire Slayer). 

I'd like to point out that I love dungarees - with the straps up not down.

However, in 'BTVS' dungarees are only ever used to communicate dejection. Buffy runs away, cue dungarees; Buffy's been kicked out of school whilst coincidentally wearing dungarees; Buffy feels like an outsider who's constantly on the fringe of society and just for added emphasis, you guessed it, she's wearing dungarees. 

Maybe it's a 90s thing, but the dungarees that adorn (or should I say swamp) Buffy's tiny frame overwhelm her with their swathes of denim. Is their purpose to hide her away from her problems? Disguise her from the misery of her impending fate? Is the true nemesis of Buffy, the dungaree?

  

(A cry for help?)

Since when did dungarees become a signifier for sad times ahead? If that's the case then Alexa Chung's affinity for the denim overall has long been mistaken for fashion savviness instead of a desperate outcry. Poor Alexa ey. 

Maybe Buffy's power lies in her femininity, which when engulfed by the dungarees, are temporarily stifled. Buffy looks innocent and sweet, she says quippy lines and likes to be rewarded with cookies - as everyone knows, sugar and spice and everything nice are what little girls are made of. She's like a stereotype incarnate in everything apart from her kick-ass hidden powers. 

Yet on watching the show it becomes clear, there aint nothing stereotypical about Miss Buffy Summers. Rather the show inverts the very stereotype it seems to uphold. The focus of all Buffy's powers are physical, her super strength power at odds with her dainty outer appearance. It only makes sense then for her body to remain hidden when times are difficult and her powers aren't so, you know, powerful. 

By making Buffy look as indistinguishable as a sack of potatoes, and thus hiding the very source of her powers under layers of thick material, it only adds to reinforce her desperate/life threatening or just-been-broken-up-with, dreary situation. And concurrently as soon as that strength is regained, out come the leather pants and crop tops hugging every little 'lady lump' (thanks Fergie) of Buffy's teeny body, and she's back to her female Scrappy Doo ways - or as Joss Whedon himself intended, for her to be "Barbie with a kung-fu grip". 

The idea of the female body, femininity, and the restrictions of female stereotypes have been divulged by many academics, something I find incredibly interesting, if somewhat comical (I read that the caverns and tunnels of the Hellmouth under Sunnydale where 'Buffy' is set, mimic the complexities of the female vagina - call it femininism gone mad!) But I won't get too deep, I'll stick to the overalls and let the others dig underneath.       

Now as much as I admire Buffy, and whilst I trust her entirely when it comes to all things vampire/monster/demon or anything else weird, I will question her melancholy use of dungarees. I mean come on, what says summer more than a loose fitting pair of dungarees, running barefoot through a field or something? 

If Buffy ever makes a reappearance on our screens (and I have heard rumours) maybe I'll put all of this to Joss Whedon himself? I'm sure he'll take kindly to my comments. So lets make dungarees a celebratory thing from now on yeah?

(Hands up if you agree with this new outlook on the old dungarees. SJP's with me at least.)

Dedicated to Madeleine Sheridon, the person who introduced me to 'Buffy' and thus enabled me to waffle on in this post. Many thanks bub.