FASHION CENS-US
By Mary Bennett
As a lifelong thespian, I have a tendency to approach my life/work/creative opportunities as roles that should be costumed and researched, whether they are related to theatre or not. Because I am a freelance thespian, I am also a renaissance minded person, creating and unearthing varieties of occupations to support my thespianism. Through my quest for filling in work voids, I have adapted the styles of the time to dress for my miscellany of occupational roles.
Sure, some might think that focusing on fashion demeans the seriousness of certain situations. Personally, I think it deepens the experience. In the instance of our 2021 Presidential inauguration, some cried foul when the press highlighted the political costumery designed by both classic and up and coming designers. Headlining the ceremony were the suffragist colors, double layer face masks, and body armor. They defined the times with resourcefulness, vision, and matching heels, deepening the experience for those who were adorned, and those who adorned their pearls from afar.
My fashion past is less inspiring, dictated by trends while working retail in the 1980’s, I championed a Molly Ringwald Sixteen Candles meets Peg Bundy look. In schools I adorned leather clogs and earthy, comfort choices; see me at business luncheons in a roomy poly blend blazer with matching pumps with evocative two inch heels. Never quite feeling like myself in these situations, I was literally walking in someone else’s shoes, probably handed down or found while thrifting.
Images/Mary Bennett.
The confidence needed to embrace my inner fashionista has peaked in the world of theatre and working from home has definitely eased me into me. 2020 brought a new occupation to my resume and my enlistment in the United States Census presented a genuine test of bringing my thespian fashion to a government job. I did my research. I observed Census workers tending toward a simple postal look. Blue shorts, blue shirt. Statement Census bag crosses chest. Hmmm. I certainly didn’t want anyone thinking I was delivering their weekly Nickel or daily Amazon treasures. Then fashion epiphany struck.
If I am to go door-to-door during COVID-19 to glean personal information from people who may be wary of strangers, I need to create a look that says: “I am Mary. A locally sourced thespian. I am being innovative with gig choices during this shutdown. I am a unique, considerate individual who can be trusted with your private information, and I won’t give you the ‘Rona.’”
I mixed, I matched, I even combed through LL Bean for inspiration. In the end my Census costume was assembled from my own eclectic wardrobe. The look: pure pandemic bohemian, accentuated by a serious Census statement satchel, gently draped across my ensemble. My inner thespian now auspicious and approachable with wink toward Sui generis. Perhaps, in this new role, I’ll bring the shining example of individuality through fashionable government work. I know this much through the process: I can count on you. If you answered your door that is.
#rosebudmatchesadventures #i4fashion #thespianinrepose
Mary Bennett is currently the Producing Artistic Director of Brüka Theatre in Reno and The Carson City Ghost Walk. A theatre artist in residence with Nevada Arts Council and Sierra Arts Foundation, she is an actor/playwright/director/producer/theatre maker and sometimes referred to as "that woman." Her one woman original show: Dorothy Parker … Shivering and Sighing won Best of The San Francisco Fringe Festival and toured nationally. Mary is a Kennedy Center trained teaching artist and works as an arts integration specialist for The Sierra Arts Foundation. Mary also enjoys voiceover work, teaching, advocacy, historical research, long walks on the beach, and taking interesting jobs to support her art like simulated patient, perfume model, Easter Bunny, and a US Census worker.
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