Magic Meets the Mundane in Practical Magic’s Costume Design and Fan Fashion Practices - Implications of subcultural trend and identity formation through the analysis of fan fashion from the film Practical Magic
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2025-07-23
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en
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This thesis explores how fan fashion inspired by Practical Magic (1998) operates at the intersection of fandom, fashion expression, and subcultural style. It examines how film costume functions both within cinematic narrative and beyond the screen through contemporary online fan practices in TikTok videos under the hashtag #practicalmagicoutfits. Drawing from theories on performativity, identity, and subculture—most notably those of Erving Goffman and Dick Hebdige—this study investigates how fans reinterpret the film’s “everyday” witchy aesthetic to reflect personal and communal identities. Chapter one offers a contrapuntal reading of the costumes worn by Sally and Gillian Owens, revealing how their outfits subtly construct the archetype of the witch through symbolic and narrative significations. Chapter two shifts focus to online fan fashion practices, demonstrating how fans translate these everyday costumes into everyday looks that blur the line between fan and fashion expression. The thesis proposes that such practices constitute a distinct form of “fan fashion,” separate from cosplay, defined by its transformative and everyday nature. By situating fan fashion within broader aesthetic trends such as “witchy” and “whimsigoth” styles, the study argues that fan engagement is also present in subtle, stylized forms of self-presentation. Ultimately, this thesis contributes to emerging discussions in fan and fashion studies by interrogating how everyday costume design and the fan practices that flow from it shape modern subcultural and fan identities.
Key words: Fan Fashion, Everyday Costume, Practical Magic, Identity Performance, Subcultural Identity, The Archetype of the Witch.
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