The Faults are in the Fabric: an Analysis of the Costumes of Hedwig and the Angry Inch

Putting on airs to cover up true emotions is a very common human trait. One of the most common ways to do so is through clothing. For example, when a person puts on a uniform, they become more respected. When a nervous passenger walks on a plane and sees a pilot in uniform, they are calmed by his attire, a symbol of professionalism and authority. Little does the passenger know, he just had three glasses of scotch before getting on board. However, he is still trusted because of the clothes he is wearing. This can also work on a symbolic and psychological level. A costume designed and worn by a character can show their true emotions and thoughts.

Throughout the musical, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Hedwig wears symbols of power to maintain her appearance, confidence, and beauty. The writer, John Cameron Mitchell, uses costumes to show the emotional breakdown of the character Hedwig while simultaneously displaying her true emotions.

In the opening of the show, Hedwig lowers down from the ceiling in a camouflage David Bowie, Aladdin Sane, inspired wide pants jumpsuit and a colossal wig shaped armor helmet as an off-tune rock version of “America the Beautiful” is played by the band.

Hedwig uses the outfit to hide her shape and make her appear much bigger than she actually is. This is a defense mechanism often used by lizards and other animals in the wild when they feel threatened. In fact, the costume has a lizard-like texture, covering the whole garment. The camouflage adds to the warlike feel. Camouflage is also a defense mechanism used by many animals in the wild. The helmet she is dawning has a spike on the top which is a phallic symbol, a symbol of power, an overcompensation for her botched sex-change operation that left her with an “angry inch”. The helmet itself is a shield. Shields are used to protecting people from evil and harm. In this case, the helmet is used to protect her from the evils of the world around her. On her feet, Hedwig wears four-inch stiletto platforms throughout the majority of the show. They are used to show dominance over the other characters on the stage mainly her husband, Yitzak. For example, with heels, Neil Patrick Harris as Hedwig was 6’4 and Lena Hall, who plays Yitzak, is 5’7. That is a nine-inch height difference between them.

Throughout the show, when Hedwig talks to Yitzak, she is usually standing directly over him and looking down.  The heels are stitched together down the front and sides and have a corset-like closing on the back. This can be seen as a symbol of Hedwig’s struggle to maintain her dominance over her Husband. We later learn that Yitzak is a former drag queen. Hedwig forced him to never wear a wig again, therefore flagging the beginning of their toxic relationship of powerplay.

Hedwig takes off her robe and helmet to reveal a long blonde wig with two long rolls framing the face, bangs, and hair down the length of her back, a patchwork denim short jumpsuit covered in graffiti, Swarovski Crystals, chain fringe, zippers, safety pins, and metallic paint details. Her makeup is intricate blue glitter with melancholy drawn on thin black eyebrows.

Hedwig begins the show with the song “Tear Me Down.”  In the song, Hedwig tells a very rock and roll glossed over version of her story as well as set up the comparison of her to a wall.

Yitzak: Ladies and gentlemen
Hedwig is like that wall
Standing before you in the divide
Between East and West
Slavery and freedom
Man and woman
Top and bottom
And you can try and tear her down
But before you do
You must remember one thing!

Hedwig: There ain’t much of a difference
Between a bridge and a wall
Without me right in the middle, babe
You would be nothing at all

(“Tear Me Down”)

The outfit itself appears to be an homage to the Berlin Wall. Specifically, the military structure was built by the USSR during the cold war to keep the people of West Berlin inside and East Berlin from fleeing into West Berlin. Likewise, Hedwig is attempting to keep all of her emotions inside and prevent anyone from seeing her true self. It is also symbolizing her lack of identity. She is the barrier between sexes since she has neither male nor female parts. The makeup is supposed to give an appearance of elegance and sophistication. It is very meticulous, not a speck of glitter out of place. It appears to be a mask of happiness to cover up her true emotions of loneliness and sadness. 

After the song concludes, Hedwig begins to tell the audience why she is truly here. The situation is a distorted fourth wall. Even though this is a running Broadway show, through Hedwig’s eyes, this is a one-night performance in the Belasco Theatre, a theater on the Far Eastside of Broadway. She explains how she and her ex-lover and now-famous rock star got into a drunk driving accident killing a school bus full of deaf children, one surviving, now blind and the audience she sees is looking for blood in the water and are just here to hear about the scandal. In reality, they are just here to see a Tony-award-winning musical. She goes on to explain that her ex-lover, Tommy Gnosis, took all of the songs she wrote and passed them off as his own. He is performing a block behind Hedwig in Times Square.

When the stage door at the back of the set is opened, Tommy’s concert can be heard. Hedwig’s hair is one of the most prominent features on the costume. According to Mike Potter, the hair designer, he imagined “the wig to be a colonial thing” (Broadway.com).  Powdered wigs were symbols of power at that time because they were worn by the lawmaking bodies. The whole garb is covered in Swarovski Crystals. Hedwig also uses the wig as an armor. The hair is all the way down her back. She is using it as a shield against Tommy who is behind her. In a similar way to a king, Hedwig uses the crystals to appear elegant, powerful, and authoritative. At the same time, she is using the shiny objects to distract the audience from her true self.

The costume has large sections of barbed wire and fencing graffiti which show Hedwig’s reluctance to intimacy. However, it also relates back to the thorns that Jesus wore when he was crucified.  There is a symbol of the origin of love, a nod to Plato’s Symposium. This relates to the power metaphor because Plato believed that when a person found their other half and they became whole, they would be so powerful that they would terrify the gods. One of the most prominent features of the costume is a large piece of rectangular fabric on the shorts. It is covered in graffiti that reads “Yankees Go Home” in a fire red and yellow. It is an additional homage to the symbolism of the Berlin Wall. 

The piece and its very aggressive statement cover Hedwig’s “angry inch.” She is trying to deter the audience’s eyes away from the area of her biggest insecurity. The piece of fabric is like an extra shield on top of her other shorts and is used as a second barrier. The rectangle is removed when Hedwig begins to open up to the audience about this piece of her past during the song “Angry Inch.” This song is the greatest outburst of emotion at this point in the show. Before this point in the musical, Hedwig has not shown any true emotions and this is a turning point.  

 At this point in the show, Hedwig has had her botched operation, been married, escaped East Germany to America, divorced, and left living in a trailer park. She is at her bottom. As a coping mechanism, she puts on her shaggy hideous wig that her ex-husband gave her to get through the day.

The shaggy wig represents Hedwig’s poor attempt to shield herself from the events she has been part of. Even when she throws the shaggy wig across the room, she has a smaller wig underneath. It is a small slicked down and neck-length.

This expresses that Hedwig is still putting her guard up against the audience even when telling about a very exposed part of her story. Since the wig is short and lacking of hair, it also symbolizes the lack of power Hedwig has over the situation she is currently in. In the number, “Wig in a box”, Hedwig begins uses wigs to become the larger than life personas she admires and in the process will repress her true broken down morose person just below the surface.

On nights like this

When the world’s a bit amiss

And the lights go down

Across the trailer park

I get down

I feel had

I feel on the verge of going mad

And then it’s time to punch the clock

I put on some make-up

Turn on the tape deck

And put the wig back on my head

Suddenly I’m Miss Midwest

Midnight checkout queen

Until I head home

And I put myself to bed  

(“Wig in a Box”)

Not only is she just using the wigs to put on these big and glamorous façades, she is also using them to just get through the day. They have become a part of her daily routine to get her up in the morning. Hedwig is embracing her femininity in order to compensate for her lack of both female and now male parts. She cannot stand to be in the middle of two genders so she chooses the more glamourous side.

At the end of the song, Hedwig has become a punk rock persona. After a quick change, Hedwig rises in a gigantic pink and black wig and a dress completely made of black and blonde hair.  The wig has dipped black ends that blend into the dress, making it appear that Hedwig is completely immersed in the hair. As Mike Potter said, “She is like a walking wig”(Broadway.com).

The hair itself is a representation of power and strength. In Eastern Cultures, men grow beards to appear more manly and powerful. In this part of the show, Hedwig begins to make more obscene jokes, foul language, and even spits on an audience member. Quickly following that, she performs a “punk rock gesture” and spits on herself and the costume proclaiming, “it’s the direction of the aggression that defines it.” Not only is it just a one-off joke at punk rockers, but it is also her show of aggression towards herself and her obsession with power that has made her so miserable. Up to this point,

Hedwig has become more open about her past and feelings. However, now she has made a complete 180 in the opposite direction. Hedwig is concealing herself to an even greater extent than when she descends from the ceiling. Her slight expression of her true self has resulted in an even greater counter-reaction of suppression as seen by the copious amount of hair surrounding her.

After hearing the voice of her former lover Tommy Gnosis, Hedwig demands Yitzak to get the dress off of her. This reveals a short tight dress. Hedwig begins to tell about her relationship with Tommy and their love story. Unlike the events she has talked about previously, she has not fully developed her defense mechanism. This event is a gaping wound in comparison.

It can be seen in the picture above that the dress is completely matte and without any type of sheen. Before this part of the show, Hedwig always had some type of crystal in her costume. This symbolizes Hedwig’s breakdown in the sense that she is no longer attempting to impress the audience with the tasteful tactic of sparkling and shiny deterrence. Instead, she is taking a more desperate route. The short black dress can be seen as Hedwig’s attempt at trying to seem more confident by showing more skin. However, in the process, she is exposing herself much more than she intended.  She talks about how they fell in love and how she believes he is her other half. Ultimately, she reaches the disconsolate ending. Tommy finds out about Hedwig’s “angry inch” and he runs out the back door. Hedwig’s band begins to play the intro to the next song as Hedwig begins to tear up. She tries to sing but is unable to speak and runs out of the spotlight. Yitzak walks forward and begins to sing. During the song, “Long Grift,” Yitzak gets to be center stage. He sings about how he will not be controlled by Hedwig any longer. Hedwig drops the large pink wig to the floor revealing the short flattened down one again. This once again symbolizes Hedwig feeling powerless and trapped in the situation she is put in. While the song continues, Hedwig stands in the shadows barely able to stand or walk in her heels. This is a symbol of the deterioration of her dominance over her husband.              

                  After the song finishes, the audience cheers and Hedwig starts to speak. She begins a broken deteriorated monologue and she is barely able to stand.

It’s nice over here. Out of the spotlight. Singing gentle backup harmonies in my oven. (To Yitzak) You were good. They seemed to like you. Maybe there’s enough room for both of us in this act.

(She touches Yitzak who stands motionless.)

The German and the Jew. Think of the symmetry. Think of the pow-

(Yitzak spits in her face and walks away. Hedwig is alone.)

This is Hedwig’s ultimate breaking point. The next song, “Exquisite Corpse” further adds to the symbolism of the costumes.

A collage

I’m all sewn up

A montage

I’m all sewn up

A random pattern with a needle and thread

The overlapping way diseases are spread

To a tornado body with a hand grenade head

And the legs are two lovers entwined…

(“Exquisite Corpse”)

This quote shows how like her second costume, she is a patchwork, made up of all the things that have happened to her in her life. Also that she is breaking apart and has to be sewn together to function. As the song ends, the music gets louder, strobes flash. Hedwig pulls off the wig and her dress, she and Yitzak fight over the wig, Yitzak pushes Hedwig and the band away from center stage as he holds the wig, lifts the wig up in the air and throws it to the ground. This symbolizes Hedwig giving up her last bit of security and power. By ripping off the wig and dress Hedwig is shedding all of her false pretenses and by becoming truly exposed.

Hedwig slowly walks downstage transformed into Tommy Gnosis without a wig, only wearing black leather shorts, and bare feet.

She sings the reprise of the song “Wicked Little Town.” The song gives her a sense of closure. After the song concludes, Hedwig has Tommy’s cross and her makeup smeared across her face. She is daunted and confused. As the show ends Hedwig begins to come to terms with herself and the world around her. The fact that she is only wearing shorts symbolizes her complete exposure to the world. It shows her abandonment of facades and emotional walls. Her smeared makeup symbolizes her taking off her mask of false emotions, embracing her feelings and becoming one with Tommy.  

The fact that she is wigless also complies with the fact that she has come to not rely on them to feel power and confidence.  She ends up giving the wig to Yitzak to help him find his own way which further proves this clarity. Her lacking shoes symbolizes how Hedwig is giving up the dominance she once had over her husband. Hedwig has accepted herself and no longer relies on her oppression of Yitzak. They are now equal. Hedwig is exposed but she is whole and free.

 Hedwig deterioration is mirrored in her costumes. Her emotional collapse is paralleled with the breakdown of her clothing. Hedwig uses these cover-ups to achieve a false sense of confidence and power until ultimately she finds true completeness and clarity within herself.  The costumes at first glance just make the audience think that they are at a happy carefree drag show. However, in reality, the costumes tell the story of a broken-down women’s search for happiness and closure.   

Bibliography

Mitchell, John Cameron, and Stephen Trask. Hedwig and the Angry Inch. New York: Overlook Duckworth, 2014. Print.

Broadway.com. “Designing Broadway: HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH Wig and Makeup Designer Mike Potter.” YouTube. YouTube, 31 Mar. 2015. Web. 10 Dec. 2016.

Tony Awards. “2014 By Design: Costume and Scenic Design Sketches – The Tony Awards – Photo Galleries.” TonyAwards.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2016.

Marcus, Joan. Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Neil Patrick Harris, Tony Awards. Digital image. Daily Mail. N.p., 12 June 2014. Web. 10 Dec. 2016.

Marcus, Joan. Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Andrew Rannells, Midwest Midnight Checkout Queen. Digital image. American Salon. N.p., 12 Oct. 2014. Web. 10 Dec. 2016.

Marcus, Joan. Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Andrew Rannells, Short Hair. Digital image. American Salon. N.p., 12 Oct. 2014. Web. 10 Dec. 2016.

Marcus, Joan. Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Andrew Rannells, Hair Dress. Digital image. Tumblr. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2016.

Marcus, Joan. Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Michael C. Hall, Black Short and Tight. Digital image. Tumblr. N.p., 2014. Web. 10 Dec. 2016.

Marcus, Joan. Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Darren Criss, Tommy Gnosis. Digital image. Rebloggy. N.p., 2015. Web. 10 Dec. 2016.