How To Hang A Witch

Clothing in How to Hang a Witch is deeply symbolic. It is a symbol of various characters' identities and symbolizes how their family’s pasts continue to shape them in the modern world. The Descendants’ gothic, black clothing is distinctly witchy, glamorous, and beautiful. It shows their standing in the community, deriving from the respect and intrigue surrounding witches in modern consciousness and paying tribute to the tragedy of their ancestors. This past is embraced both by the Descendants and the town of Salem, which derives its income from the witchy atmosphere. Because they are a tight-knit clique, their dark presence is unmissable, and their uniform black clothing gives them a powerful, dramatic presence. Sam’s clothing functions in much the same way, though her uniform black is distinctly less fancy and more utilitarian, referring to her ancestors’ pared-down, simple black Puritan attire. Where the Descendants are proud of their heritage and both embrace and embellish, Sam’s plain black is an attempt to fade into the background. Her clothing is an unintentional tribute to a more shameful past from which she is trying to disassociate.

Vivian’s clothing is also symbolic, though, unlike the Descendants, her clothing gestures to who she wants to be. While the other characters' clothes are a reaction to the past, Vivian’s power dressing is an attempt to show the personality she has always desired. Her heels announce her presence, and her assertive look-at-me style makes sure she is seen and respected, two things she desperately wanted during the time of the witch trials. Vivian also has clothing that reveals her true self. Her cape and protective necklace are the first major hints that she is more than she is revealing, but they function as the older equivalent of her high heels: They give her power.