365DOP: Dressing the Peta Mathias Way

Cross-posted from 365 Days of Peta

In my second month of living 365 Days of Peta, I'll be approaching Peta's life philosophy through the medium of dress. Living in New Zealand and growing up with Peta on my screens means that I already feel I have a handle on what it means to dress like Peta: bright red hair, very loud clothes, lipstick and never dressing sensibly. I am more than happy to live this way.

Confession is that I am somewhat obsessed with not using anything synthetic on my hair - I gave up using shampoo about half way through last year and haven't looked back. I also don't use synthetic dyes any more but am completely obsessed with the henna that Lush makes - where the herb is combined with a bunch of spices and good oils.  I think it makes my hair look beautiful, but henna does tend to fade quite quickly. I'm doing my best here to maintain my Peta-like head of hair while living within my own rules!

In regards to her own head of fabulously red locks, Peta has written (and I can't find the reference just now, dammit) that she has always been an inner red-head. This is a philosophy very close to my heart. (In saying that, I seriously doubt that anyone has every described themselves as an inner "mousy-brown-head").

The loud clothes/never dressing sensibly thing is somewhat interesting: in the ScreenTalk interview I posted the other week Peta implies that she dressed inappropriately as part of the act, yet in some of the other books Peta's sense of dress is not only a comedic foil but also intrinsic to her experience. For example, in Burnt Barley (2000) Peta talks about attending a cultural fair in Tipperary dressed in a Zambesi top, leather skirt and gumboots. Life imitating art perhaps? Or perhaps these two points of view - the act and the experience - are not really that removed from one another. Could the real Peta please stand up?

Lipstick, thank goodness, is a far less meta concept for me to deal with. Peta unequivocally states on page 24 of Can we help if if we're fabulous that

I'm all for pathetic artifice - a slash of lipstick (not pink, thank you), a line of eyebrow, and a rondelle of blusher transform a woman from plain to sparkling in thirty seconds. No woman over thirty should leave the house without at least lipstick on - not even to put the rubbish out. Why frighten the dog? Keep your nails manicured, do your hair, and have pride in your appearance.

I'm not thirty until March, but am more than happy to commit to a daily diet of red lipstick. I love putting lipstick on in the morning, but I'm terrible at remembering to reapply, and so this month will be a challenge of maintenance. And remembering not to rub my eyes while they're coated in eyeliner and mascara.

Finally, Peta is very outspoken about the colour black: maintaining that if you're not Italian, a nun, a magazine editor, left-wing intellectual, in public relations or a manic depressive, you shouldn't wear black. And if you do wear black, you should accompany it with a fuck-off face and dyed black hair. I know for a fact that I look terrible with black hair, so I am encouraged here to avoid The Black emphatically.

All in all, this brings me to my first week of Peta clothing rules:

• Red hair, top knot or curliness optional
• Inappropriate clothing: no more pyjama pants in the house in the evening, I shall only dress like a fabulously lounging lizard
• Lipstick, and remembering to reapply it.
• Bright colours! No all black! Black at the last resort and no mixing of blacks!

FYI: I began my dressing project on 1st of Feb, and have a bunch of photos to share with you. Prepare to be amazed/horrified. Also, how can I do this thing that Peta's done with her hair up here?