VECNA FEAT. H&M

I’ve always had a deep love for Stranger Things — “we know Alanna, just like everyone else” — I can hear you say as you’re reading this. But I don’t just love it for the story itself, I actually love it because of how referential the show is. Ahem, or well, how based on Stephen King it is, I should say. I’m not going to sit here and divulge every parallel I’ve noticed (uhh.. small town in Indiana… kids on bikes.. monsters taking different forms... telekinesis, to name a few… I mean I could go on and on), but what I will say is that like any good story out there, the Duffer Brothers took a few big hints from King, not only including all that, but also one of his biggest slivers of advice from On Writing: they wrote about what they know.

Vecna is indeed a real D&D character, (that’s right, look it up!), so I’m going to go out on a huge limb to guess that they are fans of the game which is why he was incorporated into the series as a villain just like his other Upside Down predecessors— and so, they craftily created the backstory that places him in the Hawkins universe. I’ll also add that, if you notice throughout the series, only the kids refer to him as Vecna (our friend Dr. Brenner called him his real name, Henry). This reminded me a lot of It — only the kids really referred to It as Pennywise throughout King’s novel. This is because in both stories, the kids are just referring to the big bad villain as a villain they already know (exactly like the Mindflayer in season one as well). I think there’s definitely some psychology there, not to mention, it’s another parallel (hehe), but I think its a really nice story arc for these villains, because they remind us that sometimes when we’re afraid of something unknown, we give it a familiar name. Maybe that helps us feel like the vigilante in it all — just like the Hawkins kids do when they go to take Vecna down.

Inspired by Vecna’s slithery look throughout season four, I styled my take of it starting with a leather skirt from Topshop — I love this one because it has a belt and slick chrome details. I paired with this trippy, mesh crop top from H&M (can only find this in brown/black online) to mimic his creepy spider-like vibes. I love these meshy tops because they pair well with literally anything, and you can dress them up like this, or just wear them with jeans. I finished up the look with heeled sandals, my Gucci Pochette, and a bubble pony. Truly, a villainous look all together, IMO.

“No man means evil but the devil, and we shall know him by his horns.”

[Merry Wives of Windsor V.II]

Cheers, A. Martine

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