For last Thursday’s class, I dressed as Chapter 15’s Mrs. Hussey! Firstly, I had most of the articles already in my closet, take that how you will, which made it easy and free to dress up. I wore a jean skirt, a brown wool sweater, a (kind of) jean collared long sleeve on top, an authentic Dutch fishing hat that my Grandfather bought in Solvang in the 60s, and carried around a wooden bowl and ladle. Without the bowl and ladle, I could’ve worn the same outfit and claimed to be any of the other whalers, but I think Mrs. Hussey is extremely important to the narrative. As we’ve discussed in class, there’s a significant lack of female characters in Moby-Dick, making their appearance even more notable. Hussey is the first female character to have speaking dialogue, so for me, it was a no-brainer. I really enjoyed dressing up, though I immediately sprinted to the bathroom to change because a multi-layered outfit with a maxi skirt in 90-degree heat in Hepner Hall sounded like a terrible experience. It was definitely worth carrying around a wooden bowl, a silver ladle, and a fifty-year-old fishing hat in my tote bag, and the various questions that came with it.