Mickey Mouse - Fashion Icon?
Disney Adults - Can something so deeply uncool, but so unabashedly joyful, ever escape the cringe?
I spent this past Monday at Disneyland, supposedly the Happiest Place on Earth (a claim I honestly won’t deny). As someone who’s been to the park at least once a year for the last handful of years, Disneyland is always a very strange experience. It’s another world - one where nothing bad happens, every nook and cranny is perfectly on theme, and a slice of bad pizza is $10. I love every second of it, as embarrassing as that potentially sounds. It’s interesting to me that saying I love Disneyland can be taken as embarrassing, since everyone I know agrees that it is indeed magical. Complimenting the House of Mouse whatsoever always has to start with something along the lines of “I’m not a Disney Adult, but…”. I’m even going to preface this blog - I’m not a Disney adult. But… Why is it so embarrassing to love something that is so widely loved? What are we so afraid of?
Getting ready to set off to Anaheim, I needed to have the cutest outfit at the park. Looking in my closet for a Disney outfit, I was surprised at how many options I had. As someone who is, decidedly, surely, definitely not a Disney Adult, and doesn’t consider myself a particularly big fan of Disney, why do I own several articles of clothing with Mickey Mouse’s face on them? I wore my pair of vintage striped men’s boxers that are adorned with an all-over print of Mickey Mouse - technically, I was romping around Disney in a pair of men’s underwear. I’ve actually worn these shorts many times, and I get stopped almost every time, receiving compliments from all kinds of cool girls wanting to know about my Mickey boxers. My man was wearing a denim button up with the main five classic Disney characters embroidered all over, purchased at the Melrose trading post before this particular adventure was even in the works. How many folks who don’t identify as Disney fans have some iteration of Disney paraphernalia hanging in their closets? Can this stuff be legitimately cute when separated from the stigma that one might appear as a “Disney adult”? Or, have we all succumbed to owning Mickey Mouse merch because the monstrous, gigantic, mammoth entity that is Disney has merged with our culture so deeply that we can’t separate the two?
Asking around about the general consensus of Disney-adult-cringiness, and I’m getting the response that “making anything your entire personality is cringey.” I agree with this to a certain extent, but there is something about Disney particularly being cringey. When film nerds gush about their love of the whatever latest arthouse movie, no one rolls their eyes over the dramatic-film-adult. I know a lot of my peers read cheesy romance novels that are typically intended for a YA audience, and they don’t need to distance themselves from any YA-romance-adult stigma.
It feels silly heading into the park (wearing Mickey Mouse boxers, a vintage Mickey Mouse sweater, and Mickey Mouse ears that have “Haley” embroidered across the back) and having to announce that I really don’t like Disney that much. I let myself indulge in mouse-shaped goodness, including pretzels, cookies, and ridiculous accessories, only on those rare days where I’m heading into the “happiest place on Earth.” I’ll admit it, I am happier than most other times when I’m in Disneyland, and I just might really love Disney, actually. What’s so scary about that? Is it uncool to love simple, lovable things? Do we need to stay jaded and guarded against anything that exists purely to bring joy? Am I overthinking Disney adult stigma? Probably. Let me know your thoughts.
Until next time,
Haley