“Give me back my slippers, only I know how to use them. They’re no use to you! Give them back!,” said the Wicked Witch of the West to Dorothy but Glinda the Good Witch of the North tells Dorothy, “Keep tight inside of them. Their magic must be very powerful or else she wouldn’t want them so badly.”

Why would the Wicked Witch of the West want the ruby slippers so badly? Why does Glinda the Good Witch of the North tell the Wicked Witch of the West that she has no power “here” and shoos her off? Why does Dorothy attract so much attention after she has them on? What is this magic the Wicked Witch of the West refers to?

Glamour. These questions all point to the fact that Dorothy has something completely different from everyone else in Wonderland. The ruby slippers helped Dorothy have a high status in the town that she was in. They represented her wrecking the Wicked Witch of the East. Dorothy acquired fame and popularity and with that, she became more outgoing and fearless. This pair of red slippers from The Wizard of Oz can be easily compared to the modern societies’ new technology or fashion. For example, Sneakerheads, person who collects rare sneaker, might buy a pair of Nike Dunks for $2000 and what do you know, just like Dorothy they will gain fame because people will know they’ve got the dough and popularity because again, they’ve got the dough. This boosts the ego of the Sneakerhead causing fearlessness.

In The New Humanities Reader, Virginia Postrel writes in her article, Surface and Substance that, “Status competition is part of human life” and “Fashion itself can, of course, be a source of status, As anyone who has been a teenager knows, the right style can determine who’s in, while the wrong look can mean social Oblivion”. Obviously, from this we can infer that anything abnormal will attract the attention of the norm.

“We’re simply attracted to anything that helps us compete for recognition and dominance,” claims Postrel and that is exactly why the Scarecrow wanted a brain, the Tin Man wanted a heart, and the Lion wanted courage. Little did they know that they’ve always had all they needed inside them but they wanted something to show off that they did have brain, heart, and courage. The glamour of the items that the Wizard gives to them for reaching the Emerald City gives the characters a “lucid glimpse of[their] desire fulfilled”.

With glamour, comes confidence and in modern day society, without glamour, one will feel inferior to those who are wearing the latest seasonal outfits. These outfits provide what Michael Chabon calls “dreams of flight and transformation and escape”. They all help a person become an individual, a person who stands out in a crowd, a person who draws the eyes of people in a room when they walk in. Like a superhero, without their mask [glamour] they don’t have the courage [confidence] to save the day.

http://www.doublex.com/section/arts/secret-glamour-tin-man?page=0,0