Stylish Gluttony Short Story Contest
This semester Flat Hat Magazine held a short story contest open to all William & Mary students. Participants in the contest were asked to write a short story based on the phrase “Stylish Gluttony.” The two winners, Kat Vanbourgondien and Taylor Wilson, wrote compelling and unique stories based on their own interpretation of the prompt. Both stories provide a unique and thought-provoking commentary on how people at any stage in their lives can be affected by the expectations of others, and how those expectations can become a toxic and all-encompassing lifestyle. When put together, these stories paint a heartbreaking picture of stylish gluttony.
- Emma Saunders ‘24
Flat Hat Magazine Short Story Contest Organizer
untitled by Kat Vandbourgondien
“No mommy, I don’t want any more!”
More, more, more. Dresses and skirts came piling down on her bed, swamping her with more outfits she never wanted. New outfits for school were required, says her mother, and she couldn’t just wear her comfortable jeans and her favorite shirt.
“Won’t you just try on the dress and a bit of makeup?”
More dresses and skirts, and now makeup. Picture day was right around the corner, and dresses are highly “recommended.” She’s putting her foot down, demanding jeans and a nice blouse. She gets her way, and goes to class, happy, only to realize that being herself means receiving more comments and looks than ever before.
“Why aren’t your legs shaved?”
“Do you want to borrow my makeup to hide that pimple?”
“Why didn’t you dress up?”
“Here, borrow my brush to fix your hair.”
“What are you trying to be, one of the boys?”
Dragging her feet, she heads home to her mother’s warm embrace. To help fix her tears, her mother takes her shopping to help make her feel better. Dressing her up like a doll, the girl begs her mother to take her everywhere.
“More, mommy! I need more!”
ZOE DAVIS // FLAT HAT MAGAZINE
“VORACIOUS BEAUTY” by TAYLOR WILSON
She never worried about not looking her best because she held the keys to perfection in the worn-out pages of her engagement book. She was sure of this as she filled her schedule each day with the newest serums, esthetician meetings, and beauty therapy.
10 a.m.: apply serums
12 p.m.: reconstructive procedure appointment
4 p.m.: beauty-enhancing exercises
Some may think that it’s a bit early to start thinking about a new procedure so soon after last week’s alterations to her nasal bridge. However, she had to stay up to date with the ever-changing beauty standards.
Caking herself in makeup and smoothing over her skin with various anti-aging serums until her fingertips smelled of a cosmetics shop was a daily routine for her.
But who is reflected in the vanity? Is it not she? Is it not the lady who prides herself in her appearance? No, what mirrors back to her could very well be described, by the naked eye, as a horrifyingly absurd display.
Now, she is almost completely unrecognizable to her own eyes.
Nevertheless, she peels her eyes from the vanity and desperately flips through her engagement book, in search of her voracious beauty.