Here’s the thing, Gogo Tomago doesn’t like dresses. As a matter of fact, she resents it. There’s something about it that completely vexes her, which is why you’d have to chain her to a newel post to make her wear one. Literally. And albeit she’s chained and defenseless, forcing her to finally go outside with the swishy skirt and the too revealing torso would consume your energy like a stupid black hole – which she is when you force her to do something that repulses her. Either way, she wins. Gogo Tomago never loses.
Even Tadashi couldn’t get her to wear dresses for their dates. It was always cardigan (or leather jacket), shirt, pants, gloves, and sneakers. No matter what the occasion, no matter how special it was, it was always cardigan (or leather jacket), shirt, pants, gloves, and sneakers for Gogo. She isn’t much of a festive person.
But when Honey hands her the black dress the morning before his funeral, she takes it without hesitation. She slips on it without so much of a comment or a simple groan guttering from her throat. She lets the stupid dress hug what is left of her, lets it dangle just above her wobbling knees.
Tadashi had always wanted to see her in a dress. Not that he didn’t like what Gogo preferred, he just wanted to see her dress for him. He knew that she was an island and she did things her own way, but it was nice to see that you had some effect on the person you truly loved. And today, Gogo wants to make him finally see the strong impact he had left on her chest when he decided to dive into the grinning flames. She wants him to know – if he’s watching the whole show – that he has (and will always) churned something inside her – something she can never erase. She wants him to know by wearing the stupid dress that his effect on her was – is bigger and stronger than cocaine, nicotine, and whatever drug that could devour your senses.
Wearing an itchy dress is a metaphor for how much Tadashi Hamada has consumed Leiko Tanaka.
“When will you ever wear a dress for me, Leiko?” he asks her whilst watching her put on her shirt.
She looks at him briefly and says, “When you’ve consumed everything there is in me, that’s when.”