"I'M DYING TO WEAR A SARI"

Can we just take a minute to talk about this tweet from Oscar de la Renta's very own PR Girl? 

I'm not exactly sure what bothers me the most in this tweet but there are definitely undertones of colonial thought and a desire to appear 'exotic' present in this statement. 

I am totally willing to admit that I have very little knowledge of Indian culture or of Sari's but I am pretty sure that they aren't just a fashion statement or a type of Dress, as in: 

today I could wear my a-line shift, my vintage shirt-dress, or my sari. 

Coming from a place of privilege (white, WASP-y, Western privilege) I would argue that the Sari acts as a significant representative or symbol of Indian culture and the Indian woman. 

I would also argue that Oscar PR Girl's extreme desire to wear a Sari takes the Sari out of its cultural meaning and places it into her world of Fashion, making her the colonizer who is misappropriating the Sari and its cultural meaning for her own wants and needs (in this case to be fashionable and/or chic). 

Now, I am not saying that white people should never wear Saris, but I am saying that we should perhaps think about the context when making such decisions, and the meaning behind whatever cultural artifact we are wanting to appropriate for our own needs, wants, and desires. 

You can find more of @OscarPRGirl 's twitter musings here

and her tumblr musings here

MANIFEST DESTINY.

So, not all too long ago, GAP/GQ released this ad:

image.

"Okay" you say to yourself, there's nothing wrong with this ad, just a couple of hipster dudes playing hack y-sack, no big problems, glaring errors, or cultural misappropriations here. 

Wrong. 

The problem here is the "Manifest Destiny" t shirt the young, exuberant man on the left is wearing. 

The people at GOOD put it this way: 

image

GOOD is calling for an apology by GAP, does GAP really owe anyone an apology? Does their status as corporation make them people too? is it within their rights to produce and sell such a t shirt? 

And/Or are they just culturally ignorant? 

This ad, and these questions, are just a few of the reasons I decided to finally make this blog (other than some prompting from friends and classmates and professors...)

More than I think we may realize, the intersection between fashion and politics is very clear, outside of t shirts, designers makes statements with everything from their twitter accounts (Kenneth Cole) to their accessories, to their NYFW 'inspired' collections. 

And in the same way, our politicians and their people make very conscious choices about what and who they wear, and what that could possibly communicate about them (and their values) as a person and as a candidate. 

So, stick around and explore this intersection with me! I think it'll be fun!