Politics As Fashion

I have yet to wear the Scarf, and I have never worn either a Bob Marley shirt or a Che Guevara shirt, but I've read about him.....:)

One of my favorite pods. It shows you how vacuous most Americans are. It's a really big trend in my area.

What about the media Only talking about fashion instead of politics? If I have to hear one more drivel story about Mrs. Obama's dresses instead of what is really happening in the world, I don't even know! ah!
As far as fashion being a conscious decision, I agree to an extent but if you have other things going on in your life, your Rachel-Ray scarf might not be the first blip on your radar in the morning. lol wow

I honestly already wanted a Keffiyeh although after seeing this on television this I decided to finally attain a Keffiyeh of my own. I must admit I do wear it for the purpose of fashion, but I was originally sold by the political message it comes with.

I am not Muslim nor middle eastern but I am extremely tired of and very much annoyed by any persons whom even relatively display a ignorantly biased negative judgment towards either of them. They good people with some inspiring moral values, and stereotyping the entire middle east as terrorists because of several extremist radical groups is not only completely and utterly absurd but is an immensely disgracing humiliation for the United States.

Consequently, I personally support as well as encourge the Keffiyeh trend in hope to open the minds of such persons by showing how ther culture is easily capable of making such a large impact on their own.

I dont mind if those people wear those pieces as long as they know the meaning, or the story, behind those. Ignorance is stupid bliss. But actually, i would love to have one of those scarves.

i have a keffiyeh...not as a fashion trend..but to symbolize that everyone is equal no matter what race or religion

all this has been done before back in the late 60's early 70's. Lets get originalll

I will say that while I abhor fashion in the mainstream cultural sense of trying to 'belong', it's still their right (at least at the moment) through freedom of expression to wear whatever they want.

i do agree w/ A ABEID, WHEN YOU MAKE A CREATION OR A STATEMENT, AND THE STAMENT BECOMES LOST AND YOUR STATEMENT BECOMES "OTHER THEN" OR AN AFTER THOUGH, IT IS FRUSTRATING, IT IS A DOUBLE EDGE SWORD IN MY OPINION. LIKE HE EXPLAINS, IT IS A CONSUMER CULTURE, AND IF YOU MAKE SOMTHING PPL ENJOY, AND YOU HAVE SOME COMMON BOUND WITH PPL/NEXT GENERATION, WHY NOT SHARE IT AND EMBRACE IT.

WWW.CASHMERETHOUGHT.BLOGSPOT.COM

I wonder how many people would be wearing '"fashion" if they had to pay with their lives for it? Political statements mean that you will be able to defend your position, not that it "makes me look cool."

Best line " He fought against the capitalist movement"
ain't that the truth...
by the way Carluccio I've featured your video on my blog
miaalien.wordpress.com

That's a great little package. Who would have thought that a quick photo of Che snapped at a funeral would have turned into that? My little sister used to have a Che shirt, and she had no clue what it meant.

The best (or worst?) was when I saw a pair of Che boxer shorts. The ultimate irony of a man who fought against capitalist ideas is now a commodity in the most consumerist nation in the world.

If iconic political images or statements are turned into fashion merchandise, it is no different or better than when Time/Life or some other high profile commercial entity puts out a best of music CD or DVD... the orginal message or intent is lost.

The best examples of this are the 60's symbols such as the peace symbol, the happy face, the flower power stickers, the keep truckin guys...all of these things started in counter culture movements but once commercialized lost all meaning or impact.

...In some parts of "the hood" a certain color or style of clothing can get you murdered. Do we want to wear Nike's just cause we think their a top line sports shoe, or because the represent an inner city gang? Do a little research on the clothes you wear, you'd be surprised at what you find...

Tools tools tools

Miss_Niss, I think the point of this piece is, that those two examples (Che and the Keffiyeh) are symbols of revolutionary movements that changed the scene and scope of the world. If you do not know what they mean or stand for, it is not a fashion faux paus, it is a disgrace to your knowledge of world events and history.

You are looking at it from a fashion pov, and I think that is the point of this piece. People get more wrapped up in fashion and how something looks on them (commercialism), rather than caring about other things like world affairs, and foreign nations histories.

If we had a better understanding of other countries, their histories, maybe we would not be so quick to think of ourselves as the most important people in the world (Americans, I mean). Sure other countries youths may not know what it means either, but I can bet their percentage of people who do not know would be amongst those youth that are unable to attend schooling. The percentage in the US is practically amongst the entire youth of our nation. None seem to know about these symbols and their relevance to history.

The fact you know more about fashion (not sure if you do though, you obviously go based off trends) than history, is the point of this piece. That is the sad but true point of this story. Our youth cares more about a fucking pattern matching their clothing or looking cool rather than being educated in more important things and issues.

Meaning is subjective, to someone who knows about the significance of the scarf in the arab world wearing it is politically significant, but should we really condemm someone for seeing it in a shop and buying it because they like the pattern or the colour? How is the casual consumer supposed to know these things? The scarves are not marketed as a political statement in trendy shops like Sportsgirl. I haven't worn one, but until this I had no idea they were anything than just this season's latest scarf style.

great great great
thanks for this.
i frequently visit non-English speaking countries a-talk about not knowing what you're wearing. You should see some of the texts on their shirts. embarassing....!

Dunkin Donuts Pulls Ad Featuring Rachael Ray In A Scarf That Looks Too Arab:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/05/28/dunkin-donuts-pulls-ad-fe_n_103859.html

Viva la decadence.
Viva la Corporate cool.

"By the way they wear it, I know who they are." That's the best quote from the piece.

It is vital to society on a whole that we become more knowledgeable of ALL politically, socially and culturally oppressed people worldwide. Not just fall victim to "fashion".

The greatest billboards we have are our bodies and if we can't answer who that is on our chest or what this statement means that we have written on our arms, we are playing ourselves.

I have been waiting for someone to do a piece on this topic. It is both timely and impactful.

"Teach the Babies"

(Are you willing to go out there and save the lives of our children, even it it means losing your own life?)

Ill tell u this much!!! U would not see an Israeli wear that scarf. Y? cause they know what it means.

What can we do to get the sheep out of all of us?

Do you agree that the world would be better if the drones were converted to real people. And we tried to all live real lives. Cause at the end of the day, its all about the Real Deal!!!! Cc*

I don't wear things because other people wear them. I wear things because I like them, they are comfortable, practical, or I can use them for multiple purposes. Anytime I wear something to make a "statement", I don't expect others to pick up on it, I don't even expect people to know what it stands for. I know what it stands for and why I'm wearing it and that's all that matters to moi.

Che's image represents change which is what most people desire these days. The poor/working class have always been the very foundation of this nation, and this foundation has been crumbling for many years now.
Che fought for the working class and he was against amoral capitalism which is on the verge of self-destruction. Lets try to 'change' the fact that the U.S has the highest poverty rate of any industrialized country. We dont have a national health care system, we have extreme high school drop-out rates, we have massive federal deficits, and let us fight the IRS loopholes that benefit corporations.
These are all ideals that Che fought for and you certaintly dont have to be a communist to make the necessary changes.

I'm not opposed to what che's face stands for in modern times, but it seems like we could have picked a better symbol for revolution. Che was a socialist and murderer. Not only killed his own soldiers for fleeing, etc, he killed small children. Not cool Che supporters.

in the next decade you'll see t-shirts here being sold on the street with the WTC towers under attack on them , and they'll be "edgy" .

It's not what you wear that distinguishes you it's what you think.....

People will wear anything to be cool. Case in point, vintage style rock t-shirts. I once tried to strike up a conversation with a girl who was wearing one.

"Oh, so you like Led Zeppelin?" I asked.

"Yeah, he's my favorite!"

I agree that people shouldn't wear them just for a fashion statement.. if you're gonna wear it, have a good meaning for it.

I have a Che shirt that is slightly less perfect, image-wise, and below it says "art critic."

That is all.

Che Geuvara is a murderer and your tshirt is not cool.

haha I didn't know that these scarfs were cool, I guess the trend hasn't hit the midwest yet.

fashion is vapid, therefore cannot be a political statement. a political statement requires flesh and bone combined with action.

Che? How about not promoting a communist terrorist?

That is just an image. That is the image of a shell of a soul who did not believe in the individual.

Anybody who doesn't know doesn't need to know.

i knew the the keffiyeh scarf stood for & i planned on owning one, despite how cute it is. but i just bought a keffiyeh over the weekend & used it as a blanket to lay on in central park because it was only $4. it'll remain my central park blanket. not a scarf.
& no.. i don't really have a point.

Great Pod John...

Aren't the people in this pod, and I'm saying this as an intentional generalization, part of the problem?

the keffiyeh has been around for a while in urban culture. im pretty sure the black and white ones stand for liberalism. i wear one for political reasons. the color may not matter though. i see trendy kids around my city and i have said "nice scarf whats it mean?" just seeing if they know... they always respond with "its my style... fashion". :[