With thanks to Bld for alerting me to this: The International Herald Tribune has recently reported on the trend by designers to 'Muslimize' fashion for the catwalks of the West! This article by Suzy Menkes:
PARIS The forecast for the new fashion season is as somber as it is certain. It is going to be a long dark winter.Read the article here: The New Sobriety: Covering up the body
After a decade of free-fall hipster pants, bared midriffs, bras on show under sheer dresses and naked legs, fashion has started on its great coverup. Forget girlie frills and celebrities flashing flesh on the red carpet. The typical outfit in the current international fashion collections is in any color as long as it is black with a silhouette long, lean and layered.
Mark
18 comments:
Part of me wants to dismiss this as self-serving propoganda to promote their line of clothing.
Modesty is not a strictly Muslim virtue.
There are many Christians and others who welcome a more covered up look than has been the case for the last decade or so. The difference is, we don't force our views on the rest of the world.
I'm still waiting for the ever-so-stylish, but modest Amish look to be emulated by some cutting edge designer.
I guess they'll have to change to a much more violent lifestyle to get the fashion designers to notice them.
amish
In the meantime, sign me up for the crusader clothing--I think I may have a good start already.
Heather:
Welcome back! Your presence has been sorely missed!
Part of me wants to dismiss this as self-serving propoganda to promote their line of clothing.
Yes, I'm sure a part of you does. But it is sad if this article is to be believed, and I have no reason not to believe it, that the world's fashion designers are dancing to the beat of their drum! It shows how shallow they truly must be.
Modesty is not a strictly Muslim virtue.
Of course it isn't; and nor should Muslims be made to believe it is. But 'fashions' of late have sometimes been so banal: neither elegant nor beautiful. But nor have they been modest in any sense of that word.
There are many Christians and others who welcome a more covered up look than has been the case for the last decade or so.
Of course there are. But we must be careful that the big cover-up isn't brought about by pressure from the Islamic world. That would be an instance of the tail wagging the dog.
I'm still waiting for the ever-so-stylish, but modest Amish look to be emulated by some cutting edge designer.
I think you'll have to wait a long time for that. The Amish are far too pacifist to bring about such a turnaround in fashion. Muslims win hands down each and every time, simply because they cower people into submission.
In the meantime, sign me up for the crusader clothing--I think I may have a good start already.
Crusader clothing sounds like a darn good idea to me! The start you have already made, at least if your new avatar is anything to go by, is a very good one indeed! :-)
Indeed, modesty is quite inadequate as a description of Muslim dress. They take it to such an extreme that it is no longer modesty but far more like a fetish.
Excellent point judahq,
You are absolutely correct when you say it is more like a fetish in most cases, rather than a heartfelt response to Allah.
Christopher Hitchens wrote an excellent piece a few weeks ago where he said almost the same thing in relation to the cartoon controversy:
The original proscription against any portrayal of the prophet—not that this appears to be absolute—was superficially praiseworthy because it was intended as a safeguard against idolatry and the worship of images. But now see how this principle is negated. A rumor of a cartoon in a faraway country is enough to turn the very name Mohammed into a fetish-object and an excuse for barbaric conduct.
What I was trying, somewhat tongue-in cheek, was to point out that modesty is a virtue as long as it is a chosen one.
Yes indeed, Heather! There is no virtue in enforced virtue; and there is no modesty in enforced modesty, either!
JudahQ:
Modesty achieved by combining elegance with the use of pretty fabrics, colours and styles is quite different from the so-called modesty achieved by hiding under a black shroud.
Yes, and I hope that the West doesn't forget this very IMPORTANT point. We don't need our pretty and beautiful girls to be covered up and made to look like penguins!
Now we're seeing the Islamification of women's fashions here in the West? Good Lord!
My days of wearing revealing clothing are gone (Ah! Middle age!). And I admit that some of the recent Western fashions are, well, not much.
But why do Muslim women feel the need to cover up? I don't at all see their motives as similar to those for modesty as advocated by Christianity. Rather, Islam teaches that Muslim women are evil temptresses. This attitude denigrates their worth as both women and human beings. Furthermore, the attitude has nothing whatsoever to do with promoting virtue. And on top of that, in many Muslim societies, women are physically persecuted for not covering up. And Heather points out: modesty is a virtue as long as it is a chosen one..
IMO, the Muslim dress-code for women is another manifestation of the oppressiveness of Islam. And this exaltation of all things Islamic is an abomination.
Time to buy "Crusader wear"!
Honestly, I find this disgusting. I guess I had not realized how shallow and insensitive these folks are...
Always:
...why do Muslim women feel the need to cover up?
I guess if YOU were somebody's OBJECT, then maybe you'd feel the need to cover up, too!
This is not about fashion, it's about fear.Real fear. These are high profile designers, easy and valuable targets. The recent death threats to Cartoonists and Journalists have spooked a lot of people. Mention the name Theo VanGogh these days and watch people react. Especially if they keep a high profile.......
Have to agree about the flabby 'love handle' trend in recent fashions though.YUK!
Mike.
Reverand Mike Oxlong:
It is very sad then! If fashion designers can't get on with what they know how to do best without being fearful, then there is something radically wrong!
JudahQ:
In the west we have been reversing that attitude of misplaced responsibility whereby some men will claim that a skimpily dressed woman was "asking for it" (it = rape).
It certainly hasn't been reversed in the Islamic world!
Islam teaches that women are the chattels of the men. Further, Muslims are taught that it is IMPOSSIBLE for a man and woman to be in each other's company without lusting after sex! (So no Platonic friendships there!)
The 'Devil' is to be found wherever men and women co-mingle! Did you know that before? Well, if you didn't, now you do! So now you can be extra careful! :-)
It appears that Muslim men believe that women who are not completely covered are simply whores to be treated as such in the most disgusting of manners.
Yes, they do consider them whores. But they also consider women to be temptresses, as has been mentioned previously.
With such attitudes, no wonder they want their women COMPLETELY covered up.
The real problem, of course, lies with the men, because they are unable to control their sexual urges and desires. They are simply lustful. Period! So women have to pay the price.
These are the reasons why women from the West, who visit the Gulf, are indeed treated like whores: They are relatively uncovered, and are just waiting to be picked up! (In their eyes. Though it has to be said that some are, of course.)
Interesting, Bld, interesting! No wonder you feel as you do. Asking after your "seester", indeed. Ugh! How crass! How disgusting!
Perhaps you should have turned the tables on him by asking him if he had one for you! Then you would have seen a strong reaction!!!
Mussolini:
I have rarely seen Muslimahs swim. The only ones I recall were Kuwaitis in a hotel swimming pool, and you'll never guess how they went swimmimg! They went in the water in their very full, ankle-length dresses which ballooned up incredibly in the water! You can imagine, can't you? :-)
They couldn't actually swim. All they could do was bathe, or have a dip, so to speak! It was most unbecoming, and they looked very awkward. In fact, they looked ridiculous!
Penguins would have looked very elegant by the side of them!
Mark, that would be hilarious to see if it weren't so pathetic. How can intelligent women stand for this type of second class treatment? What do the Muslim men wear while swimming? Do they have to wear an equally insane outfit? Just curious.
Heather:
Yes, it is rather pathetic, isn't it?
What do the men wear when they go swimming? Usually, long, long 'shorts' which are very baggy, for maximum cover, of course.
The funny thing is this: many of these people - men and women - aren't that beautiful anyway; so many wouldn't take a second look at them even if they weren't covered up.
They all seem to kid themselves that they are like superstars! :-)
Interestingly, when I first went to work in the Gulf, it was all new to me. One day, I was in a communal bathroom for the employees of the company, cleaning my teeth, when in comes this Muslim to take a shower. He went into the shower with his swimming trunks on; so, when he came out, I asked him why he had done that. His response was that it was a Muslim's duty to be modest. So I said, but there was nobody in the shower cubicle to look at him anyway. "Allah can see me", came his reply!!!
Then I asked him what difference that would make, since if he was worried about Allah, he would be showering in the suit that Allah sent him to the world! His birthday suit! :-) Needless to say that he didn't buy that at all. He walked away from me quite indignant!
JudahQ:
Wait, I don't believe such tripe!
Does ANY sane person?
Oh dear, I had no idea our hormones were mingling so freely.
I think the Internet may be exempted. After all, it was quite common in Saudi Arabia for sexually-frustrated females to call up men by phone to have 'chats' with them late at night, just to be able to hear the voice of a male they were stopped from mixing with! All very sad! All very, very sad!
But what about when they climb out of the pool and all that wet fabric clings to their bodies? Isn't that rather revealing? Or does it have some special stiffening underneath to prevent it from doing that?
Yes, it clings all right. Very often such fabrics were synthetic silks anyway; so you can imagine how clingy those dresses were, can't you?
They certainly are body-hugging when wet; but no, they weren't stiffened. As far as I can recall, the mother came to the pool's edge with very large towels to wrap around them.
These will be the ways of the West if we don't watch out!
Islamic poly is alive and well, one of Australias main moderate moslem spokemsmen is openly has 2 wives.
http://worldwar111.blogspot.com/2006/03/who-is-keysar-trad.html
Just wait till the push for legislation comes on poly and divorce etc.
What_has_Islam_done_for_you_today?:
Yep, it's coming! It's all coming! Then the 'muck' will hit the fan!
Post a Comment