Russian Church Calls for 'National Dress Code'
Russia's orthodox church has stirred controversy by calling for a "national dress code." A senior cleric in the church claimed Russian woman who wear revealing clothes encourage sexual assault. Al Jazeera's Neave Barker reports from Moscow

Iran Bans Curves: Police Order Shop Owners to Cover Mannequins Up
MAIL ONLINE: Often the sight of how well a piece of clothing fits on a mannequin can make a fashionista's mind up.

Not so in Iran, where police have banned any exposed body curves in shop windows.

Authorities warned shopkeepers yesterday that all mannequins must be covered up - wearing headscarves and hiding any of the body's curves that may be showing.

They have also banned the selling of women's underwear by men.

'Using unusual mannequins exposing the body curves and with the heads without Hijabs (Muslim veil) [sic] are prohibited to be used in the shops,' Iran's moral security police in charge of Islamic dress codes said in a statement carried by state news agency IRNA.

Iranian police have stepped up a crackdown on both women and men, boutiques and small companies which fail to enforce strict religious dress codes since President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad came to office in 2005.

The measures are the latest in a country-wide campaign against Western cultural influences in the Islamic Republic, where strict dress codes are enforced. >>> | Thursday, September 24, 2009

49 Arrested for 'Satanic' Clothes
Two plucky Iranian gals cocking a snook at the stifling dress restrictions of the mullahs of Iran. Photo courtesy of Google Images
NEWS.COM.AU: POLICE have arrested 49 people this week in a northern Iranian city during a crackdown on "satanic" clothes, according to an IRNA news agency report.

The measures are the latest in a country-wide campaign against Western cultural influence in the Islamic Republic, where strict dress codes are enforced.

"Police confronted rascals and thugs who appeared in public wearing satanic fashions and unsuitable clothing," Qaemshahr city police commander Mahmoud Rahmani told IRNA.

Mr Rahmani also said that five barber shops were shut and 20 more warned for "promoting Western hairstyles".

In the past, such crackdowns have lasted a few weeks or months, but the current campaign was launched in 2007 and has not let up.

It includes measures against men sporting spiky "Western" hairstyles or women wearing tight trousers and high boots.

Women are supposed to wear clothing that covers their hair and disguises the shape of their bodies. But some, particularly in cities, wear headscarves pushed back well beyond their hairlines and sport tight-fitting outfits. >>> From correspondents in Tehran | December 4, 2008

Hat tip: Dhimmi Watch

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