Hi there all you fashion conscious peeps out there.
Ok sometimes fashion gets up my nose, especially when it comes to stupid trends.
Am I the only person who instantly avoids a trend when he sees it’s become so wide spread that it actually “sheepish”?
Ever since I was young I was always obsessed with Japanese style clothing…I used to hunt high and low for anything even slightly oriental, you know, dragons, kanji, stylized objects etc…
Then suddenly it became popular and every second chop who shopped at Mr. Price was wearing a tattoo style dragon on his shirt…I just couldn’t wear them anymore…pissed me off like you can’t believe.
Anyway these things happen and will continue to happen until the end of time or until humans decide they don’t want to wear clothes anymore…which also sounds like a great idea.
How do these crazes get started? Obviously the fashion industry at large and our favourite stars play a huge role in what we think is “cool” to wear…I think in quite a few cases the stars are simply given free stuff by Design houses and it spreads from there.
There are very few fashion trends that stick….luckily for us at eSquared we deal with the 2 greatest fashion trends ever…jeans and t-shirts J
Honestly it’s difficult to go wrong with the j&s combo…I don’t think it will ever truly disappear, especially when both are so varied and can be adopted across the social board…from shredded rocker jeans in Jimi Hendrix t-shirts to gold embroidered hip hop jeans and Bape t’s.
It’s an easy fashion to make our own.
Talking about making something your own, have you seen this annoying new scarf fashion that all the trendoid’s are wearing this season.
Apparently it’s “cool” to wear a Keffiyeh scarf, which is basically a Middle Eastern style scarf that is actually a symbol of Palestinian Nationalism.
Yasser Arafat was well known for wearing a Keffiyeh and in time it became his trademark gear.
WTH honestly do these guys even know what they are wearing? I can imagine they get a few raised eyebrows from both Palestinian and Israeli groups.
Do yourselves a favour trendoids, if you decide to go to Israel on holiday leave your Keffiyeh at home…unless you feel like tasting the back end of an assault rifle.
I’m sure there no harm when they are oblivious but wearing something that has such serious historical background without even knowing what it’s about is a little poser style for me.
I’d feel pretty stupid if I was wearing one of these scarves and found out that it was associated with an armed wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine who conducted hijackings on airplanes full of innocent people, but hey that’s just me.
One more interesting fact about the Keffiyeh is that it’s a symbol of Arab Masculinity…so all you girls wearing them out there are probably being laughed at behind your backs LOL…that’s pretty funny I must say.
Ok so I may be ranting about something that’s pretty inconsequential, but hey I thought it best that you know just in case you were in the dark about the Keffiyeh’s background.
I have no doubt the trend will pass, just like checked shirts and lycra vests….and be back in two seasons time…that’s the way of the world.
Remember boys and girls. Google is your friend…check stuff out first…avoid the stares.
Am I missing something here, please let me know your thoughts on this and educate me if I’m off base.
Thanks.
Duncs.
cant agree big guy…
i rock the indie scarf every now and then and it works for me.
to wear something like this you have to have balls and move away from the everyday commoner look.
jeans and t look will always work but….you need to add to the look as it gets stale.
I understand the symbolism behind the keffiyeh and respect it but if you want to make a move away from what everyone is wearing you need to make your own fashion decisions.
remember that the majority of South Africans are naive when it comes to trends and are mainly influenced by the commercial factor ie Mr Price.
looking at trends the whole indie look is HUGE at the moment. skinny jeans,checked long sleeve shirts, scarf,keffiyeh and waist coats all have been around for ages and have made a big come back.
ultimately fashion is all about your surroundings and what you are exposed to because that ultimately makes your decision for you
it keeps u warm in the cold cape town weather
I think now, that things like this turn into a trend when it comes to fashion. I could see if there was some fashion trends that lean or use this culture as inspriration, but literally wearing a Keffiyeh because it looks cool and its different is sad in the least.
Once it turn mainstream it takes away from the people who wear this everyday, the same way some African tribes customs aren’t as shocking as they used to be because you got rock and roll gods and punks rockin’ their style with, huge holes in their ears or implants under the skin and etc.
When sombreros come in as a fashion trend, thats when I draw the line!
Integral Apparel
Color outside the lines…
Yeah I know what you are saying Mark dude, it does take cojones to wear something that steps away from the norm and may incite the wrath of our fellow humans, however sometimes I wonder if nothing is sacred anymore.
I think Rashaun and I have a similar opinion on this one.
hahaha yeah the sombrero fashion trend is where I pull out my trusty flame thrower and go on a rampage…its bad enough that we went through that poncho phase.
When it comes to religious/cultural content things will always go bad…lets hope people don’t start wearing priest collars any time soon.
I was wondering if anybody would have the opposite opinion, which obviously there are…we must all abide by what our hearts tell us is “ok” and in the final analysis people should be allowed to do what they want…even if it makes people like me itch.
Call me old fashioned but I feel i need to identify with something before I make it my own…which is probably why I don’t listen to Rap/hip hop, it just has nothing to do with me
I have a friend (who’s not of Palestinian descent) who’s been wearing his for a while now, probably about 18 months.
He wears it cos he likes the look, cos it complements his style and cos it’s (well, was) something different.
Lately however, when we go out we see at least 5 other dudes rocking their Yasser Arafat rags. The difference, I think, is that he started wearing it because he thought it was cool. Granted, he got laughed at a fair bit (by us too), but these new posers are wearing it because someone told them it was cool. I feel like walking up to one and giving him a button badge saying “i am a sheep”
The Keffiyeh has been around for a long time, and the same posers wearing them now probably laughed when they saw someone else wearing one, but I guess that’s just how lemmings work. Or is that fashion?
guys the big thing that most of you are missing here is that fashion is influenced by the people you surround yourself with and the surrounding s you live in. this whole keffiyeh fad will slowly move on. who cares if people are wearing them. if you think you look good wearing, good for you.
the term “poser” is being thrown around a fair bit…thing is,are we all not all posers?
whenever we leave the house a certain amount of effort is put into our look and dress….so for me we are all posers.
Sweeties, the Keffiyeh was huge with the marxist-leaning-lefty-treehugger-lesbian-birkenstocks-and-socks set in the 90’s in Germany. Most of them just looked like they pulled Mom’s tea towel off the drying rack on the way out mistaking it for a proper scarf.
But hey if you like the look of it and you like to wear it …. stick a big one to everyone who criticize you for being a sheep while they listen to their fav tunes on their iPods.
Speaking off which, mine needs a charge. ….
“marxist-leaning-lefty-treehugger-lesbian-birkenstocks-and-socks” thats hilarious jacques
My definition of a poser is: somebody who takes a trend and incorporates it into their style in an attempt to “fit in”.
Sure we all put a certain amount of effort into what we put on in the morning but you have to ask yourself: is it what you want to wear or what society “tells you” to wear.
If you look at the case of Lester’s mate, he didn’t incorporate the Keffiyeh into his style because he was trying to be cool, rather because he thought that it looked good.
I was like that with my Japanese style too, i just thought it looked good on me…its not that all the hip kids were sporting the style.
Dammit I need to charge my iPod too…thanks for reminding me Jaques
Hey
I was bored, but you take the cake. Really. The reality is that I and most people who I know that wear it are aware what it symbolises. Wer don’t take fasion too seriously as sevaral trends borrow from cultures, including items with ‘meaning.’
Like the Che Guevera shirts/ hats/ hoodies etc. they are not intended to indicate mebership of anything group other than the club ‘fashionista.’
Should I as a Catholic be offended when I see people dressed as nuns on halloween.
Items only have as musch meaning as you give the, or is that just me.
You know I was in the process of commenting why we can’t wear what we feel like. Thats was my gut feeling towards the many remarks made above. Then I decided to put some honest thought into the comments. It seems that fashion seems to be much more symbolic and powerful than most people actually realize. Like myself. Should we pay more attention into, not only the fashion trends and accessories that have become popular but also the designers and labels that have grown to dominate the media and contemporary civilization? Absolutely seems to be the answer. African Americans can often be seen raving over many different designer labels that target specific groups that really did not include African Americans and in many ways are very contradictory to what we stand for. This seems to be another example of such a fashion blunder. The keffiyeh has become aesthetically pleasing at this current juncture but as I only recently learned represents something extremely powerful. How much should we pay attention to the symbolism of fashion trends and labels, especially those that are negatively charged? How do we find the balance between what we find aethetically pleasing with the fashion that represents who we are and what we want to associate ourselves with? How much is it our responsibility to be aware of what is fashionable and the symbolism that the latest trends may hold?
I’ve heard some good things about this blog. Remember to balance the pics with the text tho. cheers!
I blame this latest ethnic scarf as statement phase on Nicholas Ghesuiere. What I would like to know, is, even worse than the precedent set by a not so kosher Mr Arafat, do these uh…fashionistas… know that Woolies has been selling these things all winter long? Yip, that’s fashion forward daaarling.