Appearances Matter or Dress Locally Part 2

I recently had this conversation with my Iranian born but American raised co-worker about dressing in Iran.  Even though she grew up in an Iranian household she was raised completely in an American environment. When I told her I’d been to Iran we had a long discussion about the dress code and appearances. So I just wanted to share my and her experiences again and emphases some points I outlined in my previous post.

-Yes, you have to wear a veil. Make sure you are dressed “islamically” before getting off the plane.

-Yes, you have to cover your neck, shoulders and make sure your “manto” or  tunic goes lower your knees.

Scenario 1: I personally was stopped by the police once in Iran because my tunic wasn’t long enough. After looking at my passport they let me go under the condition that I would get a longer tunic.

Scenario 2: As I was entering a very busy metro station in Tehran I got hit by a police officer with a baton. I was more shocked than hurt. He was  walking around the station slightly hitting the women who were passing by and screaming at them ” Rosarit-o dorost kon” (Fix your headscarf). I know it may sound and look humorous but , frankly, I didn’t feel this way at the time.

Bad headscarf habits are officially called “badhejabi” in Iran

– Yes, no one is allowed to wear a “crazy”  (inappropriate ) type of haircut, and I am talking about men.

Scenario: I was hanging out with a guy who had a tiny mohawk. Actually it was so tiny that I didn’t think it would count as a mohawk. But the guy thought differently, he wouldn’t take his cap off outside because he was afraid he might be stopped by the police. Believe me he didn’t imaging things he got busted once or twice before.

– Yes, boys are not allowed to pluck their eyebrows.

Scenario: The same guy again. This time he was telling me a story from his school days. Once he showed up at school with plucked eyebrows . This resulted in a 2 week suspension from attending classes. His photo was also place in the school hallway as a warning for others.

– Yes, many Iranian women have a nose job done.

My coworker confirmed that her cousin had her nose fixed. Iranians say jokingly that among other things a father is supposed to do for his daughter is to pay for her nose job.

Sleeping Beauty: unconventional magic

With all my obsession with fairy tales I was delighted to experience Matthew Bourne’s Sleeping Beauty last night.
It’s fresh, modern and stylish. A bit shocking, dark but humorous. Perfectly choreographed and passionately performed. It links today’s dance moves with classical music and I have no trouble to admit that it looks good and it fits.
Vibrant colors: dark purple, dark blue, black and dazzling red contrast with everyday whites and beige. It’s a Halloween type of magic where even a good fairy may be a vampire. Although the story deviates from its original version it’s so transparent that it doesn’t keep you wondering about what just happened on stage. The story’s narrative is vivid and clear and so attuned to the music. I liked that the director didn’t treat neither the classics nor himself too seriously opening some space for experiment, imagination and fun.

Refer to this wonderful post to see more picture from the performance.

A Note on Fashion

Dress Locally Or Choosing Outfits In Iran

The popular saying goes “When you are in Rome, do like Romans do” which is absolutely correct. When you are visiting a country you need to follow the tip every travel magazine will give– get familiar with the local habits, act like a local. You know how to spot a foreigner, right? May be they have that confused look in their eyes, a map in their hands and a phrasebook in their bags. What else can be a red flag of an ‘outsider’?
They dress differently, of course! So before going on a trip you can do a little research about what people actually wear in that place. You have a choice whether to dress locally or not, unless you are going to Iran where you have to obey the Islamic Republic dress code.
When I was preparing for my first trip to Iran I went to a Muslim dress shop in my area. They had a couple of nice outfits in there but as soon as I told a shop assistant I was travelling to Iran she immediately suggested …. a veil, because “Iranians are really serious about that”. The whole idea made me tremble I didn’t want to look like a batwoman ( by the way Iranians call this type of a veil chador-e khoffashee, which literally means a ‘bat veil’). I went out of the shop without giving it a second thought.

When I actually got into the country I discovered there was the whole other way to dress there apart from putting on intimidating black veils that of course do exist, there is no denying it. But it’s mostly worn by married women whose husbands or whose families are very religious or by Basiji women (Iranian militia) or the women who hold high governmental posts. So no one wears it unless they have to. Women from all over the world want to look pretty, don’t they?

From The Canvas To The Runway

If we agree with Ricciotto Canudo that cinema is the seventh art that incorporates all of the visual arts together such as architecture, sculpture, painting, music, poetry (literature) and dance then what about fashion? I see designers drawing their inspiration from all the 7th arts, does it make fashion the 8th point on the list?
Well, with my high appreciation of it I wouldn’t say so. While creating an outfit, first and foremost, designers should see this image of their work already to determine what kind of look they are going for. Then they pick up a piece of paper and a pencil and begin forming up their vision in a sketch.
Images, looks, sketches – it all sounds like… a painting. A fashion design is a great way to reference a period of history, a public figure, national culture, art movement and etc.

So in today’s post I want to share some fashion ideas that were inspired by well-known modern art paintings, sometimes so well-know that we don’t know where it came from.
As you probably know modern art started paving its way into the world at the end of 19th century. It was all about change: change of the subject-matter, change of painting methods, and change of the audience. Now the painting doesn’t have to be flawless and balanced in a classical way, it doesn’t belong to that mantelpiece in the house of some rich person. It is from now on of the people, by the people, or the people.
The painters are looking back at the nature, admiring its colorful and simple beauty, they don’t think about the concept, they feel. Get the impression, make it your expression.

Inspired in my opinion by Claude Monet, Vincent Van Gogh and Emil Nolde extremely vivid and colorful paintings.

The world started to open up and expand, the artist who tired of looking up to antiquity or renaissance as their shiny examples were happy to discover Japanese prints, African masks, prehistoric cave paintings.

Some like Paul Gauguin left hustle and bustle of Paris for an exotic place where one could paint with freedom with no standards and borders. Gauguin was the first to depict that unusual beauty of Tahitian women. I bet one of his models might have looked like Naomi Campbell. Here is the Vogue tribute to the artist and his works.

Gustav Klimt is another painter who had a significant influence on fashion. His works were rich in decoration especially in gold leaf tresses and metallic elements that really sparked up the clothes.

Dior did a great job in showing off this style.

Despite bright colors, diverse cultures and elaborate décor, fashion gets inspired by stories behind the canvas, say, fairy tale characters.

These looks are echoing Mikhail Vrubel´s “Swan Princess” painting.

I appreciate the design but I personally would go with a different type of make-up here. I think it ruins the romantic flair of the character and makes it colder than it truly is.

If you needed to choose a painting to describe your desired outfit what it would be?

Related Article:

A Painter’s Canvas on a Designer’s Runway

Miro, Malevich, Mondrian – Art Protestors Who Inspire High Fashion