Once upon a time, there were laws known as sumptuary laws. Depending on where you lived and what you did in life, you were forbidden to wear certain fabrics - such as velvet being forbidden for the middle class - and otherwise forced to dress not just according to your means, but also to your station in life.
Supposedly, in the Western democracies, we have moved well beyond this stage and now allow everyone total freedom of expression. Trouble is, you'd be hard pressed to kno
w this if you look around.Just a couple of weeks ago, in what are known as the 'society pages' in my local newspaper, there was a write-up about an event that is described as an "80s themed pre-show gala".
Since I didn't attend, I'm not sure if the guests were perhaps forbidden from wearing anything but gray or perhaps they were told to dress in a way so they wouldn't conflict with the 80s themed decor. (Hello? As someone said, weren't the 80s all about spandex, color and big hair?)
What is most ironic is that one of the guests in the photos here (which I've cropped to protect the guilty as well as the innocent), is the president of a large department store, who
is always going on the radio and urging shoppers to go in and buy the colorful patio furniture her company has on offer.This makes me wonder: is it now okay for the patio to be colorful but not humans?
In the spirit of doing something about color, we've recently re-launched the Harobed Designs website, and already have quite a list of colors: apricot, primrose, teal, sunflower, scarlet and ivory, to name a few. We also have quite a few more waiting in the wings: deep coral, ultra royal, emerald, cerise...
We encourage everyone to go beyond the gray and sashay
forth in color. Not only will you brighten up the world, you'll feel more energized!
No comments:
Post a Comment