You know PeaceBang ADORES ethnic pieces. First and foremost, I have very sensitive skin and cotton is my best friend. I also find the cheap colors and fabrics of manufactured clothing very depressing. My eye and body delight in textiles and textures, color and layers.
I’m Eastern European by heritage and my people were all about the aprons, scarves, long skirts, jackets, hats. My grandmother was a very fashionable and successful milliner in the 1940’s. So it’s all about history for me.
When I have the freedom to dress exactly how I want to, you can find me in babydoll dresses over yoga pants with clunky heeled sandals, clogs, and boots. I like to wear aprons over long skirts because I love the pockets and the layers. I have tons of hats and wear a hat almost every day when I’m not at work. A hat or a scarf in my hair. I wear silver jewelry and usually just hoop earrings and big silver rings. I don’t like bracelets. I have lots of necklaces. I’m a little eccentric. I have lots of weird tunics and crazy skirts that I buy overseas and wear on vacations.
All that said, I think that a liberal Protestant minister in “ethnic garb” is a fast road to Frumpsville. It tends to be cliched, for one, and the garments tend to be shapeless and sexless and project Groovy Earth Mother or Mild Vegan as public images. I’m not dissing vegans, darlings, I’m just saying that no one projecting a public image of Mild Vegan is going to rock the world very hard. There’s a time for the Mild Vegan image and it’s not while preaching at a conference or taking on a leadership role. Those occasions call for something more structured.
Mild Vegan Wear! Cliché!
Hey! You blend in with the dining room table! Is there a female form under these schmattas?
A sash, a style, a shape, an attitude. Now we’re talking.
See what some make-up and the right styling can do? Elegant, fantastic. You can bet this lady isn’t wearing scuffed-up Clarks or Dansko maryjanes. She’s a striking woman and she owns it.
If you’re tall enough, this could be pretty fabulous. But don’t you DARE pair it with Dansko clogs or something BLAH. This calls for a great boot or a chunky heel, hair and make-up and a confident stride and presence. If you don’t have that going on, you will be totally obliterated by this dramatic garment. Do NOT rely on your clothes to provide charisma, dears. That has to come from YOU.
Of course PeaceBang fell madly in love with this and purchased it. I will wear it with a long fitted skirt, boots, jeans, sandals and loose leggings this summer, and just about everywhere on my time off. I will wear it to the office, I will wear it to casual meetings. I just won’t wear it to Serious Events. It’s too casual, too flowy, too boho.
All of these clothes and other super fabulous items can be found at https://www.marketplaceindia.com They’re a small company devoted to paying their Indian artisans a living wage.
wait, what? I forgot…what’s wrong with Dansko Mary Janes? [Can you imagine the Secretary of State wearing them? By all means, wear them on low-key days. But for anything that needs an authoritative, professional look they are completely unacceptable and girlish. – PB]
Back when dinosaurs still roamed the earth and I did a lot of recreational Balkan dance, we had a term for those who went just a wee tad overboard — it was referred to as the “Ethnic Ethel” or “Ethnic Ernie” phase. It was appropriate in that context; it was fun, and most of us grew out of it — but it was still a bit weird for Friday night suburbia.
Hm. When I came back to read this article a second time, this jumped out at me:
All that said, I think that a liberal Protestant minister in “ethnic garb†is a fast road to Frumpsville….
and I started wondering whether there was an implicit assumption there that “a liberal Protestant minister” is also a white Anglo or Anglified minister. Because surely, there are people for whom “ethnic garb” is in fact their own culturally appropriate garb. And surely some of these are liberal Protestant ministers!
I wonder too about issues of cultural appropriation when it comes to “ethnic garb”, most particularly the garb of somebody *else’s* “ethnicity”.
Maybe that’s part of what leads to “Frumpsville” in these cases: borrowing the clothes without the spirit, the culture, that would make the outfit an authentic expression of the wearer (and her role) that can be properly read by the people among whom she is wearing it.
Peacebang, you might want to try something (a scarf or a kerchief maybe) in handspun merino wool. Many times people who are sensitive to wool–the most frequent problem– are actually sensitive to the harsh chemicals used to process the wool in commercially made things. Garments made of llama or alpaca also work many times for people with sensitive skin.
If you learn to knit, I will send you some handspun yarn. [You’re sweet. Thank you. As far as I know, all wools make me an itchy mess.- PB]
Cashmere (although expensive) will also work instead of wool. [Much to my dismay I can’t wear cashmere, either. Or angora. – PB]
I’m so relieved to know that I’m not the only one wool turns into an itchy mess! My husband thinks I am totally making it up and that the red hives that rise on my skin are psychosomatic. thanks, PB!
No I’m allergic to it too. When I was around 10 my grandmother bought me a very expensive wool dress at Lord & Taylor, ny Mom told her I was allergic to wool but she said that wasn’t possible and purchased it anyway. I only wore it 2 or 3 times it felt like a hairshirt. That’s why I know about the cashmere.