Le Style, C'est la Guerre Même
by NIH fashion correspondent Hayward MacAroon.
The first casualty of war is fashion. Who among us devotees of haute couture can have failed to be appalled by the sartorial inelegance displayed by General Tommy Franks at his daily press conferences? I realize the general has a lot of things to deal with right now, but surely he could find a few minutes before the daily conference to change out of his pajamas and into a smart uniform.
Unfortunately, the officers appearing with General Franks appear to have taken their fashion lead from him. Together they make each press conference look like a slumber party. They make the coalition of the willing look like the coalition of the slovenly. What confidence can one have in a war run by people whose clothes do not fit? What next, sweatpants?!
As we know, your clothes not only say something about you, they also say something about what you think of the people around you. If you respect the people with whom you're dealing, you'll dress in your best bib and tucker.
Not that the people whom General Franks is addressing at his conferences are setting much of an example themselves. The press corps has distinguished itself by dressing in some of the most boring clothes ever seen in a war zone. Going to war in an oversized shirt and a pair of Dockers simply fails to reflect the gravity of the event. The television reporters stationed outside the war zone could at least put on a tie. Although it's hot in the Gulf, putting on a jacket in a solid colour, perhaps even white, enlivened by a sprightly boutonnière in a contrasting hue, for the few minutes one is on camera is surely not too much to ask of anyone eager to maintain the sartorial standards which are part and parcel of the civilization our troops are fighting to protect.
President Bush and prime minister Blair have at least made an effort to dress up for their public appearances. Unfortunately, the results of their efforts are only too conventional and colourless. I suppose, though, that we should be grateful the Canadians are not participating. If they were, everyone would probably be dressed in relentlessly garish Roots co-ordinates and wearing their berets backwards. At least we have been spared that.
About the fashion sense of the Iraqi leadership and military, the less said the better. Their weapons of mass destruction pale beside their clothing of mass inelegance. Olive drab has been done, people! If the French must do favours for the Iraqis, why not teach them how to dress?
As valiant soldiers risk their lives and civilians brave the onslaught of barrages of horrendous bombs, they have the right to expect their leaders to dress as if they consider the little people's sacrifices to be serious. If their leaders, on either side, cannot be brought to say or do something intelligent about the carnage and destruction into which their intransigence has led others under their direction, at least they could dress to look as if they cared. As if they cared.
Le Style, C'est la Guerre Même © Coolth, 2003
Posted on March 27, 2003
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