This irks me a bit. Slate’s Ryan Grim wrote :

The 14 male sailors were dressed in snazzy if ill-fitting suits, stylishly without ties; the female sailor was decked in what looked to be clothes from a Tehran thrift store.

Other than the ad hominem attack on Iranian fashion, the authour seems rather ill-informed. To dress “without ties” is not a question of style, neckties are considered a symbol of Western oppression and un-Islamic. Ahmadinejad never wears a tie, not because he wants to present himself as “stylish” and/or relax-casual, but because he is a devout Muslim.


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Addendum: I think, more accurately, ties were abolished as anti-Western, not evidence of being a “devout Muslim.”

But yes, I know Japanese businessmen who go to Iran and deliberately (1) forget their ties, which are like uniform in Japan, and (2) start to grow beards, another thing you rarely see in Japan.

Curzon added these pithy words on 06 Apr 07 at 3:21 am

I should have put “devout Muslim” in quotation marks.

As for the beard thing, I found it not necessary. I thought about the same thing when I went, but was surprised to see that it isn’t that common to wear a beard in Iran. It may be more of an Arab thing(?).

Younghusband added these pithy words on 06 Apr 07 at 4:10 am

Look at this opinion about neckties from India…
http://ram-nagarajan.sulekha.com/blog/post/2005/09/you-ll-never-tie-me-up-you-ll-never-tie-me-down.htm ..

von Kaufman-Turkestansky added these pithy words on 06 Apr 07 at 2:14 pm

Wow! And I thought I hated ties!!

Is it possible that the Iranians are just more evolved than us, at least when it comes to men’s fashion?*grin*

Michael added these pithy words on 13 Apr 07 at 1:07 am

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Style over substance

Posted on 06 Apr 07 by Younghusband. Subscribe to follow comments on this post. 4 comments. Add your thoughts or trackback from your own site.

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