The Fashion Police
Manolo says, undoubtedly, the world it would be the much more super fantastic place if the Manolo actually did have the police powers.
The first law to be strenuously enforced? One must dress appropriately for the occasion.
Under no conceivable circumstance should one wear the slogan-bearing t-shirt to the Statement of the Union Speech. And, if you are silly enough to do this, you deserve to be led out in shame to the Capitol Rotunda where the gay-but-fashion-challenged Fab Five they will publicly make you over into the ridiculous metrosexual. This they should do even if you are the woman.
Trust the Manolo, wearing the political t-shirt to the formal ceremonial event, it does nothing for your cause. Indeed, the trivality of such attire, it perhaps even undermines the seriousness of your position.
P.S. By the way, the Manolo he has already addressed the issue of what is the appropriate feetwear to wear to the ceremonial events.
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Comments
bethefawn 19 years ago
Are those ferrets?
desertwind 19 years ago
Forgive me, dearest Manolo, but on this I must disagree with you.
The State of the Union Speech it is not a private inaugural ball for the president’s supporters, or a coronation, a papal installation, a wedding or a funeral. The president is invited by congress to The People’s House to address the chamber and the people he and congress represent.
Apparently, the state of our union isn’t very if two such different ladies can get tossed out for their innocent little t-shirts. Both ladies were invited — as the president was invited — as guests of members of congress.
What’s next? Censure for clapping or not clapping?
Of course you’re right Manolo, on the question of whether either lady has advanced her cause, but I’m rather inclined to be more lenient for the mother who lost her son.
VeddyVeddyBadAng 19 years ago
Hey, rules are rules, even if unwritten. “By custom, the annual address is to be a dignified affair in which the president reports on the state of the nation. Guests in the gallery who wear shirts deemed political in nature have, in past years, been asked to change or cover them up. Rules dealing mainly with what people can bring and telling them to refrain from reading, writing, smoking, eating, drinking, applauding or taking photographs are outlined on the back of gallery passes given to tourists every day.”
ChaChaHeels 19 years ago
Although I agree that attending a formal occasion such as this one requires appropriate attire, I will never agree that expressing one’s very serious, very well justified political opinion in the face of the President (who is, after all, elected to serve the people) is ever to be questioned as “inappropriate”, especially during the President’s State of the Union Speech event.
That is a right. Or at least that is what I thought.
What is truly unacceptable, deplorable, and heinous (and highly unfashionable) is that two women were hauled out of the event /arrested (an event to which they were invited) simply for speaking their minds, and actually saying out loud in their own way that they are opposed to the President’s policies and administration because of the way those policies have personally affected them. Those “inappropriately dressed” people were telling the truth at all cost to themselves. And I’m noticing that there are fewer and fewer “appropriate” events where people can safely do this in the USA–fewer avenues all together for people like these–who have a right to be heard, a right to speak out directly to the President, who needs to be told that he is not supported. I would personally love it if bona fide dissidents and critics of the President could dress splendiforously to attend such an event and then find some “appropriate” forum for their own voices of dissent would be heard–but exactly where would you say that forum exists?
So, why is it that we condemn people who insist on their democratic rights by denouncing their attire, when truly, the fact that we’re dismissing their activism (or rather, watching them be expediently removed and subsequently silenced) is so shameful in itself? I get what you’re saying, dear Manolo, but this is not the same thing as wearing grody flip flops to the White House to accept a Volleyball award.
Sibyl 19 years ago
Yeah, you know, it’s shocking when someone gets ejected from an event for NOT FOLLOWING THE RULES. What next? People being arrested for breaking the law?
Cindy Sheehan needs to find a form of protest that doesn’t involve looking foolish.
never2manyshoes 19 years ago
If you’d read the actual story, the wife wasn’t protesting or ‘speaking her mind’. She was supporting the guy on stage and she was still asked to leave.
There is a time and a place, and the State of the Union address is not the MTV movie awards.
And if these “voices of dissent” want their on fancy party, then I’m sure they can rent their own little hall and have a fancy rally, and then they can kick out whoever they want to.
I personally dislike that an observation on fashion by the Manolo was turned into a political discussion. Politics and fashion don’t go together. Look at Barbara Bush.
RCMP: 19 years ago
As a mountie, any day where I can’t hold a white ferret in full dress gear just isn’t worth living.
Kiki Belle 19 years ago
Well stated desertwind and ChaChaHeels! And, as annoying as Ms. Sheehan may be to some, we must remember that she, along with the families of more than 2000 men and women have suffered an unbearable loss.
Zarba 19 years ago
“Ohhhh, I’m a lumberjack and I’m OK,
I sleeps all night and I works all day…”
Ms. Sheehan was engaging in a cheap bid to get on TV. She knew the networks would just love to show her picture during the SOTU speech as a way to smite the President.
She was rightfully removed. As was the Congressman’s wife.
It’s called decorum, people.
When you got to such an event, you dress appropriately, OR DON’T GO AT ALL
Zarba 19 years ago
“Ohhhh, I’m a lumberjack and I’m OK,
I sleeps all night and I works all day…”
Sorry, had to get that out of the way…
Ms. Sheehan was engaging in a cheap bid to get on TV. She knew the networks would just love to show her picture during the SOTU speech as a way to smite the President. As far as I can tell, from seeing her on TV all the time for a year now, her voice of dissent has hardly been stifled.
She was rightfully removed. As was the Congressman’s wife. I’d feel the same way if a conservative had worn a t-shirt slandering the character of President Clinton at one of his SOTU speeches. Some things just aren’t done.
It’s called decorum, people.
When you got to such an event, you dress appropriately, OR DON’T GO AT ALL.
This “slob culture” that says it’s OK to wear flip-flops to the White House, or sneakers to weddings (Unless they’re in Arkansas), and the like is one of the reasons that we’ve become so rude, both in life and in politics.
A proper level of respect and dignity is not just good manners, it shows good character.
Zarba 19 years ago
Please forgive the double post. I blame global warming.
Verity Kindle 19 years ago
Both women were in extremely bad taste. Sheehan and the Congressman’s wife both showed up to a formal event in inappropriate attire. It has nothing to do with anyone’s individual politics. They knew the rules, which were publicly posted and presumably, they were both aware that they had been honored with an invitation to The State Of the Union, not some backyard barbecue party. Both of them were in error and both of them should be embarrassed. Is it that difficult to simply put on a nice blouse? It’s really just that simple. Outrage on either woman’s behalf is just silly.
johnnycake 19 years ago
Then there are plenty who do not believe that Bush himself has any right to be standing there as a legitimately-elected POTUS and by that all of the SOTUS ceremonies in which he engages are but a nightmarish farce.
VeddyVeddyBadAng 19 years ago
Thank you, RCMP, for pointing out the sweet absurdity of the mountie-ferret photo!
Annalucia 19 years ago
The Annalucia agrees with the Manolo and with the Zarba: the slogans on T-shirts, they do not belong at the official government function. She would go further and say that they also do not belong in the high-school or college classroom, or in the workplace. Even when they are not blatantly offensive, they are distracting to those who have to look at them.
CyndiF 19 years ago
What annoys me about the activist mentality is the notion that what they are doing is so vital, so righteous, that silly notions like good taste, decorum, politeness are to be ignored in the name of greater truth. These people typically don’t like it when activists advocating a position they disagree with pull the same stunts, however.
Lori 19 years ago
One of the articles stated that Sheehan was first asked by police to cover her t-shirt, and that she later attended an “alternative state of the union” event. Her rights aren’t being trampled, she just wants to get her picture in the paper.
Ryno 19 years ago
I thought the mounties were carrying their backcountry emergency fresh food supplies. But if they’re ferrets, the dinner table could just as easily be turned.
I agree with Zarba. A little bit of decorum and attention to the rules goes a long way in making the world a better place. Even as the Idiot Prince continues to make it worse.
Kourtney 19 years ago
I like the mountie pictures. And I’m Canadian, and I’m also woefully (& willfully) ignorant of almost all politics; America, Canadian, Middle Eastern, whatever. Yes, shame on me, I know. Aside from any & all political ramifications, I agree with what I thought was the essence of the Manolo’s blog: there are occassions that require proper attire. What the proper attire is depends on the ocassion, but if you are unwilling to “gird your loins” in whatever gear is socially acceptable for said occassion, then pff! It’s like a social minority interviewing at a law office in a orange plaid muumuu with purple jingle bell trim, & then being cheesed off because they weren’t taken seriously. Any validity to the situation is negated by the frivloussness of the attire. Or so I think.
Now I’m going to go & change out of my bathrobe, put on my suit, & go to work. Thanks to the Manolo for sparking such an interesting thread of commentary.
M 19 years ago
Manolo, do you wear the red shoes or the blue? the left or the right?
Fausta 19 years ago
I submit that anyone showing up anywhere (other than the gym) in gym clothes should be arrested.
And I didn’t know Canadian ferrets were white!
desertwind 19 years ago
In the light of day, the desertwind is embarressed to find the pompous ass side of her character has been revealed by her first post…
Ack!
Politix ‘ill do it to ya.
What I really meant to say: Of course — even agreeing in basic principle with Ma Sheehan — I still cringed when I heard about it because I didn’t think it was a great political move.
HOWEVER, if the ladies had been left alone, they would have been a mere paragraph in a color commentary about the event and not turned into a news story or a post on our dear Manolo’s blog.
As far as I could tell, they were otherwise appropriately dressed.
ripley 19 years ago
Wasn’t ms. sheehan not only removed, but also arrested: booked and fingerprinted and held, before being released? As even those who criticize her have said, she wasn’t breaking a law, although she may have been breaking unwritten rules (unwritten, people).
if the full mechanism of law enforcement was used, I do find that disturbing and far more inappropriate than a fashion faux pas.
also, the wife of the senator (who had a pro-war, or at least pro-troops tshirt slogan) was not arrested, only asked to leave. the selective use of the full mechanism of law enforcement to enforce an “unwritten custom” is pretty darn disturbing.
and as far as “activist think their cause is more important than social decorum” comments. Do remember that Ms. Sheehan’s son was killed. She may indeed think that is more important than social decorum. While some may regret what that does to social decorum, I think it is just as poor taste to ignore of be flip about someone’s response to their child’s death.
La BellaDonna 19 years ago
Hola to the Fausta! It is La BellaDonna’s understanding that the dress uniform for the northerly four-footed animals in the winter, it is almost always white. (The domestic ferrets, though, may be subject to exemption, and wear the fur of choice; La BellaDonna, she is not entirely certain about this. Or perhaps it is the costume party, and the ferrets are dressed as polar bears.)
Hola to the RCMP! La BellaDonna, she is happy that the white ferrets were in full dress gear, just to please you. La BellaDonna wishes to say that the Mounties, they looked remarkably fine, too, and it was thoughtful of them to wear the red uniforms, which will show up the full dress gear of the white ferrets, hair by hair by hair.
La BellaDonna, she hopes that the Mounties are careful where they aim those ferrets, because La BellaDonna, she suspects that they are fully armed.
garnets 19 years ago
Mother Sheehan has shown herself to be a media hound of the worst sort.
Any sympathy I had for her over the loss of her son – who signed up for a second tour of duty in Iraq, after all- has long since evaporated.
No T-shirts allowed at the SOTU. Act like adults, please.
JMe 19 years ago
Dress code is one thing, arrest for violation of dress code is quite another. Charges that never should have been made were dropped for both.
Two other points:
Who gets to decide what “good taste” is?
If everyone who dressed in violation of good taste was arrested, we’d all have a police record.
McSarah 19 years ago
Not to get totally off topic, but OH how I miss the days of summer, I remember it like it was yesterday, opening my browser to see ‘flipping and flopping in the house of the whiteness’ I miss summer, even the oppressive, flip flop requiring heat of a DC summer!
littlesplines 19 years ago
as the owner of the ferrets in the picture, I just want to give out some info.
yes, those are ferrets, they are fancies, which tend to have more health problems
compared to sables and albinos. the pic was taken on Canada day in Ottawa,
where the two RCMP kindly agreed to pose for a picture with Sand and Polar Bear.
Polar Bear was white, and Sand was more of a beige colour. I’m not quite sure how
the picture end up on this site, but I’m glad most viewers seem to agree that
the ferres were properly dressed. Sand and Bear were both descented, so they
were not armed.
VeddyVeddyBadAng 19 years ago
JMe asks “Who gets to decide what “good taste†is?”
Great question! Guess who gets to decide? ALL of us. Society decides what good taste is. The majority gets to say what is and is not acceptable, and then the rebellious can choose to go against it. Now, the real discussion is, what becomes of a society where the ideal is rebellion and good taste is considered undesirable? We seem to be smack in the middle of that situation, with such holdouts as Miss Manners and the Manolo struggling to hold on to the traditional definition of good taste. I hope they win, but it’s not looking good.
CyndiF 19 years ago
I believe, ripley, that there is a misdomenor (or however you spell it) code that Sheehan was in violation of, concerning political demonstrations in the visitor’s gallery. Whether it should be a law or not is debatable, though I assume that it was put into place to try to limit noisy, organized demonstrations indoors undertaken for publicity purposes.