European Costumes

 

I would like to start with a memorable quote from The Little Prince:

“I have serious reason to believe that the planet from which the little prince came is the asteroid known as B−612.

This asteroid has only once been seen through the telescope. That was by a Turkish astronomer, in 1909.  On making his discovery, the astronomer had presented it to the International Astronomical Congress, in a great demonstration. But he was in Turkish costume, and so nobody would believe what he said. Grown−ups are like that...

Fortunately, however, for the reputation of Asteroid B−612, a Turkish dictator made a law that his subjects, under pain of death, should change to European costume. So in 1920 the astronomer gave his demonstration all over again, dressed with impressive style and elegance. And this time everybody accepted his report.”

This little view of dress codes always amused me.

Do you watch the Sunday morning news shows?  The studio is very sleek with electronic screens all around and a glass desk.  The men presenting the news always wear a suit and tie, with impressive style and elegance, and even more, the lady presenters always wear a fashionable dress, and high heels.  Extremely high heels.  I am not just saying this, I noticed the cameras invariably focus on these high heels…

What is it about high heels?  I remember an article about shoes in Oprah’s magazine. She categorizes shoes as sensible to walk in, and as those that you just can stand on.  Sometimes, only for a short time.

I received a zoom link to an especially important event:

2020 Balkans Forum Against Anti-Semitism

In a historic act, the Parliament of the Republic of Albania, in partnership with the Combat Anti-Semitism Movement (CAM) has taken an important step in the fight against anti-Semitism and bigotry, when it will host the "2020 Balkans Forum Against Anti-Semitism" on October 28th, 2020. 

This event was over 3 hours.  Some speakers were in Albania, but many speakers were seen on the screen from all over the world.  The presenter was a tall, good looking lady, standing in the room facing the screens on two walls.  She was wearing an elegant pants suit with high heels shoes.  I was wondering how long she could stand on those high heels.  In the last half hour, she indeed got tired and walked over to a bar table in a corner and sat on a stool.

Another TV encounter that struck me this past summer was President Trump’s interview with Chris Wallace.  It was the president’s choice to hold the interview outdoors.  Both men were sweating so profusely, you could see drops of sweat steaming down their foreheads.  But they were very proper, sticking to the European dress code!

Why do we need dress codes?  Historically you could be able to tell who royalty is, who is clergy, and who is a famer, just by the way they dress.  But these days when you attend conferences, you may see young men with T-shirts and jeans.  That was before the pandemic.  Now in zoom meetings the rumor is that most people stay with Pajama bottoms, and just change their tops…