Tuesday, November 08, 2005

Unholy Fashion

Religious fashion has been in the mainstream for a long time. The most common way of displaying one’s religion is by wearing their sign or representation of their belief as a necklace. Of course along the way even the styles of wearing religious necklaces have evolved. With the influence of hip-hop culture the cross necklace has seem to be “blinged-up” (diamonds/rhinestones) and enlarged quiet a bit with crosses and other representations being 6 inches tall or even bigger.

Just quiet recently the trend in fashion was that it is “cool” to be religious. Many of you have probably seen on campus the t-shirt “Jesus is my Homeboy” or “Got Jesus”. Other religious t-shirts that have reached mainstream is “Everyone Loves a Jewish Girl”, “OM (AUM)”, and pictures of Buddha, and other Hindu gods as well.

Fashion is a great way to express your religious or spiritual beliefs as long as it is respectful of others and does not insult others’ beliefs. Especially when it comes to religion it is a very sensitive issue and even subtle behaviors can offend others. However, there are many people and companies that do offend other religions, and it is important to be aware, so in the future these mistakes do not occur again.

The following is a list of products that represent “Unholy Fashion”:

American Eagle came out with a pair of flip-flops with the picture of the Hindu god Ganesh on the sole. The American Hindu’s against defamation did protest against the company and got the product off the shelf, however shortly after that (even after protests) they put the same Hindu god Ganesh on a t-shirt saying “New Delhi Circus, Get Nuts” with a inverted OM sign on it.

Abercrombie and Fitch came out with the shirt “Get Your Buddha on the Floor”. People did protest against the shirt to get it out of the store. However, sadly in the USA that shirt was in high demand by customers.

Saks Fifth Avenue supplied shoes from a famous Italian designer that put a picture of Buddha on the insole of a pair of heels and pair of women’s flats.

Minelli, a French company but the Hindu god Krishna on a pair of women’s shoes. (Left)

Roberto Cavalli designed a bikini/underwear range with the main theme of Hindu gods on it, which are being sold at big stores such as Harrods. However, when people protested against the clothing the “management of the store Harrods was unresponsive and insensitive”.

“Jesus Saves. Buddha does Incremental Backups.” Found on syswear.com

“Jesus Hates Pussies” Found on http://www.simplythebike.com/

I found an image of Jesus on a pair of flip-flops.

I was appalled and some of the stuff I found. I think it is important to be respectful of all religions and cultures. What do you guys think about some of the stuff I found? Did you come across any of these “Unholy” fashion designs? Did you do anything? I personally have not bought anything from American Eagle, Abercrombie & Fitch, or Saks Fifth Avenue since I heard about what they did.
*Refrences for pictures and Info:
journals.aol.com

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