Earlier this year actress Carey Mulligan was criticised for turning up (and winning) at the Baftas in a dress which was not by a British designer. I never understood why the controversy of her choosing the dress of her dreams, regardless where the creator is from.
Since when did fashion become an expression of one's patriotic responsibility?
You wouldn't expect everyone to wear American designs at the Oscars, so why the double standards when the occassion is 'regional'
Recent events in Ireland have proven that some press enjoy provoking the public with scandals regarding people's dress choice and the relationship this has with their national commitment...Does this make sense???
About a month ago the daughter of the former Taoiseach* decided to marry in a gown designed by Oscar de la Renta. The tabloid press picked up on the story and twisted it into an 'unpatriotic' affair. Irish designers where questioned and put on the spot about her choice of a foreign designer over an Irish one.
Part of the argument (apart from the baggage she carries from her father's actions as head of state) was the need for public figures to be seen as supporting local industry. But the irony is that what one person wears on a specific occasion will not change the state of our economy.
Should all countries adopt same campaign it would be the end of the Irish Fashion Industry. Everyone would be supporting their own indigenous designers and we would have nowhere to export too. .
I wonder if those who wrote, and those who favoured the debate against her choice, buy Irish labels on a regular basis? Probably not...and to make matters worse those same 'tabloids' abstained from using Irish designers in their fashion pages for many months in 2009 'for compassionate reasons' (hardly anything over a certain price was featured) bringing the small manufacturing facilities in the country to their knees. Making these 'journalists' partially responsable for the situation in the first place .
The conclusion...........well we should be free to choose whoever, wherever and whatever we want to wear and maybe it's time to practice what we preach....
*Taoiseach - head of Irish governement
Beautiful ...
Posted by: Madeleine Gallay | 07/16/2010 at 03:40 AM
Really nice, really true! The support should start from journalists
Posted by: Sandra | 07/16/2010 at 08:45 AM
Some, very few journalists, see the bigger picture. Our press is plagued by sensationalist writers who really have no idea what they are talking about and really don't care either.
Posted by: Silent Storyteller | 07/16/2010 at 09:09 AM
Hear, hear...............anybody seen Kate Blanchett in Australian fashion of late?
Posted by: Georgie Pilson | 07/16/2010 at 02:15 PM