Is the camouflage print fashion acceptable or associated with the insurgents?

In the former president’s latest impeachment trial, Representative Jamie Raskin, D-Maryland, showed side-by-side photos of the Michigan State Capitol assailants from April 2020 and the Capitol rioters from January 6. He said: “This Trump-inspired crowd may indeed sound familiar to you – Confederate battle flags, MAGA hats, weapons, army camouflage gear – just like the insurgents who showed up and invaded this room on the 6th. January.” A little after, The late show Host Stephen Colbert aired the impeachment footage and joked “… prompting Us weekly to ask “Who betrayed him the best?” “

Trump supporters, including the rioters on Capitol Hill, boldly wore explicitly hate symbols referencing the Holocaust or Confederate flags. In one Fast company As an article explaining the symbolism of some of the protesters’ clothing, Elizabeth Segran quoted Robert Sanders, a retired U.S. Navy judge and professor of national security at the University of New Haven. He called up camouflage prints, saying that by wearing camouflage rioters “are trying to say they’re warriors for the white race.” However, wrote Segran, “not everyone who wears camouflage is part of a militia.”

It all made me wonder (Carrie Bradshaw voiceover response): After the Capitol uprising, is it okay to wear camouflage?

Camouflage has been in strong rotation in my WFH wardrobe: an easy-to-use cashmere sweatshirt, soft camouflage slippers, and stretchy leggings. (Note: I don’t usually wear them all at the same time.) Camouflage was developed by the military to allow hunters / soldiers / tanks / battleships to come close or go unnoticed by prey / enemies. The patterns and hues are based on the environments they are worn in, including sandy deserts and leafy forests. Prints – from high street to haute couture to the real deal – are available in a variety of colors: dark blue, neon, pastel pink or standard green (known as “MARPAT Woodland”). Real military personnel wear camouflage to blend in with their surroundings (it obscures the human figure), but I find that in civilian life a little detail of camouflage actually elevates an otherwise boring outfit.

I am neither a white supremacist nor a Capitol rioter. I reject their racist and objectionable views. I am not a former military or a hunter either. In short: I have no functional reason to wear camouflage. When I wear camouflage, the only statement I make is, “My basic NYC magazine editor (but do not fashion editor!) the wardrobe of supposedly timeless classics is boring and I need pizzaz. (FWIW, I also say, “I’m a little messy and overflowing a lot, and camouflage prints – as well as tie-dye – are my friends.”)

Granted, since Trump’s rise, I would never, ever wear a red baseball cap with or without the scarlet letters. Red baseball caps, because of their Trumpian connotation, are now a no-no to many people. Robin Givhan summed it up in The Washington Post: “The red hat has become a symbol of us against them, of exclusion and suspicion.” Should the same be said of camouflage? I certainly wouldn’t want people to think I’m some sort of White Power fan when they see me wearing my favorite sweatshirt.

(It should be noted: Reporters commented on members of the Capitol crowd wearing “tactical gear.” This does not necessarily equate to camouflage. Tactical clothing and accessories are produced to equip the military and forces of the United States. order, according to a reputable fashion blog. TheUSMarines.com. This includes vests with tons of pockets, steel-toed boots, backpacks, utility belts, and gadgets like night vision goggles and killer pens. Laws regulate some of that – for example, bulletproof vests, in some states, cannot be legally purchased by convicted felons. As the 2020 election approached, the apocalyptic mood was popular, and business was booming.)

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I turned to a few experts. I started with Vanessa Friedman, the chief fashion critic of The New York Times. Read his chronicle for a history of high fashion military clothing and a thoughtful essay on what it means to wear camouflage. The short answer is: Madonna can impress in a Jeremy Scott camouflage ball gown at the Met Gala, but maybe, as a civilian, I should avoid items like camouflage cargo pants that could be mistaken for military gear. For a closer look: In his “Open Thread” newsletter, Friedman cited a reader’s response to my original “Ask Vanessa” question. The veteran commentator wrote that wearing camouflage for the sake of fashion was “horribly disrespectful” and “akin to stolen bravery.” The reader added, “The only exception I can think of is if a vet gives a jacket or piece as a keepsake to a family member. Even so, we were told that the badges and medals should be removed as the giveaway did not earn them. It tears my heart apart that my camouflage disturbs someone who has valiantly served our country.

I got a second opinion from a family member who is a retired sailor (usually terse, he prefers to remain anonymous): “I think it’s okay to wear camouflage,” he wrote in a letter. E-mail. “I even think it’s a compliment to the people who have to wear it every day.” He adds, “However, I draw the line on civilians wearing the rank insignia or unit badges on their camouflage clothing. Soldiers work very hard to rise in rank or join elite units and when civilians wear them it trivializes achievement.

I turned next to Marie Claire fashion editors Joseph Errico and Julia Gall for their opinions on undoing the cover-up. Their point of view: Many military garments have separated from their functional origins. “Bomber jackets, aviators, green military jackets, all are now part of the American fashion identity,” says Gall. “It’s so beyond the classic, it transcends fashion. And it reverberates in so many ways – that’s why it’s so democratic. It’s like jeans: now ubiquitous.

“I don’t think if you saw Julia Gall walking down the street in Junya Watanabe camouflage, you would think she started an insurgency,” Errico adds. “It all depends on the context. I don’t know if the cover-up necessarily confuses a person’s ideology with MAGA and the far right. If you are wearing camo and stiletto heels I think you are fine.

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I then contacted the designer of this luxury sweatshirt that I wore in rags. “Camouflage has been an important fashion item for decades, as have other elements originally inspired by military uniforms,” wrote Catherine Morrissey, president of White + Warren, in an email. unprinted print that works as a neutral. It adds interest without being too powerful. It’s also selling like hot cakes – “the sweatshirt sold out twice last year,” Morrissey notes.

So, are there any fashion insiders ditching the cover-up? “I used to work Doc Martens and camouflage [from the Army Navy store] when I was a young gay man, but that didn’t mean I was a skinhead, of course, ”says Tom Scott, assistant professor of fashion design at the Fashion Institute of Technology. But the reason for dropping the cover-up now is that it has been marred by “that terrible moment in American history, hasn’t it?” He postulates, responding to himself, “I don’t think the White Power folks are appropriating something iconic like camouflage which is already worn by many types of people and which has been worked on in the street style for. decades. They fail to take that model and make it mean what they want it to mean. “

For the last word, I contacted the famous costume designer Patricia Field (The devil wears Prada, Emily in Paris, and Gender and city). “Lately I’ve found myself questioning the white supremacist association,” she admits. But she’s been wearing camouflage outfits for a long, long time and, she says, “I admit I haven’t quit.”

At the end of the day, I’m still in conflict. I am a pacifist and not a fashionista. I love comfort and want to add avant-garde chic with minimal effort. I also respect my family members and ancestors who served everywhere from Fallujah to Argonne Forest, San Juan Hill, Chickamauga and the Revolution. In conclusion, I decided to follow the lead of Field, one of the great style legends of our time, and to continue wearing camouflage – as a fashion, yes, but also as a tribute.

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