Monochromosis Armeniaca
A particular subject has been bothering me for a good deal of time now, and I feel it is apt to express myself on this issue, to vent my frustrations and – of course – to take a ride on one of my favourite hobby horses.
The point in question is the fashion sense of the good people of Yerevan. In particular, the girls.
I have noticed of late an increasing trend in the young population of our capital to be clad in but a single colour. Red seems to be more preferred, but bright blue, orange and pistachio green are not far behind. On more than one occasion I have noticed boys as well, dressed in red from head to toe, shoes included. I have decided to call this phenomenon monochromosis armeniaca.
Another aspect of the Hayastan fashion sense, more noticeable in the past due to its scarcity, but not much behind now either, is wearing clothes of innumerable colours, generally clashing, mostly outlandish. It is not uncommon to see blue leather jackets alongside brown jeans, shoes with different patches on them, pink tights that go with ear-rings resembling chandeliers, and so on. (I have no desire to elaborate more on the footwear, pointy or otherwise.) Each item is a different shade, of course, and this may be referred to as hyperchromosis armeniaca, if you will.
Eight to ten years ago, monochromosis armeniaca was more evident in that everyone wore black and only black. Back then, there was very little choice indeed in clothing, and people were generally not so well off. This trend continues in the more impoverished parts of the country, but the contagion of hyperchromosis armeniaca, though at first encouraging, has slowly but surely taken less aesthetic turns.
I don’t know how to go about tackling this exactly. It might fall directly into the medical field, perhaps more psychological or sociological. The primary question is, where in Heaven’s name do these people get these clothes ? That’s easy to answer, though; just visit any old yarmarka/donavajar/bazaar, or underground passageway. You’ll be surprised, I can assure you.
Secondly, and much more importantly, WHY in Heaven’s name do these people wear such clothes ? This is indeed a far more difficult point of contention. As an outsider, I fail to see the reasoning behind such taste and I shall confess that I often go about pointing to boys and girls off the street, passing comments on their clothing, especially if I’m with spiurkahays or odars. I realise this is inappropriate, but I need to understand this, particularly because I have personally met people, individuals who are just fine, normal, khelke-klkhin, even intellectual, but who have ridiculous get-ups on them. I know there’s no arguing with taste, but there’s also an extent, a sort of norm in general of society, which Armenia seems to either transcend, transgress or perhaps simply dismiss.
In any case, there’s no denying that, at least, Yerevan is getting brighter and more colourful.
The point in question is the fashion sense of the good people of Yerevan. In particular, the girls.
I have noticed of late an increasing trend in the young population of our capital to be clad in but a single colour. Red seems to be more preferred, but bright blue, orange and pistachio green are not far behind. On more than one occasion I have noticed boys as well, dressed in red from head to toe, shoes included. I have decided to call this phenomenon monochromosis armeniaca.
Another aspect of the Hayastan fashion sense, more noticeable in the past due to its scarcity, but not much behind now either, is wearing clothes of innumerable colours, generally clashing, mostly outlandish. It is not uncommon to see blue leather jackets alongside brown jeans, shoes with different patches on them, pink tights that go with ear-rings resembling chandeliers, and so on. (I have no desire to elaborate more on the footwear, pointy or otherwise.) Each item is a different shade, of course, and this may be referred to as hyperchromosis armeniaca, if you will.
Eight to ten years ago, monochromosis armeniaca was more evident in that everyone wore black and only black. Back then, there was very little choice indeed in clothing, and people were generally not so well off. This trend continues in the more impoverished parts of the country, but the contagion of hyperchromosis armeniaca, though at first encouraging, has slowly but surely taken less aesthetic turns.
I don’t know how to go about tackling this exactly. It might fall directly into the medical field, perhaps more psychological or sociological. The primary question is, where in Heaven’s name do these people get these clothes ? That’s easy to answer, though; just visit any old yarmarka/donavajar/bazaar, or underground passageway. You’ll be surprised, I can assure you.
Secondly, and much more importantly, WHY in Heaven’s name do these people wear such clothes ? This is indeed a far more difficult point of contention. As an outsider, I fail to see the reasoning behind such taste and I shall confess that I often go about pointing to boys and girls off the street, passing comments on their clothing, especially if I’m with spiurkahays or odars. I realise this is inappropriate, but I need to understand this, particularly because I have personally met people, individuals who are just fine, normal, khelke-klkhin, even intellectual, but who have ridiculous get-ups on them. I know there’s no arguing with taste, but there’s also an extent, a sort of norm in general of society, which Armenia seems to either transcend, transgress or perhaps simply dismiss.
In any case, there’s no denying that, at least, Yerevan is getting brighter and more colourful.
posted by Nareg at 6:15 PM
16 Comments:
man anything but those sad black clothing they used to wear is a positive change for me...also at least the girls in armenia have some variety in clothes whereas the guys practically all wear the same stuff and seem decades behind in fashion compared to the girls... i specially like the white tight pants with high heels that the girls wear...it’s probably one of the reasons I keep going back to Armenia…hehe
Same old same old spyurqahay comments. Sorry Narek, no offence. And sadly I hear this over and over again by every visitor to this country.
hyperchromosis armeniaca ... cool in my opinion, only because I'm a retro 80s freak and that's exactly what this type is. By the way, I was wearing blue and brown mixed today. Not a bad combination dude.
monochromosis armeniaca ... particularly all black has more reasoning than people, basically spyurqs and outsiders, don't know about. Back in the day, not only was it the colour mostly worn because there was nothing else in stores, but also due to lack of round-the-clock water. When you really don't have water to wash your clothes, or even yourself and you smell of B.O. ... what else can innocent man do, but wear black so dirtiness doesn't show?
And as far as guys with no fashion sense, again ... spyurqs don't realize that THERE IS NOTHING ELSE FOR GUYS TO WEAR HERE! We're FINALLY getting a few stores opening up here and there with guys clothing, but even those are not that affordable.
Well take a one hour flight trip to Teheran and you will see monochromosis arabislamia ore as I call it NINJA STYLI so bee happy whit what you see ( Its better than 5 years ago ?)
I'm going to entertain a conspiracy theorist's view and say the following:
If you go shopping at the donavajar, etc... you will realize that a majority of the clothes are "made in turkey" (even if the dude selling them swears on his life it's not). You see, the Turks are trying to make us look bad even in our own country... They're cheap, yes. Tasteful? No.
So there u have it... when all else fails, blame it on the Turks.
(guys, this is a joke... please don't send me hate-mail). :)
I am pretty sure that, to them you wear unusual and funny clothes. Your eye is not used to their style and vice versa. and this is true in every country or region.
Shoosh, you're absolutely right! I don't know why I didn't think of it myself.
And there's more to it: this latest reddening trend must be counter-activity by the Tashnagtsoutiun. Come to think of it, most of the guys with all-red clothing DID happen to brandish tufenks, too. Hmmm...
I still don't get it - what's wrong with wearing black? My preferred outfit is black slacks with a white or blue shirt.
As for the pointy shoes, I keep seeing them in higher end retailers in the mall. Noone seems to wear them but they are offered for sale.
Perhaps a "What Not to Wear" television program would help. It is a bit strange that in the rest of the former Soviet Union - Georgia included, there is a better idea of what is the fashion norm. Unfortunately, the Armenians have not a clue. Inexplicable. This lack of knowledge of global currents in fashion is accompanied by a grossly mistaken sense that locals have a profound knowledge of what is fashionalbe. It is particularly offensive when a group of locals (decked out in their post-Soviet mafia best) stare and laugh at Spyurkahays walking down the street. Who should be laughing at whom? This is a general problem that runs from fashion to architecture to interior design, etc. You don't have to be rich to have style.
I agree that prople in Armenia often appear in very unattractive "fashions", and as you say, the quality of their clothing often does not correspond to the quality of their personality. This is sad, but we have to accept that for the moment...until Armenia's economy is developed.
Wearing cool and trendy clothing is very easy in a country where cool and trendy clothing is readily available and perfectly affordable to its citizens. Please realize that Armenia is NOT one of these countries yet. And concerning taste... I would love to see what people in the US or Europe would wear if they didn't have fashion desingers, advertisers,and merchandisers telling them exactly what to wear, when to wear it, and what to wear it with every day. Armenian citizens wear whatever they can get their hands on, which almost always is bad Turkish or Chinese items (at very high prices) or second hand from their relatives in other countries. The latter is by far the better and more preferred on the two choices.
Our only hope is that Armenia gets a fashion industry of it's own one day.
Doesn’t it have a lot to do with how fashion media is getting filtered in Armenia and the way it’s popularized? Where are the images of fashion coming from (magazines, tv personalities, odars on vacation perhaps) and how it is being translated in the cultural mindset of people’s attitude toward fashion (a friend of mine from Gyumri has said that people in her town will do ANYTHING to look original and fashionable) with the goods that are available. Let’s face it, we are all mimicking the images of what we are told is beautiful, what is fashionable, and altering it to coincide with our self expression.
I guess we look funny in our flip flops, jeans and t-shirt outfits to them! :)
On a more positive note, I did notice a lot more young people wearing jeans, and quite tastefully too! Even if they still wore stilletos, it was a fashionable look.
How about starting a fashion magazine? (Armenian version of VOGUE.... or how about a Comso??)
Count me in Shoosh, I can't handle the fashion here anymore. I've been here for over a month and haven't seen one item of clothing that I would even consider buying, something's gotta be done and soon.....
if any one reading this has normal fashion sense for men and women.. and lives in armenia.. and has some background in producing clothes and is motivated.. please contact me for possible consideration of business and investment. pedro@submitexpress.com
How do we petition a TARGET to come to Armenia? Cheap and fashionable clothing... among other things!
(i'm so amerigatsi right now with this suggestion)
TARGET is fashionable????!!!!!!
A "What Not To Wear" episode in Armenian would be a winner. "Design on a Dime" wouldn't hurt either. You don't have to be rich to have style people. Come on.
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