Oh wow! So while going through my daily dose of blogs, I came across this interesting article by Tania Braukämper called:
Daring to bare on the street. Are we ready for risque street style?
*Beginning of article* While we see this kind of display of skin in editorials and on runways frequently, we don’t quite expect the same from a street style look. Especially not when the wearer is, as the photographer of these snapsMr Newton reports, going for a casual spot of lunch.
But a few points here: showing skin she may be, but the look somehow isn’t highly sexualised. There’s elegance to the spotted black tulle, the below-knee fishtail hem, the lack of any glamorous makeup. Secondly, the ease with which the outfit is worn coupled with the extreme confidence required to pull it off begs the question of whether a cultural divide comes into play. Is Italian Eleonora Carisi (the subject of the photos) simply evidence that the European view of nudity is more liberal than that of other parts of the world?
And, regardless of whether or not we expect to see something so sheer worn as daywear, so long as the wearer feels confident in it, does it matter? *End of article*
I have to say after looking at the pictures over and over for about 20 minutes, they started to looking normal. The outfit starts making sense, it looks good and wearable, not that I would personally wear but its not as shocking. When I first saw it almost fell off my chair. But then I thought to myself, why am I actually shocked by this, because as an African this should not shock me. In some parts of africa its a norm for women to bear their breasts in public, not walking around on the streets naked, but there are some occasions/rituals where women parade topless. These are usually royal ceremonies, where the King picks a new bride. For example in South Africa and Swaziland there is the "Reed Dance" where women of all ages, sizes and shapes cut reeds and they present them to the king/queen mother, topless.
I am Swati and the "Reed Dance" seems normal to me. I would take part in it if I had to, but I never wear a sheer black see-through blouse with no bra on and walk around in the streets. I suppose this all goes to show how cultures can be so similar but yet so different.
Thank You*
Melody Motha-Molale
