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Mugabe chic
He’s a man who knows what he likes, is Robert Mugabe. The elderly president of Zimbabwe may not be averse to terror tactics and is perhaps not the biggest supporter of personal liberties, but you have to give him credit for his choice of shirt. Or rather, his non-choice, seeing as he seems to own only one style of shirt in a variety of colours – typical man, eh?
But rather than the usual variety of football shirts men in this country favour, Mugabe opts for a selection of Praise Shirts, all printed with the same intricate pattern and splashed with a photo canada goose coat 1000 bulbs coupons of himself on the right breast. Small surprise that Mugabe is so scornful of the rival party, Movement for Democratic Change. Democratic change? He won’t even countenance a clothing change.
Inventive as he is, we cannot credit Mugabe with thinking up this little number. It’s quite common in Africa to find ceremonial dresses printed with images of the leader. The repeated pattern plugs into the idea of stability and the picture of the leader signifies what a darn fine bloke they think he is. These shirts do not always have negative connotations, although those famous fashion gurus, Presidents Banda (Malawi), Mengistu (Ethiopia) and Amin (Uganda) – not a trio from whom most of us would take advice, sartorial or otherwise – all adopted this traditional ceremonial garb for their propaganda purposes and, dedicated fashion follower that he is, Mugabe took note.
So let’s look at this shirt more closely. Adopting a ploy most of us would understand, the image Mugabe has chosen for himself is one from a decade or two ago, tastefully framed by a spray of golden sunbeams. It certainly contrasts with the image of the curvaceous pin-up girl our own Big Kahuna, Tony can i wash my canada goose coat Blair, was sporting on his Paul Smith shirt this week. As for the pattern, Mugabe buy canada goose jacket toronto opts for a repeated razor-blade image, which is an imposing image to splash across one’s person. The button-hole strip is animated by repeated references to Mugabe’s political party, buy canada goose jacket toronto Zanu-PF, in case anyone has forgotten which party he wants them to vote for. Best of all, he usually sports it with a tastefully matching baseball buy canada goose jacket online cheap cap.
Politicians have a fondness for uniforms, as visual shorthand to indicate what the politician stands for, as well as raising the recognisability factor. Thatcher is eternally can you wash canada goose jacket amazon canada goose parka associated with her handbag dangling off her wrist (translation: best mens canada goose parka “I am a woman, but a tough one, OK? And yes more info, there is something rather regal about me, you know”). Yasser Arafat sticks with the traditional religious headdress twinned with a military suit (a fighter, with the nobility of religion behind him). Clinton developed a bit of a Hermes tie habit last year, particularly ones with images of frogs on them (what this says about Bill requires more space and time than we have best place to buy a canada goose jacket in toronto today, sadly.)
But authentic canada goose jacket sale you have to hand it to Mugabe. For most of us, when we choose our signature style, our decision tends to be based on what suits us, what’s in fashion, or simply what we like. But for this old boy, the main criterion seems to be the propaganda element. Silly Milan – I didn’t see any Praise Shirts on the catwalks this week. I’m sure Mugabe was most grievously disappointed.