musing
From closet to cabinet
Preoccupation with the Thai premier's appearance has pushed her politics out of the picture
- Published: 11/02/2012 at 10:22 PM
- Newspaper section: Life
Like words, fashion is a tricky tool. They are both a form of expression, the first is verbal, and the latter is visual. The similarity _ they can make or break a person.
Fashion can make a person when it's used with tact and wit to send the right message to your audience. It enhances both identity and intent, and as Pulitzer Prize-winning fashion correspondent Robin Givhan once said, "politicians are more concerned about the messages they convey, the way in which they're coming across to their constituency and the way in which they're perceived, than any other group of people I can think of, except perhaps, for entertainers."
Not that we expect our politicians to strut the Parliament House dressed in a Giorgio Armani three-piece suit _ flash brands aren't the dress code for politicians. They're, before they become ministers and all sorts, a representative. As our representative, they need to look like one of us and Thai politicians have been using clothes as a way to show their "being just like people in the country" for ages without being aware of it. I'm talking about that traditional loin cloth they tie around their waist whenever they go out on the election campaign. It's their way of showing they're one of the country folk.
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About the author
- Writer: Samila Wenin
- Position: Muse Editor
