STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

pollyjean23 · Marc Jacobs

So STUPID!

Kelly · Hermes

I read that today. How incredibly idiotic.

Bastet · Kate Spade

I'm so disappointed in Dunkin Donuts for caving to the whackos and discontinuing the ad.

Collette · Chanel

pollyjean23 wrote:

Rachael Ray Dunkin Donuts Ad

Did you all see this? I just heard them talking about it on NPR today. People need to take a chill-pill. Seriously.

OMG, Collette, you better be careful with your scarf! They might not let you into public spaces!

-- Edited by pollyjean23 at 18:17, 2008-05-29

I saw this stupid thing the day I had my scarf delivered and I was like WTF? Seriously? I hardly see Osama Bin Laden showing up in a red and white scarf with Karma stitched across it. I don't see him so much as a person worried about Karma.

Suasoria · Chanel

Sometimes when I read stuff like this, I find it unreal that I actually live in this country.

Rachael Ray, jihadist? Snort. Who's next, Bruce Springsteen? Leann Rimes? Bill Cosby?

XtinaStyles · Marc Jacobs

Ok maybe I take myself way too seriously but I have a problem with these scarves becomming trendy.

Since when does Ayatollah Khomeini set fashion trends?

I see these things in various colorsbeing worn by the same crowd that shops at urban outfitters. It has become a political symbol, so why are people ignorantly wearing them in a fashionable way?

Kelly · Hermes

Honestly, until I read that article, I had never thought of them as political. And I very much doubt that anyone (especially a donut joint)would intentionally make a commercial with an untasteful political symbol. I mean, apparently no one at Dunkin' Donuts or RR's stylists ever thought that, or else they definitely wouldn't have made the commercial.

I have a light summer scarf that I wear sometimes, although it doesn't have a print similar to RR's. Mine is white/purple tie-dyed. It has never even crossed my mind that it could be inappropriate. And if I saw someone walking down the street with a similar fringed scarf that simply had a different pattern than mine, I wouldn't think twice about it except in a fashion/trend sense.

littlebean · Kate Spade

I was also floored by the whole outcry. It actually makes me like Dunkin' Donuts less that they pulled the ad. I have known for a long time that the keffiyeh is a traditional Arab item of clothing but I never knew before that some people now associated it with "pro-Palestinian jihad".

And I hope this doesn't sound snarky, but I just wanted to point out that as far as I know, this is not a case of Ayatollah Khomeini setting fashion trends. People have actually been arrested in Iran for wearing a keffiyeh because it is regarded as a sign of Arab nationalism.

XtinaStyles · Marc Jacobs

littlebean wrote:
People have actually been arrested in Iran for wearing a keffiyeh because it is regarded as a sign of Arab nationalism.

You just made my point exactly. If its so contraversial and regarded as a political tool or sign, why are we wearing them in donut ads? I think its a matter of ignorance. I think people are not associating the look with anything political because they are so far removed from the images we see of those scarves.

-- Edited by XtinaStyles at 10:24, 2008-06-03

Kelly · Hermes

so then what is a "political" scarf and what is a "fasionable" scarf? is it the fringe? the pattern? the colors? They way it's worn?

cahabo · Kate Spade

To me that's just a dang scarf! I really don't care what Rachel Ray is wearing anyhow.

Sibeski · Dooney & Bourke

cahabo wrote:

To me that's just a dang scarf! I really don't care what Rachel Ray is wearing anyhow.

EXACTLY!

halah · Kenneth Cole

You know this is a tough subject. I don't want to dress ignorantly or without sensitivity to other cultures/beliefs but where do you draw the line? I purposefully have stayed away from the above styled scarves only because I was aware of the negative connotation, and in NYC there is such a mix of cultures I don't want to anger someone and it's such a hot political topic these days. However I'm sure the face that I wear pants, short skirts and I don't cover my head offends some culture out there...you can't make everyone happy!

I see these scarves for sale in every color all over the east village. Maybe if enough hipsters start wearing them they'll lose their political power.

Cortney1982 · Chanel

I just thought it was a fashion trend! I have seen a couple girls wear them over their heads though trying to be "cool" or such.

Elle · Hermes

I see how it could be viewed as culturally insensitive. However, being that this is indeed America and we are generally allowed to do, say, and wear what we please I don't really see the issue. This is one cultural statement that is also a fashion statement - frankly I think it would be pretty unmistakeable what someone was trying to convey. I think the scarf is a little more biker-esque than Arab.

If they'd aired this commercial in the middle east? Insensitive. If she'd wrapped it around her head in a traditionally cultural way? Insensitive. But in a donut ad in the U.S. on an Italian girl that makes no mention of anything political whatsoever? Please!

IMO this is just someone being advantageous of the situation in the world right now, and trying to create drama where there isn't any to bring artificial attention to their issues. Some other countries/governments lace propoganda like that into their commercials, but we don't play by those sort of rules. This is just the sort of thing that does nothing but undermine an otherwise valid concern.

Suasoria · Chanel

Today I happened to read this exact same AP story on another site, and realized the USA Today version had some content edited out.

Here's some brief further comment for those who can stand it:

Amahl Bishara, an anthropology lecturer at the University of Chicago who specializes in media matters relating to the Middle East, said complaints about the scarf's use in the ad demonstrate misunderstandings of Arab culture.

"[This] is just an example of how so much of the complexity of Arab culture has been reduced to a very narrow vision of the Arab world," Bishara said in a phone interview. "Kaffiyehs are worn every day on the street by Palestinians and other people in the Middle East -- by people going to work, going to school, taking care of their families, and just trying to keep warm."

While some extremists and terrorists may wear kaffiyehs, "To reduce their meaning to support for terrorism has a tacit racist tone to it," Bishara said.

atlgirl · Gucci

"Critics, including conservative commentator Michelle Malkin, complained that the scarf wrapped around her looked like (bolding is mine) a kaffiyeh, the traditional Arab headdress."

"A statement issued by Canton, Mass.-based Dunkin' Brands Inc., however, said the scarf had a paisley design, and was selected by a stylist for the advertising shoot."

It isn't even a kaffiyeh - it "looks like" one, to some people! (and IMO, it really doesn't). All this flap because it distantly might resemble the kaffiyeh? I agree with Elle that this is just people trying to create drama out of nothing. And I think it's sad that DD caved and pulled the ad. Have some backbone! They said it wasn't a kaffieyeh and that no political meaning was intended by the ad. End of story.

Suasoria · Chanel

Hear, hear, Atlgirl. I mean, could it be more obvious that the pundits and 24-hour news channels need to manufacture these ridiculous non-stories to keep us from actually paying attention to what's really going on?

Why talk about the price of oil, when Rachel Ray is wearing a scarf or a starlet isn't wearing underwear?

blink · Coach

atlgirl wrote:

"Critics, including conservative commentator Michelle Malkin, complained that the scarf wrapped around her looked like (bolding is mine) a kaffiyeh, the traditional Arab headdress."

"A statement issued by Canton, Mass.-based Dunkin' Brands Inc., however, said the scarf had a paisley design, and was selected by a stylist for the advertising shoot."

It isn't even a kaffiyeh - it "looks like" one, to some people! (and IMO, it really doesn't). All this flap because it distantly might resemble the kaffiyeh? I agree with Elle that this is just people trying to create drama out of nothing. And I think it's sad that DD caved and pulled the ad. Have some backbone! They said it wasn't a kaffieyeh and that no political meaning was intended by the ad. End of story.

ITA. And I will never understand why are people still taking Michelle Malkin seriously.