Sexy does it- that’s the 21st Century Dress Code

I rate myself among the old-fashioned. The best I can do is run around the beach in boxer shorts. I would never try briefs, no matter how cool. That means I am not the best person to advice on fashion. I will likely keep the hemline low. I will keep the bust covered and give some room for air around strategic areas. I don’t mind one size bigger but out of sensitivity to the ladies I will let them wear if it fits. Of course I will frown inside but still declare it gorgeous for diplomatic reasons.
 

Menswear has a habit of keeping to certain historic norms. The radical is usually kept to a minimum and probably to be worn by specific types. As if by genetic transmission, it is men everywhere who define what dress is appropriate. So much such that when women made it to the boardroom, they cut out the frills to fit in suits! Probably they have more leeway in terms of the range of colours but a staid blue and sterile gray fits very well. The boardroom, or so the dress code suggests, is very much a man’s place. The same could be said of the average workplace. The dress code is designed to cater for male sensibilities.

That goes even for the entertainment arena. When the men want to have some fun, the women must adjust accordingly. Then the hemline must rise to the occasion. The skimpier the dress the bigger the party! There should little room for manoeuvre in the dress since the curves must be prominent. The party girl must be everything the professional woman is not- sexy! She must be bold and expressive. Wow! Now that is fun!

In the beholder's eye

 Living in Malindi which is a multicultural town, you get a sneak preview what choices women from conservative backgrounds make. Beneath the austere and sterile burka, you often sample the trendiest and most revealing tights. Just so you know it she will draw up her disguise if only for one moment. There are no limits to female ingenuity- sometimes she will cut the approved religious dress to fit with her body’s calling. If the thinnest material is used for the veil, the result can be tantalising.

The best religious edict can be converted into the ways of fashion. Best of all, nowhere does it say what goes underneath. As to how fitting, it is up to the wearer.

They will always find a way to tweak he code. It is no use telling them ‘what-to’ and ‘what-not-to’.  What if the choice of material and cut of the staid blue suit makes it ride up the legs? It is up to the men to be gentlemen. Wardrobe malfunctions are not cause for new edicts. With every new edict ingenuity goes a notch higher. There is the case of the scarf which thrown about the shoulders is among the highest marks of civility. To our utter surprise, if let to slip the same gives opportunity for the curves in a low-cut dress. 

So Uganda’s Yoweri Museveni’s edict on women’s dressing will likely go the way of religious decrees. It is up to the believer and not the beholder to put the edict into practice. The official fashion police will have to use more than tape measure to enforce the code. I can only imagine how they will react after a suspect in a miniskirt draws out a wrapper from her handbag to satisfy the legal requirements. Will they use video evidence to prove she was not complaint with the presidential fashion sense?

How would they treat a woman clad in the traditional African dress? African dress tends to be quite liberal as to where the hemline should be. In effect the prudish tendencies have found new keepers. That is all fine but they will have to contend with a fiercely independent new woman- which is what old fashioned types like me have learnt. Give the woman her space or else she will go out and create some for herself. She is not a child even though government routinely lumps her together with children and youth. 

She is a person and much as you would like to guide her, she has a mind of her own. It is, after all, her life. If government would like to influence what she does with that life it is best they fall in love. Then they will set the dos and don’ts- as partners. Now, falling in love with all women is tedious even for the government. Why not let them be and if sexy is what they are; why not?

Fashion is only for a season. Before you know it they will be back in flowing dress. By then, the men will be craving for the mini of the 1960s. I have no idea what kind of dress drives up government desire. However, I suspect only votes drive up government desire.