When I was a kid growing up in a small town, I was often the target of mean kids because of things about me that they found to be "too different". I remember taking pan dulce in my lunch box and kids literally gathering around me to make gagging sounds and to tell me how "gross" my food looked. Or listening to Spanish music and getting strange looks. Okay, so take the same exact music and have it recorded by an American artist, and all-of-a-sudden its genius! Have someone change the shape of the pan dulce, and give it a French name or something...now its a delicacy. I have often found this baffling. When you grow up as part of a minority, you learn to hide a lot of your cultural traditions while in the "Anglo" world, because otherwise you often run into discrimination. But if a well known artist or whatever, blatantly copies those same cultural references they are hailed as original and truly creative. If you are wondering why I'm on such a soap box, its because I was scrolling through the web, when I ran across this article about the latest Hermes collection. I admit that I chuckled at the details of the collection, because it all looked and felt suspiciously familiar to me.
Hmm, I wonder what in the world could have inspired such a collection? Maybe all the folks who actually sew the clothes, clean up the main offices, and build the massive sky-scrapers? I don't know...maybe. When I was younger I used to think that this sort of thing was a sort of acceptance of cultural differences...but now I'm not so sure. I can imagine the reaction I would get if I walked around wearing these clothes. Hermes or not, I probably wouldn't get the nicest treatment if I walked in to a high end department store.My intention is not to be divisive because I love where I live and my parents had to sacrifice a lot for us to be here...and I am very grateful. I guess I just wanted to point one of those curiosities of life. My point of view is of growing up Mexican-American, but I know anyone who grew up here with a family from somewhere else has experienced the same thing.
So there is yet another of my random thoughts that has nothing to do with interior design...I know, I have a lot of them.
P.S. I posted this photo with only the utmost respect, because I think Los Tigres Del Norte is one of the best bands ever! (Even if I don't agree w/ the outfits)P.P.S. Anyone reading this who isn't from the U.S. probably doesn't know what I am talking about. These clothes are a reference to a part of Mexican culture known as Tejano or Norteño. It is basically a fusion of Northern Mexican and Southwest American traditions.
