Bravehearts: Men in Skirts

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Summary: Bravehearts: Men in Skirts
Review: re: bravehearts/men in skirts - andrew bolton

i've just received my copy of bravehearts/men in skirts - believing myself to be one of the first to do so - prior to it's appearance on bookshelves.

the format - although interesting is an awkward one that does not quite fit most bookshelves.

the contents and photographs are well presented although i would have liked to have seen many more - specifically showing the male skirt as it's worn by many ethnic cultures the world over.

the first set of ommissions were those of many east europeasn countries that wear skirts in various forms - from the greek, turk and syrian honour guards along with the dresses worn by the swirling dervishes - followers of sufiism.

west africa alone has many differing designs - based on religion, culture and status with just as many differeng names. throughout the rest of africa many more different versions - mostly traditionally african - depending upon ethnicity can be found. we cannot discount the fearsome zulu impi (warriors) in their antelope or monkey hide skirts. again,more colourful ones depected royalty. many of these are intrinsic to their (african's) existence - long before the days of colonialism and finer cloth options. it was largely due to the arab merchamts that various forms of islamic dress made it's mark upon mombassa, dar-es-salaam zanzibar and northern moçambique.

even within india do we find many differing styles - many designs and colours based upon status. the sarongs of nepal, tibet, thailand, burma/mayanar, indonsesia and malaysia too have their own characteristics.

what about the indigenous peoples from the world over, viz. polynesian islanders; the maori, fiji, samoa, borneo and hawaii to name but a few? it is not enough to merely mention them but share their views on westerners co-opting their national dress and treating it as mere fashion fads.

the origin of the kilt too is misleading, as it is believed to have been brought down by the vikings who had their own name for it. contrary to popular belief, it was the english who first took it on - later to be heralded by the scots as their national form of dress. today many of them consider all other kilt wearers throughout the british isles as possuers ...

herein lies another omission, that being the kilt is held in equal reverence in both wales and ireland - not only by english royalty such as king george and the prince of wales as so many erroniously assume.

yes indeed, i would like to se an updated - expanded version od this fine publication in two to five years from now.

owen r. greenland - of welsh extraction
aka sharif - associated with indians by religion
aka mshengu - born and raised in kwazulu-natal, south africa; connected to africa and it's people by cutural and political affiliation