Nehru Jackets

[Haversack]

herringbonekid wrote: "it is the associations."

But associations can vary over time and distance. Here is the US, the Nehru Jacket has a stronger association to the 1960s than it does with India or its former PM. I would say most younger Americans wouldn't know Nehru from Nasser. So here, someone wearing a Nehru Jacket would more likely be seen as retro-1960s rather than wearing clothes "belonging" to a different culture.

The example of a beret raises an interesting point. The same hat can read three very different ways with only minor variation. If the beret has the little tap at the center of the crown, it says "French!" (or beatnik, or urban intellectual). Replace the tab with a pom-pom, it is a Scots Bonnet. (ancestor to the Balmoral). Without tab or pom-pom, it is now seen as "military". Acceptability varies along with time and distance.

Haversack.

 

[herringbonekid]

true, but you've replaced the french association with yet more associations. another example: try wearing a kilt and tell people it has nothing to do with scotland. that it's just an item of clothing.

but i hear you.... an item that is foreign to people might be seen with fresh eyes.

 

[Haversack]

herringbonekid wrote: "try wearing a kilt and tell people it has nothing to do with scotland. that it's just an item of clothing."

Well, here in Silicon Valley Utilikilts have some measure of popularity among the IT types. They are common enough that riding the train everyday I no longer do a double-take when I see someone (male) wearing one.

Haversack.

 

[herringbonekid]

ok, you win.

 

[Haversack]

Sorry, I wasn't meaning to be competitive here. Perceptions of food, clothing, and cultures and how they vary over time and distance is something of hobby for me. (Its what happens when you let a historian take few cultural geography courses...) Get me going on the topic and I'll talk the hind legs off a donkey. Something of a minor failing. I hope I didn't give offense.

Haversack.

 

[herringbonekid]

no offence taken.

though i wonder if seeing an item with fresh eyes because of a lack of cultural knowledge of where the item comes from is a good thing ? i suppose the item is then rife for reinvention and reassimilation. but a bit of historical background doesn't hurt either.

 

[Jay]

Frankly, they looked very good on Prime Minister Nehru himself.

Hadji, too.

 

[Oktagon]

Dr. Evil wore one, so did Chairman Mao, the Kim&Son of Norh Korea and the great uncle Joe himself! That's an interesting company to be in. You can wear one, but make sure that you put multiple medals on the chest and have at least couple of bodyguards flanking you. Having thick accent and wearing peaked cap will be highly beneficial.

 

[Mr Maltby]

Sammy Davis, Jr. wants YOU to wear a Nehru jacket.

Sammy Davis Jr, was the biggest Hollywood supporter of Nehru jackets, with over 200 of his very own.

 

[OldSkoolFrat]

Bavarian janker? 'janker' ????:rage: "Junker," if you must.

Fust of all the, "Junker" was/is a Prussian. There is no way that a Bavarian could be a "Junker.":rage: Two very different parts of Germany, two parts often at each other's throats. :rage:

The Bavarians even have a curse: "May your daughter marry a Prussian" A very harsh admonition from one Bavarian man to another.

Aside:

"Fust" means "First" in "Confederate American" Oh, fiddle dee dee, I do Declare, Miss Scarlet!

Oh, I wish I was in the land of cotton........
(Rather a lot of Junker fighter/bomber pilots picked cotton in AL, GA and SC after they were shot down over England.)

 

[Fletch]

Nehru jacket + Utilikilt = the Man of the Future!
not that anybody really gives a $#!!.

 

[BegintheBeguine]

Please do

I wish more men would "try wearing a kilt" Oh, Nehru jackets. Yes. The more men wearing Nehru the better. You don't have to be Indian or Mark Lindsay, just be yourself.

 

[Feraud]

Hey folks, let's be careful with those Nehru jackets. You could end up looking like MC Hammer!

 

[BegintheBeguine]

Well, if you insist on wearing the Zouave pants with it.

 

[Jay]

What kind of shirt do you wear with one of these? I've never seen whats under them.

 

[Haversack]

OldSkoolFrat wrote: "Bavarian janker? 'janker' ???? "Junker," if you must. Fust of all the, "Junker" was/is a Prussian. There is no way that a Bavarian could be a "Junker.""

No, friend. I did not mean "Junker" or 'Junge Herr' from which the term "Junker" arose. Restrain your ire. I meant Janker as in the traditional alpine jacket made from loden, linen, leather, or 'walk'. Janker is in fact a Bavarian dialect word for "Jacke" or "jacket" A Google search will refer you to German and Austrain Ebay listings to numerous to count. (as well as references to Christoph Janker, the footballer with 1860 Munich). Here are a couple of others as well:

http://www.landhausmodeshop.de/herrenmode_und_accessoires_janker_und_westen.htm

http://www.design-tradition.ch/herren.html (The third photo down is a good example of a linen Janker).

I hope this correction does not offend, but I meant what I said.

Haversack.

 

[OldSkoolFrat]

Hypno-tinis and posting

Ever Mix Hypnotique with Polish Vodka? buddy of mine dubbed it, "Buzz in a cup." Very tasty and it looks like a cloudy blue lava light.

Had about 2 1/2 too many of those when I went off on the Junker/Janker jag. My bad entirely.

 

[The Captain]

My name is The Captain and I'm a Nehruaholic!

OK, so I'm "coming out of the closet", so to speak, and admitting that I, indeed, wore a Nehru jacket back in the '60s. Here is visual proof. That's me at Disneyland in the summer of '69. The jacket is still lurking in the back of my closet! Hey, they might come back in fashion!

 

[Senator Jack]

Well, Captain, I happen to think you look great in that rigout. Very Peter Fonda! This is a good example for when I say 'don't off-handedly dismiss a style.' Just because something doesn't look good on 99% of the public, it doesn't mean it won't look good on you.

Regards,

Senator Jack

 

[The Captain]

Thank you, Senator, you're one swell guy!