Nostalgia Sunday – Dubon
Filed under: History and Culture, Immigrant Moments, Israeliness, Life, Nostalgia Sunday, War
See this guy? See the jacket he’s wearing? It’s called a dubon and, in the Seventies, whether you were in the Israel Defense Forces or not, this was your winter coat in Israel. It wasn’t simply a matter of fashion. The dubon was all there was to wear.
My significant other did some spring cleaning the other day and decided to donate his dubon to charity. This gave rise to some sentimental sighs and a discussion about the pros and cons of this iconic coat. First of all, there was the name, which means “teddy bear” — a perfect combination of playfulness in the service of the ferociously serious military function of keeping soldiers warm.
Then, there was the jacket itself, designed for the Israeli winter. For someone like myself, coming from New England ski country, the dubon was no match for a down parka or something called a “snorkel” that was all the rage for a couple of years (it zipped up over your nose).
But, as was pointed out to me, what the dubon lacked in insulation, it made up for in acreage; it covered every exposed centimeter of your upper body and was, therefore, perfect protection against the elements of the Israeli winter. Which boils down to a lot of chilly rain and not enough central heating.
The fact that there were only men’s sizes to be had just added to the dubon’s glamour. For example, a Scandinavian kibbutz volunteer — looking much like the fantasy version pictured here — traipsing around the communal kitchenette in wooden clogs, chain-smoking “Noblesse”, baking apple cake and hogging all the baking pans, while casually sporting an oversized dubon — the kind with the really good lining — was also sending a very clear message that she had access to men with dubonim. Bitch. You know who you are.
In fact, most dubon-wearers looked more like these guys here. Men and women, all wore standard issue dubonim, available in small, medium, large and extra large. To this day, girl soldiers look like they’re swimming, nay drowning, in their dubons. But, as my friend Efrat put it, “Of course I had one. Everyone had one. It’s the most Israeli you can get.”
If you were in the army, you wore olive drab. If you were in the navy, you got blue. Air force guys got polyester bomber jackets. (The camouflage version didn’t show up till the Nineties, after the first Gulf War, when loan guarantees required the IDF to procure a certain amount of gear from US manufacturers).
And if you served up in the Golan, you got the brass ring, the uber-dubon called the Hermonit, after white-capped Mount Hermon, which provided total body coverage against the snow. Again, as someone from New England, I can only sniff and say, “You call that snow”?
And here’s that Scandinavian babe again! But believe me, she was never issued one in real life. You had to do a lot more than bake cakes to score a Hermonit.
Fashion in a global world
I imagine for Israeli fashion designer Mirit Weinstock it must be a blast. In a new project on her internet site, she invited her customers worldwide to send in photographs of themselves wearing her clothes.
Fashion becomes real - Mirit Weinstock as worn by New Zealander Daryia Bing.
It’s probably the ultimate accolade for a designer. Rather like a journalist feels when they see some stranger out on the street not only reading one of their articles, but actually commenting on it.
It also actually makes for pretty compulsive viewing to anyone with a vague interest in fashion. Since the website was launched at the end of January, women from over 30 countries have sent in self-portraits of themselves wearing items from Mirit’s collections.
The nice thing about seeing the same clothes on different people from around the world is that they look SO different. In our global world, people often complain that we all wear the same clothes from the same chains, and that we are losing our individuality.
But as Weinstock’s site, Miss Mi, proves, when someone in Italy puts on a Mirit Weinstock jacket, they don’t look the same as the woman from Sweden, or Israel.
It’s a fact that hasn’t gone unnoticed. In a recent interview, Weinstock said: “What interests me is the girl’s fantasy, or the way she views herself. Their interpretation of my fashion is fascinating to me. I take pleasure in seeing how each one is taking it to a place of her own. They often wear the garments in ways that I had not imagined when designing them, which is inspiring!”
Thirty-two-year-old year old Weinstock has been in the fashion business seven years. A Shenkar graduate, she interned at the Alexander McQueen fashion house in London and later joined Maison Lanvin, one of the leading fashion houses in Paris.
She returned to Israel in 2004 and set up her own label of ready to wear fashion, designing out a studio located in Jaffa’s flea market. She launched her first US collection in 2006 and now sells in stores across the US and Europe.
Weinstock came up with the idea for Miss Mi, when she was browsing Flickr one evening. She saw the pictures there and decided to find five women from all over the world to take pictures of themselves in her new spring collection.
She found the participants on Flickr and Facebook, sent them a package of five of her garments and asked them to do self-portraits, expressing their own personal take on the garments. She then used the pictures for her spring catalogue.
Since then, the idea has grown into Miss Mi. Weinstock says the project isn’t just about clothes, it’s about creating a community of women from all over the world, who share their pictures, thoughts, favorite web sites. Etc. etc.
It’ll be interesting to see if other fashion designers pick up on this new marketing tool.
Nostalgia Sunday – Michal Negrin World
Filed under: Art, General, Nostalgia Sunday, Pop Culture, Travel
There’s something about Michal Negrin. Whether you love her retro n’ roses style or hate it — there seems to be no in-between — there’s no disputing that Negrin has tapped into a reservoir of emotion among women longing for a certain time that seems, at least on the face of it, to have been lovelier, more civilized, more sedate and possibly more fun.
Negrin has come a long way from her stand at the Nahlat Binyamin crafts fair and the little shop on Sheinkin Street, where Russian ladies used to painstakingly crochet, wrap, stitch and glue each encrusted earring, necklace and pin by hand. Today, she has die-hard fans and store locations around the world. And when those fans come from Paris or Palm Beach to Israel their mission is clear: get new Negrin pieces from the source.
The answer lies off the beaten track south of Tel Aviv in Bat Yam, at the accessories designer’s new central office, workshop and showroom. This is where the company’s 160 artisans carry out the delicate process of mounting and hand painting jewelry and decorative items, creating fashion, printing fabric, molding ceramics and more. It’s also a showcase for items created by Michal Negrin herself.
And now, there is the new visitor’s center, Michal Negrin World. This really is a world as Negrin would like to see it: a fantastic display of romantic roses and baby’s breath, lace, crystals and a just a hint of old-fashioned naughtiness.
The exhibit includes dollhouses, puppets and multilevel dioramas designed by Negrin and her husband Meir. There’s a cafe, and guided tours of the workshops and showroom. Negrin herself says, “I wanted to create a place that would be surprising… flooded with optimism and happiness, inviting visitors a peek into the worlds of my content and creativity.”
Some fun facts: Negrin wove a magical spell on the costume designers of “Harry Potter and the order of Phoenix”, when a ring and brooch were commissioned for actress Imelda Staunton, who played cat-obsessed senior undersecretary to the Minister of Magic Dolores Umbridge. Her celebrity fans, according to ISRAEL21c, include Demi Moore, Nicole Kidman, Britney Spears, Alicia Keys and Jane Seymour. And Negrin nostalgia has even extended to the sports arena; in 2008, she was commissioned by the Israel Olympic Committee to design the formal lapel pin for the Israeli team (pictured here).
Michal Negrin World is open to the public Sun-Thu, 9:00am-3:00pm. Tours must be booked in advance. Tel: 972-3-555-3326. Address: 7 Kaf Tet B’November St., Bat Yam.
Nostalgia Sunday – Yemenite Embroidery
Filed under: Art, General, History and Culture, Nostalgia Sunday, Profiles, design
Back in the early Sixties, most kids’ mothers wore frilly cocktail aprons to entertain. Not my Israeli mother. Hers looked like this.
And her miniskirts and pantsuits looked like this.
My mother, a singer of international folksongs, had a great collection of gowns. Many were created at Esther Zeitz, a Jerusalem house of fashion that employed a team of Yemenite seamstresses that sat, day in and day out, stitching threads of silver and gold onto splendid garments. Who needed jewels when you had something like this bedecking your neck?
Wearing Yemenite embroidery was very cool among Israeli women who came of age during the 1940s and 50s. This dress was made for my mother when she was a teenager during the 1948 War of Independence.
In the Sixties, after the 1967 war and the reunification of Jerusalem, she combed the Old City looking for a velvet jacket with Bedouin embroidery to wear over a black velvet gown. She found one, too.
In the early Seventies, she scored some Bedouin-style embroidered garments from the Arab Women’s Union of Bethlehem, an embroidery cooperative.
But my favorites will always be the Esther Zeitz outfits. As I recall it, Zeitz – whom I remember as a large woman with swollen arms – closed down in the Eighties when she became too ill to manage. It would be nice to find out more about what happened to the workshop, which was located at the junction of Ben Yehuda and Bezalel streets – I think it is a hairdressers’ today.
My sisters and I wore many of these garments during the Go-Go Eighties. Today, however, they are fragile – the polyester fabric is forever but not the cotton threads that hold down the metallic threads. We are not sure what will happen to this collection, and so decided to document the clothes that, for us, are part of a happy memory.
Ward Off Evil Eyes With Handmade Israeli Jewelry and Jewish Gifts From Israel
‘Tis the season to be jolly, if you are a Christian. But a number of holidays for people of all faiths intersect around this time. It’s more noticeable if you live in the Middle East. Over here in Jaffa a couple of weeks ago, Muslims everywhere were celebrating Eid al-Adha; and Jewish people start lighting candles and gorging on jelly-filled doughnuts for Hanukah starting next week.
But whatever the season, or holiday, unique gift-giving is always something on our minds. When it comes to choosing gifts that are “green” the options are limited even more. One nice way to “say I love you” to someone in a way that is soft on the environment, is to give something handmade. Trendy, with no official religious affiliation is the good old hamsa, one of our faves, which means “five” in Arabic.
According to Wikipedia, an alternative Islamic name for this charm is the Hand of Fatima or Eye of Fatima, in reference to Fatima Zahra, the daughter of Muhammad. An alternative Jewish name is the Hand of Miriam, in reference to Miriam, the sister of Moses and Aaron. It is a kind of “protecting hand” or “hand of God.”
Some associate the significance of the five fingers to the five books of the Torah for Jews, the Five Pillars of Islam for Sunnis, or the five People of the Cloak for Shi’ites.
In recent years some activists for Middle East peace have chosen to wear the hamsa as a symbol of the similarities of origins and tradition between the Islamic and Jewish faiths. The fingers can point up or down.
Among Jews in Israel, it’s considered a Jewish gift, but one appropriate for Muslims, Christians, pagans and the unaffiliated. When I went to see my Catholic cousins in Scotland last year, it was hamsas for everyone.
While the gifts might not be certified green, there are some wonderful gift items in stock on MostOriginal.com, an online jewelry and gifts store that sells handmade artwork by Israeli artists.
Selling Israeli jewelry and Jewish gifts, their hamsas (like Laly Cohen’s Hamsa Hands pictured above), or Kabbalah bracelets, would satisfy even the choosiest friend.
H&M to open store in Israel
I was first introduced to the wonders of H&M by my far more fashionable wife a few years ago during a trip to New York. It’s a bit embarrassing to say but if there is an H&M in a country we are visiting, we seek it out. We like big savings, what can I say? The Swedish company is known for its fashionable yet incredibly affordable clothing (though the quality varies from garment to garment) and currently has more than 1,600 stores in 34 different countries. This week they announced that they will be expanding into the Israeli market, the first store to open in 2010.
Israelis have been yearning for H&M for some time now. A very popular Facebook group called “Open an H&M store in Israel!” led the rallying call:
This group is open to all people living in Israel who want great clothes for a cheap price right around the corner. You know what? We don’t even mind driving an hour or two to get there, as long as we don’t have to wait until we go abroad or ask someone else who’s going to get H&M stuff for us (and you know they never get it right!). And we definitely won’t settle for that chain which goes by an almost identical name… We shall not be fooled!
I guess I’m not the only one who goes on a H&M shopping spree when I am abroad. There was also instant backlash to this Facebook group. A counter-group was created called “DO NOT open an H&M store in Israel” not created with a message of hate, but rather love. They believe that if H&M comes to Israel, it will no longer be special and unique because everyone here will be wearing their fashions. (my wife informed me just now via instant messenger and her Facebook status that she agrees with this). In my opinion the real issue here is whether H&M will be able to keep their costs down here. Taxes are very high and nothing is really cheap (except maybe a bowl of good soup). That’s the real challenge and will be the key to their success in Israel. And hey, we’ve got the GAP coming too so you can always shop there – that is, if you don’t care about originality.
Men in shorts
Filed under: A New Reality, Business, General, History and Culture
It seems that men wearing shorts to work has now been deemed acceptable in New York City, and we’re not just talking about Fedex delivery people. Honest to god, yes, in addition to male fashion editors, they’ve tracked down one 90-year-old real estate agent, a Mr. Hyman Gross, who wears his shorts to the opera and ballet and a couple of people in Salt Lake City who have introduced a no-long-trousers policy at their offices.
But what about Israel? If they think it’s hot in New York, or Salt Lake City for that matter, what about Tel Aviv or Jerusalem? We’ve got heat, but the men are not showing any skin. What gives?
According to Roni Cnaani in an Haaretz column last summer, shorts have become an object of derision, the kind of thing that only a moshavnik would wear. As he comments, “Sometimes I wonder what distortions have dictated local taste, what primal urges and prejudices have led to such an inferior aesthetic outlook and why, of all places, in a Mediterranean country like ours, and particularly among the fashion elite did short pants get such a bad rep around here? Is it a counter-reaction to the ethos of the sabra, with his trademark short pants and sandals?”
Designer Ronen Chen, who hasn’t branched out into design for men just yet, smsed me that shorts may feel “less formal” for men, perhaps making them “feel too much like kids.” But this is the land where almost anything goes, including jeans and a tee-shirt for a wedding.
So I asked some local ‘masters of the universe,’ including some guys who work from home — clearly they’re wearing shorts — but a few lawyers and venture capitalists as well. Amir Kadari, a lawyer who works between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, said “definitely not” to shorts, “unless you’re a basketball player or a tour guide.” Jack Levy, a venture capitalist and founder of Israel Cleantech Ventures, whose office is in Herzliya, said, “Imagine the positive CO2 emissions impact from reduced AC if this became a standard. Start with summer Fridays – AC is set up a few degrees and shorts are acceptable… then like the business casual trend it will become all summer.” But he wouldn’t commit as to whether he would start the trend. Another venture capitalist, Jacob Ner-David, who rides his bike all over town, said he just wore shorts the other day and is all for it in the summer. And Ira Skop, who works from home in Jerusalem, and is in the risk management business, commented that Bermuda shorts have long been acceptable in business in Bermuda. That said, he wears shorts in his home office, “but never with black socks and dress shoes.”
So what to do? Will Israeli men ever wear shorts suits? Do we want them to?
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