Who left individuality buried under the pile of those shirts? Read more…
As soon as you land in the UAE and step out on the beautiful grounds of the very busy city of Dubai, a scene that I guarantee you will not miss is the sight of a bunch of typical teenage or early twenty year old Emarati boys sporting the Armani Jeans, the Gucci belt, LV shoes and oh God we mustn’t forget that legendary Ralph Lauren Polo shirt.
Yes, unfortunately individual style is a concept many young men in the UAE properly do not understand. Initiating one’s own style for them means mimicking what everyone else is wearing, even if it is horrifically unfashionable or monogrammed from head to toe.
I am beyond tired of the sight of Polo shirts on every boy I come across. What has happened to original style? Has it diminished? Isn’t the point of style to express your own creativity and individuality through the clothing you wear and the image you embody? But, oh no that is certainly not the case here in the UAE, on the contrary observing them makes one feel that they are all robotic copies of each other! Same glasses, same shirt, same pants, same phone and I honestly won’t be shocked if they are all wearing the same socks.
I know it is none of my business to criticize the way people choose to dress, even if it is the act of pure copying, but it is very much my business to state what message that sends. With the art of mimicry flourishing in this young generation of men in the UAE, being viewed as materialistic, superficial, unoriginal and oh-so not creative is inevitable. That’s definitely not a message anyone wants to send about the youth of the UAE, right?
So if you are reading this and wearing that iconic Ralph Lauren Polo shirt with the huge number 3 on the back just because it is the “it shirt”, I modestly advise you to take it off and buy a new shirt instead, most favorably one that screams out your personality and gives your individuality justice.
– Fatma Lootah
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