Before I get round to hopefully posting some exciting news about the use of blogs in the democratic process in Armenia, another in my occasional posts highlighting the albeit small Armenian blogosphere. I’ve posted links to some of this week’s posts by Zarchka and Garo (AKA Christian Garbis), but let’s get to the subject of fashion in Armenia. Two bloggers, Nareg and Garo, have different opinions on the matter. Nareg, for example, thinks that things are changing and that colours are getting brighter.

Another aspect of the Hayastan fashion sense, more noticeable in the past due to its scarcity, but not much behind now either, is wearing clothes of innumerable colours, generally clashing, mostly outlandish. It is not uncommon to see blue leather jackets alongside brown jeans, shoes with different patches on them, pink tights that go with ear-rings resembling chandeliers, and so on. (I have no desire to elaborate more on the footwear, pointy or otherwise.) Each item is a different shade, of course, and this may be referred to as hyperchromosis armeniaca, if you will.

Eight to ten years ago, monochromosis armeniaca was more evident in that everyone wore black and only black. Back then, there was very little choice indeed in clothing, and people were generally not so well off. This trend continues in the more impoverished parts of the country, but the contagion of hyperchromosis armeniaca, though at first encouraging, has slowly but surely taken less aesthetic turns.

Actually, probably the main issue is that while girls have a wide choice of clothes, men don’t. It’s really not easy to find a good selection of men’s clothes in this country. I had that experience yesterday when I went into a few shops. As Garo points out, choices are aplenty for girls, but there are less for men.

The young women on the other hand usually wear skin-tight jeans, hot pinks, blinding whites, vermillion reds, and teal blues, with high-heal spiked boots they can barely walk in, so at least an attempt is being made there to be fashionable, even though it doesn’t always quite work. All middle-aged men I have noticed nearly wear identical clothing—a black, sorrowful gray, or dark blue suit made of cheap, dull material, tailored extra long, regardless of the man’s height. Their wide checkered, tasteless shirts, usually short sleeved, sometimes too tight around their bulging bellies flaunted as monuments to their financial worth, are worn open collared, and the shoes are black, sometimes pale brown, with a squared-off or occasionally rounded toe. Young men look like they are wearing uniforms—usually an ugly black or blue stripped or checkered tight pullover, or else a oversized white, buttoned-down dress shirt, with black slacks and matching pointy, narrow elf shoes. And they all wear their black/brown hair the same way—very short, no more than a half-inch long, parted over from the far left or right. Most of these guys look like they walked out of a time-travel wormhole emerging from the 1950s. I can’t figure it out, I don’t know why they have to dress so simply, yet so tastefully mediocre.

Garo also makes the point that the best dressed people in Yerevan are usually foreigners. In particular, he says that Iranian and Indian students dress more casually and more like we’re used to in the West than their Armenian counterparts.

They always seem to be showing off the latest sporty and striking couture that can be found in clothing stores in Europe or the US, as confirmed by my recent trip there, not to mention hair styles. The fashion sense they reflect is what you would see on European television commercials and some shows broadcasted from Russia, but Armenians are not catching on. Rarely do you see young men wearing jeans for instance, and the ones they do bother putting on are usually dark gray or black, with an acid-wash, faded look to them so popular 15 years ago.

Well, I guess both are saying that things are changing slowly here, but it is really at a snail’s pace. That part of the population that is more Western in its outlook still represents an insignificant minority of the population. In comparison, young people in Tbilisi struck me as appearing more “European” in the way they dressed although I suppose Armenians would say that they, like us in Europe, look “shabby” and unkempt.

However, and as I posted about recently, this kind of difference in outlook can also manifest itself as friction and conflict in local society.

Reasons for mockery may be western Armenian language or the appearance of students from the Diaspora like long hair for men or shabby jeans.

Also over at Cilicia.com, Raffi reports on a new wave of burglaries in Yerevan. No doubt about it, crime is increasing in Armenia although thankfully I’ve personally been spared so far.

There seems to be a rash of burglaries in Yerevan, 2 friends were hit yesterday while they were out of their homes. The locks were busted and cash, and one or two smaller more valuable items were taken. I was just telling one of the friends who got burgled how safe I feel here, and although this is still not a physical threat, it is still really disturbing… the police say it is going on with others too, not just a couple of Diasporans, so it appears to be a coincidence that they were both hit within 24hrs.

Meanwhile, a new blogger from the U.S. is in town until the end of the week. Lola Koundakjian is an old friend who I first met in the mid-90’s when she visited London, and who now runs an Armenian Poetry Blog site. Myrthe from The Armenian Odar met up with her last Tuesday, and Zarchka and myself visited her two days later. With us was another friend — local poet Tsovinar.

I had briefly corresponded with Tsovinar Chilingaryan, a contact made through my old friend Onnik Krikorian, and had an opportunity to meet with her on Thursday night. Tsovinar arrived and just as I was introducing my poetry project, Onnik and Zara, another young poet arrived.

I recorded 5 pieces written by Tsovinar, who read them most beautifully, and I still feel the chills up and down my spine. The evening ended with a bottle of Areni — dry red wine — nicely ingested.

Anyway, according to the site, it’s also gaining ground in terms of popularity.

Pop the Champagne Cork: The Armenian Poetry Project has been accessed close to 3000 times. In fact, we have more than doubled the hits since August.

Many read the website, while others subscribe via podcasting on iTunes and download the poems, or, read them on sister sites such as wordpress, Opera and Odeon.

The readers are in 46 countries: Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Iran, Israel, Italy, Kuwait, Lebanon, Malaysia, Mexico, Montenegro, The Netherlands, Norway, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Spain, Sudan, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, UK, Uruguay, USA and Venezuela.

Lola Koundakjian’s Armenian Poetry Project can be found at http://armenian-poetry.blogspot.com.