Israel is not huge on Pinups and, to me,
as an Israeli, it's a bit of a
surprise.
A fact that is well
known to Israelis, is that Israel has a
long history of mimicking fashion and
commercial trends. Hardly a leader in
it's own cultural right, Israel used to
mimic Europe in the 40's, 50's and 60's.
But as the political and financial
scales tipped in America's favor,
American business models and fashion
trends have become more and more popular
in Israel. As fashion and pop culture
are inextricably linked, one can
understand what African American pop
culture is doing in Israel and why
women's role-models become Carrie
Bradshaw.
So Why Aren't Pinups Having their big
comeback in Israel?
The fifties are big right now, Garter belts
and elaborate lingerie, vintage bell-cut
dresses, thick belts and high heels. But in
Israel the origins of cheesecake fashions
have yet to hit home. Could this be due to
the fact that Israel was into Europe during
the 50's?
Israelis love the 50's
fashion trends. A walk in the streets
will have you confronting the flat pump
in all shapes and sizes. I got theses
two lovelies very cheep ($20)- that's
how common they are.
Only two Pinup Campaigns in
Israel
And yet, there are only two
Israeli campaigns staring a pinup citation,
in current existence. There us the
Marko Shoes
campaign (Sadly, the retro cheesecake
campaign has been replaced by a pompous
futuristic campaign. A moment of silence
for replaced pinups
). A lovely assortment of
flat pumps with bows, polka dots and all
the trimmings.
More prominently, we find Israeli leading
manufacturer of dairy products,
Tnuva, has partnered
up with “Weight Watchers” and the both
of these commercial giants are enticing
their customers to use the new Weight
Watcher's chart on all Tnuva products.
(the postcard at the top)
Hello Kitty and Pinup Culture
When
traveling through Macao I found the fabulous
trend of pimping your ride with Hello Kitty
merchandise.My beloved spouse and I were
trying to figure out why this adorable habit
couldn't become a common sight in Israel and
reached the following conclusions:
- The grim realities of Israel make
people take themselves too seriously. (not
to mention angry, but that's for another
blog entirely)
- These grim realities are a result of a
military state, which leads to military
mind-sets, in other words machoism. A man
wouldn't be caught dead flashing his hello
kitty doll.
What does Hello Kitty have to do with
pinups?
Quite simply, they are both pop
culture. A country with an uptight social and
political climate (and citizens that buy into
its hype), is not fertile ground for pop-art
and aesthetics culture.
For a less uptight Israel,
Tags: Israeli pinups, 50's fashion trend, cheesecake fashions, Macao, 1950, Hello Kitty, pop-culture, pop art
