Venice Santos Blog #2

Be Green Challenge

Today marks the end of Week #2 on the Be Green Challenge and I'm proud to say that I am still going strong as far as not buying any new material things. Even though I got paid last Wednesday, I've decided to spend money on more important things like food, which always happens anyway. It will be harder this coming week to resist sales because of Black Friday and I'm going home for the holiday break so I will be tempted to spoil myself and my little sister. 

This past week, I really enjoyed reading and learning more about the Hmong culture. The history of the Hmong people is one that I'm sure not many people know about. I know for myself, I was naive as to who the Hmong people were and their culture. After watching Panhia's Fashion Vlog, it was cool that she had a traditional Hmong headdress. During Professor Valverde's lecture, I noticed that this specific headdress style (pictured below) was a prominent one in pictures. It is very interesting how simply, but bold the stripped design it that makes it a headdress that can be worn with many Hmong dresses and clothing. 

An interesting component of Hmong dresses is a shirt panel that is sewn on the right or left side opening of a shirt. The panels pictured below are handmade and unlike the machine made ones, these are one of a kind. 

Just looking at the intricate design of each piece of cloth stitched in, it shows how much work is put into each detail to make the full piece. I believe that clothing is huge part of expressing and showcasing one's culture and beliefs. Clothing is not only the most visible component of a person, but as another looks closer at the clothing, they can see that it tells a story. Colors, the type of cloth, the stitching, the patterns all mean something different and significant to the culture and person that is wearing the costume. So much pride is released when one wears their country's clothing and it not only not only tells the world who you are, but sheds light to your people and let's everyone know "I AM  (insert ethnicity) AND WE ARE HERE."          

Citations:
McCall, Ava L.. "Speaking through Cloth: Teaching Hmong History and Culture through Textile Arts." Reader. 

"Handmade shirt panel." The Art of Hmong Embroidery. <https://theartofhmongembroidery.wordpress.com/ >. Web. 23 Nov 2014.