Week 8 - Diane Tran

Diane Tran
ASA 141
Week 8

Fashion and style is a form of self-expression and identity. Every single time you dress you are asserting a part of yourself. The way you dress can portray your mood or even boost your confidence. According to the article, "Speaking through Cloth: Teaching Hmong History and Culture through
Textile Art" by Ava McCall, emphasizes how Hmong culture and history is conveyed through different unique textile art made by Hmong women. These unique and different textiles are called the "paj ntaub" (2). The article said, "Paj Ntaub was a complex form of textile art, involving applique, cross stitch, batik, and embroidery. Textile artists used several layers of cloth and incorporated different designs representing cultural beliefs, important symbols, the physical environment, and geometric patterns" (3). Fashion is also a sense of art, the clothes (textiles) are woven into the Hmong history and heritage. Generations of women from grandmothers to mothers to their own daughters have learned these traditional ways to sew these clothing for their families. These women created clothing with knowledge of tradition and why it is important to their identity and culture. The clothes we wear tell stories about our own culture and our own heritage. Tradition is passed down from generation to generation by the construction of our clothes. The way clothes are made, the different materials and the process are embedded in our communities and cultures. My question is that if there is a certain way to wear a culture's clothes, is it ever okay wearing clothes representing another culture even though we have no knowledge of how to wear the item or the true meaning of it?

Works Cited:

April Ava L. McCall. “Speaking through Cloth: Teaching Hmong History and Culture through Textile

Arts.

Clough, Christopher. “Hmong Textiles, Vets' Discussion among Highlights in next Week of Door County Reads.” Press Gazette Media, Green Bay Press Gazette, 30 Jan. 2018, www.greenbaypressgazette.com/story/news/local/door-co/entertainment/2018/01/30/hmong-textiles-vets-discussion-among-highlights-next-week-door-county-reads/1079333001/.