Armenian Fashion

Fashion might be the furthest thing from your mind when you think about Armenia, but once you get here it’s unavoidable. For the first few days you really experience fashion culture shock to say the least.There is a lot of effort and energy that goes into the way people dress here, both for men and women- of all ages. The fashion spectrum ranges between two extremes- either people are in all black from head to toe, or they are wearing the flashiest, most eye-popping getups. For the older generation, especially the men, you can count on seeing lots of dark colors, sport coats, and black dress shoes- crocodile print preferably. But one of my favorite things to see is the Yerevantsi young woman decked out in purple patent thigh-high boots, pink minidress, huge crystal encrusted sunglasses, blonde highlights, and matching patent purse and accessories of course (various versions of this combination exist). Okay, they’re not all that bad. Just as in any city, people are individuals and they all have their own personal form of expression. But because Yerevan is a small city, people all tend to follow the same trends at the same time- so everyone starts to look alike after a while. For example, there is a haircut which is really popular right now with young men- it’s kind of like a modified mullet. Any time you step out into the streets you are guaranteed to see at least three or four guys walking around with that same hairstyle.

The sense of fashion in Yerevan really is interesting in its own idiosyncratic way. There is the bad: crystals and rhinestones cover every surface, everything is in eye popping patent, the heels on the women are lethal, men like to wear really feminine sunglasses and tight jeans, you lose count of all the dolce and gabbana and gucci plastered over everyones chest, neon reigns supreme, there is no minimalism, etc. Then there is the good. It really is interesting to just sit in a cafe and people watch: you will never be bored. People really take pride in the way they dress, and it makes the city all the more interesting for it. I like the fact that Armenians here don’t just roll out of bed and leave the house- like many people do in America. Even going to the grocery store here deserves to get dressed up for. It almost adds to the respect that people have for one another. I mean really, who would you be willing to take more seriously- someone in sweats or someone in a suit (with croc shoes of course). Although there are lots of well-dressed cities in the world- Paris, Milan, Vienna- there is no city that dresses quite like Yerevan.

(Some of my favorite images of Armenian women and their shoes)