Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Dictator Chic - Can Ahmadinejad Take A Tip From Qaddafi?

By now we've all read about the outcome of the recent elections in Iran and seen the photos of the protests against Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
I was just wondering
if Ahmadinejad stepped up his style à la Qaddafi
would he be more popular in Iran

God knows that here in the US a sense of style is always desired in our elected leaders
because for so many of us
Style = Substance

Here we have Ahmadinejad in his early early flak jacket look
circa 1979

And later in classic Camo with the AK47 accessory du jour

Reaching his mature look
Classic khaki jacket and the always in style kifaya scarf
In spite of what Matt Yglesias described in 2006
Ahmadinejad's "sweet hipster style"
I keep talking about this with people in real life, but it deserves a blog mention as well — Mahmoun [sic] Ahmadinejad has a pretty sweet hipster style. It all starts with a beard not unlike the one I and many of my twentysomething male friends sport. But it goes deeper. The man went without a tie to address the UN General Assembly. And I was in a bar where the TV was showing his interview with Anderson Cooper (it's DC, these things happen) and while there was no sound, he certainly looked witty and charming. There was also this clip of him walking down some hallway shooting the sh** with Kofi Annan

I prefer what Manolo had to say about his look
Briefly and remarkably, the President of the Iran wears the same khaki windbreaker, wrinkled trousers, cheap oxford shirts, scruffy beard and wild eyes favored by the aging high school chemistry teachers everywhere.

And then we have the fashion sense of the Lion Of The Desert, Colonel Qaddafi
who brings us more Tyra than Tyrant!

Gorgeous in Gold
Now, let's face it, you never see any protests in the streets of Libya
Could it be that the Libyans just really appreciate their leader's senses of style
Let's just take a minute to ponder the golden gorgeousness of Qaddafi in this photo
Color coordination, beautiful use of prints with solids and draping,
matching hat, sunglasses
Note: no small flag lapel pin
he's sporting great big green brooch in the shape of Libya

And here, pretty in pink

Even Qaddafi's personal bodyguards look better than the Ahmadinejad's Revolutionary Guards

Blue and black, one of my personal favorites

And regal purple

Mutassim Qaddafi with Hillary Clinton
And now we have Qaddafi's son
a chip off the old block sartorially speaking
looking sleek and chic in is skinny sharkskin suit
I'm assuming that Ahmadinejad will become Iran's leader for life, as Qaddafi has in Libya
If that happens will Ahmadinejad's sons keep the khaki or step up to something more Shah like.
Digg this

4 comments:

WendyB said...

You've opened my eyes to the fact that Qaddafi is a drag queen!

Belle de Ville said...

Wendy...In these photos he looks more Tyra than Tyrant!

Jill said...

That last photo of Qaddafi's son is very Hedi Slimane...what a sartorial shark!

Fun post!

Belle de Ville said...

Jill, "sartorial shark"...that's a great comment.

Add to Technorati Favorites