whatever

Miriama Ngaiwaea, Sept 1913

Studio portrait of Miriama Ngaiwaea, daughter of Napera Wynyard, dressed in kahu kiwi (kiwi feather cloak) and wearing huia feather and pounamu (greenstone) adornments.

the only woman in the skateboarding zephyr team, consisting of young californian prodigies in the 70s, which has pretty much revolutionised modern skateboarding, laying foundations for the future generations of skaters

winner of the first place in women's freestyle at the legendary del mar nationals, which was truly a big deal at the time

(her style was described as gritty or too manly, which resulted in attempts to get her out of the podiums)

skateboarder, surfer, motocross racer - also a winner of multiple awards at competitions in each one

climate activist, putting her money where her mouth is - look up her origami whales project, raising awareness of the disappearing populations of whales and dolphins

public speaker, still active to this day, educating people about the environmental struggles and what they can do about it

bachelor of fine arts, among other things, also educated in environmental biology

active artist, graphic designer and illustrator, focusing on marine animals in her works

to this day she's popularising skateboarding and surfing, especially among young women and girls, helping them to discover new hobbies and ways to reconnect with nature

outspoken vegan (her instagram reels collections are a great source of new recipes btw)

rock climber, still active in her prime age of 70, travelling the world in a search for her next peaks to climb and waves to surf

an amazing woman who's been an inspiration to the many generations of women who were anxious to get on a skateboard because it was deemed a boys thing

Hey! Thank you for asking and for the kind words <3 😭 It’s genuinely because most traditional costumes around the world aren’t considered fashion, i mean i think we can all agree just based on logic that they aren’t. The way we consider what is fashion and what isn’t is whatever isn’t changing in trends and it didn’t change fast, fashion was often determined by big fashion houses, special tailors or leading elites (when mass produced didn’t exist). From there it would be produced and spread to the lesser economic standing populations through trends and they would have something similar to what the rich or better standing population has. Imitating how they dress.

For an example on the Balkan and among their cultures - town costumes could be considered fashion as there was a certain popularity in some clothing around the whole Ottoman Empire, same as how we consider fashion costumes of the Victorian era, but not the ones worn in the villages. They obviously didn’t wear dimije (shalvars) or fes before it became popular or determined by law (when it comes to fes) in the empire. But not every costume that has these parts of clothing is considered fashion, as i said only those worn in towns.

For an example: first one could be considered fashion (Bosniak and Serbian) as it was worn in Mostar, but the second one is not.

It was worn in villages near Sarajevo by the Serbian women, there’s a great influence of the town but also there were many restrictions and rules that Christian population had to follow, rather than them adapting to the fashion of the time. This continued after the fall of the empire, they didn’t change their costumes even though fashion in towns changed. Areas where restrictions on the Christian population weren’t so strict, or when they lessened by the end of the Empire, Christian costumes in towns were often very similar to the ruling Turkish or Muslim population. People wanted to show off rather than to follow certain rules or beliefs that people in villages had to do. For an example in towns you can wear any color (as long it’s wasn’t forbidden by the ottoman law) of the shalvars, anterija, dress etc. while in villages every part of the embroidery has its color pallete, every part of the costume; if its a vest, shirt, pants… they were the same color pallete.

Albanian costume: town vs village

Serbian town costumes (fashion): 19th end and beginning of the 20th century. Versions of the 19th century one stayed longer in southern towns.

traditional costumes: bridal gorani and bridal serbian from montenegro

Costumes in villages weren’t “mass produced” (or at least when that didn’t exist they weren’t made specifically for being popular among the people and sold in towns) and they were often handmade by the very woman that’s wearing them or at least embroidered if not made. They had their unique embroidery styles that carried meanings behind it. It wasn’t made from silks or richer materials. They made it from their own wool or hemp fabric, and later cotton. Everything is planned ahead, they cannot stand out with it as they have to follow certain rules of the regional costume. Their costume wouldn’t change because of the fashion trends or laws but by an economic situation, wars, beliefs, religion and identity. The reasons behind certain certain shapes or symbols is complex and part of a cultural and historic continuity, it carries meaning behind it that’s rooted in religion, traditional beliefs that are centuries old and it doesn’t change neither easy nor often. After the wars people became very poor and they had no choice but to abandon version of the costumes they could no longer afford, so they started simplifying them rather than adapting to the “new modern worlds”. One costume could be an influence of people from various regions who moved to that place leaving their trace on the costume when the population geographically and cultural assimilated (into their own people just assimilating geographically, but they could even be assimilated into the majority population with costumes but not identity)