Will polygamist chic soon hit the runway?

It's only a matter of time before a designer like Marc Jacobs sends models down the runway wearing polygamist chic. No doubt, you have seen the women of the sect marching in and out of the courthouse in their pastel, prairie-inspired billowing gowns. Their hair -- in odd bouffant updos that seem to defy gravity -- is spinsterish, but also akin to elaborate couture coifs we see at the Paris shows. (This AP photo by Tony Gutierrez feels like a catwalk shot.)

In 2000, John Galliano showed a collection for House of Dior that was inspired by the "homeless"  -- models wore plastic clothespins and empty whiskey bottles as accessories. Seven years earlier, Jean Paul Gaultier showed the front rows his take on Hasidic style, with men striding the catwalk in the sect's traditional attire and hairstyles. As for the polygamists, a great article in the Salt Lake Tribune by columnist Rebecca Walsh explains why the pompadour is so important -- the higher the wave, the more righteous the woman. Now, that is fascinating. The prairie-meets-Easter-parade look hearkens to the early Mormon pioneer days.

The notion that these women wear uniforms to stand out is not unlike fashionygamists' insistence on all carrying the same "it" bag to distance themselves from the have-nots. With the current trend in huge purses, it's the bigger the bag, the more stylishly righteous the woman.

Who wants to bet the Rage that some designer is shouting "Get me a thousand yards of pale pink muslin!" right now?

Photo: Tony Gutierrez/Associated Press

Comments

[Tenorlove]

Those "prairie dresses" are actually quite pretty. IIt wouldn't bother me a bit to see a little more modesty on the runways. Leave something to the imagination. But with my kinky-curly hair that will not be restrained, I guess I'm not righteous after all.

[Stephanie Simpson]

Hey, I think the government in Texas is way out of line persecuting these people. There has been no proof of child abuse whatsoever. If they have broken the law they should answer to that, but just looking at and listening to these women, I have to say, they seem to be very loving women who don't deserve to have their children ripped away from them.
As to fashion, I have always thought the Mennonite women are extremely lovely in their garb.

[Mae Stephens]

Is Stephanie telling us that she supports child abuse, inferring that it is acceptable for an underage girl to be forced into a marriage and into having sex with a man chosen for her by the ‘prophet’?

Investigators have determined that there is a widespread pattern and practice of the YFZ Ranch in which young, minor female residents are conditioned to expect and accept sexual activity with adult men at the ranch upon being spiritually married to them," read the affidavit signed by Lynn McFadden, a Department of Family and Protective Services investigative supervisor. McFadden said the girls were spiritually married to the men as soon as they reached puberty and were required to bear children.

First of all, polygamy is against the law in Texas. Secondly, having sex with an underage girl is against the law. Women who have left the FLDS throughout the past years have said that they were forced to be ‘spiritually wed’ and have sex, often with a man much older than themselves. (Think in terms of 13-year-old girl and a 40 year-old-man).

All the children were removed on the grounds that they were in danger of "emotional, physical, and-or SEXUAL ABUSE. Court documents say that a number of teen girls at the compound were pregnant, with one 16-year-old already having four children! Most damning, sect members did not consider the pregnant girls found at their ranch to be a problem.

The nearly 140 women were not arrested, but chose to go with their children. Normally, a parent is not allowed to go with their child who has taken into state custody due to child abuse. The officials were bending over backward here when they allowed the mothers to go along with their children.

That is SEXUAL CHILD ABUSE. Just because you give birth to a child does not give you the right to enslave their minds so that they can hope for no life beyond being breeding stock. This is SPIRITUAL ABUSE.

In this country, no one is allowed to break the law and hide behind religion in order to have sex with an underage girl. This is NOT religious persecution by Texas. Texas is doing the right thing to expose this cult for what it is.

[Robert S. Hoover]

The Mormon's admiration of Muslims comes as no surprise.

[Robert S. Hoover]

The Mormon's admiration of Muslims comes as no surprise.

[Frank]

The proof is brainwashing. Brainwashing a child is abuse. There in there own world that follows a guy who tells them he's jesus. And they belive it from birth. I think it's good that the government is cracking down on this cult, that is no threat to us but a big threat to themselves by not allowing them to think for themselves. Of course now these people are gonna belive what the so called profit told them, which is not to trust the outside world. And I don't think they will if the feds took there kids away.

[Lee]

-check out may 2008 (newest) issue of vogue, page 116....colors in sketches of jenna bush's bridal attendants at her wedding...?????