Iranians use fashion to protest social restrictions

A growing number of Iranians are using fashion as a form of protest against a repressive government, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported on March 7.

The Islamic Republic has a strict dress code, requiring women to wear the head scarf and prohibiting men from wearing short-sleeved shirts or ties. The authorities often detain people with “improper clothing or haircuts” as part of a crackdown on those who violate this code.

Yet despite this, more and more Iranian are dressing according to a Western sense of style. “The more the authorities try to enforce the code, the more it seems Iranians want to push the boundaries of personal fashion – even at the risk of fines and imprisonment,” the article says.

Iraj Jamsheedi, an Iranian independent journalist, sees the drive to enforce the dress code as part of a larger effort by the government to control society. “Many people ignore the rules as much as they can, simply to protest this and other social restrictions,” he says.

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