Tuesday, September 26, 2006

Was Gandhi stylish?

Rachel Campbell-Johnston has written an article lambasting the world and its magazines for their shallowness in selecting Kate Moss as an icon of style. After all, she's "a mere clothes horse". Campbell-Johnston's preferred icon is Gandhi.

Unfortunately this seems to arise from her definition of style "a personality that has been won through moral effort and philosophical rigour" appears to be more an effort to define 'virtuous' or, at a stretch, 'good'.

Let's try dictionary.com:

"Characterized by or conforming to style or the fashionable standard; fashionably elegant; smart or chic: She wore a very stylish gown to the inaugural ball."


The homespun pants look never quite caught on and was never particularly chic. Gandhi wasn't stylish; let's leave some meaning in the language please.

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