For many of us, activism comes in various degrees. In my suburban middle class world, I don’t get that many “take it to the streets, fist up, screw the man opportunities”, sadly. But what I do have is a wide selection of fashion accessories that signal I might have a message I want out there.
Starting with the most obvious:
Political buttons: it’s a historic way to wear your politics on your lapel. As we all learned in National Treasure- even George Washington had a button.
T-shirts: although I’m not much of a t-shirt wearing gal, I have a number of message oriented selections. Last week in DC I wore my Feminist Outlaws shirt, it got some decent second looks from folks in the DuPont Circle neighborhood. I also love these folks-it’s a simple yet powerful message that anyone can wear.
But what about other more subtle statements?
Last year I bought one of these bracelets, it make a wonderful conversation starter- I’m thinking of starting a Banned Book club- let me know if you’d be interested in joining.
I’ve been trolling E-bay for vintage donkey pins for several years since I’m not a fan of the new styles ( they are cheap and mostly boring) although I don’t want to get into a bidding war with you, there have been some really great items for sale for very little money.
Tote bags: in the last 6 months the explosion of reusable shopping totes, make for an excellent way to be your own moving billboard. Great examples here here and here.
I Love Scarves, jewelry, great designs, bandanas and causes. Did I mention I love scarves?
Oooh it’s so shiny I want one, and it’s for a good cause!
For 10 years now I’ve been boycotting Chinese made items, it’s my little effort to not pump money into an economy that is brutally occupying Tibet and repressing it’s own population. Very often when I’m shopping and the sales folks ask if they can help me- I’ll casually say, I like this, do you have any not made in China? It usually starts a conversation.
If anyone has other great sources please add to the comments.
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