For this installment of 3 Articles on Dress, we are looking-back on the Duchess' Pakistan Tour outfits, discuss a controversial sweatshirt worn by a fifth grade teacher, and learn how wearing dresses for one week influenced a busy mom.
I really enjoy this series on dress and today's articles are varied and interesting.
In today's video I'm wearing a silk scarf by Mont Kiji (designed by a Daily Connoisseur reader!) code connoisseur gives 20% off, Everlane cashmere sweater, and pearl earrings by Ana Luisa (code Jennifer10 for $10 off). connoisseur gives 20% off.
đ Town and Country shares The Best Photos from Kate Middleton and Prince William's Royal Tour of Pakistan The royals are undertaking a five-day tour of the south Asian country, by CHLOE FOUSSIANES
The first article shares all of the Duchess of Cambridge's looks form her Pakistan Royal Tour. My favorite was the emerald green evening dress by Jenny Packham. Which look was your favorite?
đŹ Our second article: Teacher under fire for wearing sweater with controversial message on Columbus Day by Justin Chan
A Michigan teacher came under fire for wearing a sweatshirt with a controversial message on Columbus Day, WXYZ reports.
Emma Howland-Bolton, a fifth-grade teacher at Clippert Multicultural Magnet Honors Academy in the Detroit Public Schools Community District, walked into school on Monday wearing a sweatshirt that read, "Columbus was a murderer."
"I wanted to wear this shirt to spark discussion," she told the station.
A school administrator took notice of the message and asked her to take the sweatshirt off.
"I was informed that my shirt was my opinion and I countered with it is a fact," the teacher explained.
What do you think about this story? I would love to know your thoughts!
đ Daily Connoisseur Emmie sent me this article from Romper: I Wore Dresses Every Day For A Week & The Reactions Surprised Me by Gemma Hartley
Gemma was accustomed to wearing leggings and jeans every day and then decided to try something radical: wearing dresses for an entire week. Her results will surprise you! (Or maybe they won't :) )
I would love to know what you think.
I hope you enjoy today's video.
The NewAir DiamondHeat™ 2-in-1 Portable or Wall Mounted Convection Heater | AH-480 is an excellent heater. It has a sleek design, that you can hang on the wall, if desired. It heats the room quickly with even convection heat. It's a wonderful high-quality heater. Use code THEDAILY20 for 20% off.
News
đI am featured in L.A. Parent Magazine in an article on Thanksgiving etiquette.
đJoin us for The Chic Assignment for November.
đVisit The Daily Connoisseur merch store for holiday gifts, perfect for fans of The Daily Connoisseur blog. The limited edition Nutcracker mugs are absolutely delightful.
đThank you for your wonderful support of my new book, CONNOISSEUR KIDS.
đCheck out my affordable eCourses: The Ten-Item Wardrobe, Chic Financial Principles for Debt-Free Living, and How to be Efficient at Home.
On Instagram
Lessons from Madame Chic in Albania...
Comment of the Week
Brooke J. writes, "I had a Chic win this morning. I received a compliment and I simply smiled and said “thank you”. I didn’t expand on what I was wearing, or downplay it. It felt good. I love that coat!"
Hi Brooke, I am so happy for your Chic win! I love it!
I would love to know what you think about all three articles discussed in today's video. Let us know and your comment could be chosen as comment of the week on The Daily Connoisseur.
Visit my newly designed Author Website
*NEW* Shop my Amazon page for a comprehensive list of my favorite things and mentions on the blog.
Facebook facebook.com/JenniferLScottAuthor
Twitter @JL_Scott
Instagram @dailyconnoisseur
Take my affordable eCourses on the ten-item wardrobe, debt-free living, and efficiency at home
FTC: This post is sponsored by New Air. This post may contain affiliate links.
Hi Jennifer,
ReplyDeleteI loved the Duchess of Cambridge's emerald green gown as well. Everything she wore on the Pakistan tour was quite lovely.
The teacher and the sweatshirt was exactly what you said: she wanted attention and she got it. Seems like a child in a woman's body! Fifth grade is too young to be having these types of discussions - university age seems more appropriate to me.
As I listened to you talking about the mom who wore dresses for a week, it sounded great. Then I looked at the article and photos. In my opinion, the dress in her photos was completely immodest - a bad example for everyone, especially her children.
P.S. I forgot to mention that I love the scarf/sweater combo you're wearing!
ReplyDeleteThe Duchess of Cambridge was gorgeous in all of the outfits, I really cannot single out just one.
ReplyDeleteFunnily enough, the tunic dress over pants is basically my daily 'uniform'. It allows me to wear a dress without getting unwanted negative attention and is comfortable enough to do whatever I need to do. It also allows me to eat a big lunch as it is not too fitted! Sometimes I wear a navy blue pinafore dress over pants to work with a lovely necklace and even though you would think that is quite an old fashioned thing to wear, many women compliment me on it.
I didn't think the sweat shirt was appropriate, but in my own country the history of our indigenous people has been 'rewritten' and buried and I think we need to stand up for those people and allow the truth to be heard. Real societal healing cannot happen until these people are heard and receive a genuine apology.
Madeleine
The blue dress has to be my favorite one the Duchess of Cambridge wore. Honestly all the outfits were beautiful. She is such a role model for all of us.
ReplyDeleteThe woman wearing the sweatshirt ? Why would anyone even use the word murder? To do that for a fifth grade class is hideous. I would probably would take my child out of her class. My point for her would be , how do you know what Columbus really did? None of us were there.
The woman who changed to dresses is brave. I have yet to do that but do wear nice slacks. You made me do it. HaHa! Thank you ��
I don't have strong feelings about the shirt. I'm a little puzzled by the idea that there are two sides to the question of whether Columbus was a murderer, though. That pretty well attested to by historians and contemporaneous accounts. He enslaved a huge number of people, would demand a certain amount of gold every three months, and chop off their hands if they didn't comply. There are some pretty graphic contemporaneous accounts about the atrocities committed by Columbus and the men who followed him. (See de las Casas). There were at least three million of the Taino people living there when he arrived. In a few decades they had basically all died.
ReplyDeleteIt's basically the same problem posed by teaching kids about slavery. (How much do you tell when in an age appropriate way?) But like slavery there isn't a second side or debate to be had over whether it happened. It just did.
As Jane said, none of us were there at the time of Columbus. In doing a small amount of research, nowhere, even under de las Casas, did I see the account lfc described. One would have to do massive research to untangle all the information.
ReplyDeleteThere is a complexity to moral wrongs that may have been more acceptable in another era, vs. how we look at them and explain them today.
What will future eras say about our heinous practice of "abortion on demand"?
I don't want to turn this into a political debate - just trying to show an example.
Children's brains are not completely developed for complex thinking in fifth grade.
The teacher was over-the-top to wear the sweatshirt. It would be nice for teachers as leaders and potential role models to have some decorum for a change!
The sweatshirt was in poor taste to say the least. This is only a small example of why I would like to see the public education "system" closed down. It's all about "ME ME ME ME ME" and not about education. Education should be by private schools and competitive. The public school systems are always asking for more money for upgrading their education of students but what that really means is more money for their unions. What a SCAM! The learning levels are down and students are dumber every year. I always vote NO! on education elections because it is always the same old lies and nothing ever improves except union salaries. An ignorant statement on a sweatshirt is just a small but classic example of their dumb and dumber attitude.
ReplyDeleteColumbus was not a murderer! There are three problems with the recent vilification of Columbus. 1) It conflates intent with consequences, i.e., bad things happened when the Europeans met the native Americans (consequences), but Columbus did NOT set out to obliterate native cultures (quite the opposite).
ReplyDelete2) The horrific acts of violence done by the Spanish were NOT done by Columbus, but rather by the men he left on the islands when he went back to Spain. Columbus always insisted that natives be treated well; his men did not follow his orders.
3) As Jo said, we cannot judge another era by our own definitions of morality.
Columbus actually freed slaves that were owned by one native tribe and delivered them back to their own islands. Yes, he did enslave some natives. These were the individuals that had enslaved other natives. He also found evidence that they were cannibals According to the morality of the day, enslaving them was just punishment and a way to stop their wrongdoings.
Columbus was not a saint. But he was not evil, either. It is grossly unfair to lay all the horrific problems of the clash of cultures at his feet, especially when he explicitly attempted to treat natives well, and instructed his men to do so as well.
Of course we should discuss what really happened, but history is filled with nuances and creating bad guys and good guys out of flawed human beings is not the way to tell the story.
To begin, thank you - the Duchess of Cambridge is lovely and wonderful always. What a joy to observe her beautiful example. Second, I applaud the lady wearing the dresses for a week! The one shown was rather a fitted dress, which could explain the cat calls; however, more modest dresses can be worn to achieve a level of formality without the va va voom. Finally, that fifth grade teacher should be ashamed of herself. I would be livid if my daughter were in her class. That level of explicitness is NOT appropriate for that age. The only nice thing I can say about her is she had a pretty crocheted collar. Her behavior was in extremely poor taste, but the main point is that it was unkind. She put her politics ahead of her pupils.
ReplyDeleteThere are 3 problems with the recent vilification of Columbus. 1) It confuses consequences with intent, i.e., Columbus did not set out to wreak havoc on native cultures--quite the opposite. 2) It blames Columbus for acts that others committed. The Spanish did commit horrific acts of violence against the natives after Columbus returned to Spain. However, Columbus specifically had instructed them to treat the Indians well, and was horrified when he returned to the New World to discover what his men had done. 3)As Jo said, we cannot judge an earlier era by today's conceptions of morality.
ReplyDeleteColumbus actually freed slaves--one violent tribe had enslaved members of another more peaceful tribe whom he had befriended. He freed the slaves and brought them back to their home island. He also found evidence that the violent tribe engaged in cannibalism, and yes, he enslaved them. According the morality of his time, this was not only just punishment, it also prevented further violence.
Columbus was not a saint. He was not evil incarnate, either. It is unfair to lay all of the horrors of the clash of cultures at his feet, especially because he specifically instructed his men to behave honorably towards the natives. History is not served by creating one-dimensional good guys and bad guys. Of course we should talk about the atrocities that occurred, but we should also be more nuanced about human nature
Hmmm...regarding the teacher wearing the sweatshirt.
ReplyDeleteI feel a lot of shock and sadness that the sweatshirt matters more than correcting the stories that have been told for so long - stories that unjustly and falsely paint Native peoples as barbarians & savages and Europeans as paragons of virtue. I don't think it is for me to disagree with those whose opinion it is that the shirt was inappropriate, but I think a more important conversation is to look at the problem of what Columbus Day teaches our children - how it tells our White children that they matter more than our Native children. That it sends the message to children that Native children do not even exist today.
Just for a moment - imagine what a Native child (who may be a member of the Fox, Sauk, Kickapoo, Menominee, Miami, Ojibwe,or Potawatomi tribes) in that 5th grade class may have felt seeing the teacher wearing that sweatshirt. Do you think he/she may have felt validated? May have felt that the atrocities experienced by indigenous ancestors were being, in some measure, acknowledged?
Jennifer, you suggest that she wore the sweatshirt to gain attention. Indeed, I think she DID wear the sweatshirt to get people talking - but I in no way think she wanted to gain attention for herself. She wanted to shine the spotlight on a story that for centuries built the "American" identity but that can easily be dismantled.
And, yes, children and all people should come to their own conclusions. The very real problem when it comes to the history of Native Americans (and, really, all POC) is that history is taught in classrooms from the perspective of the victor. It is often falsified, sugar-coated, with entire events completely ignored or taken out of context.
If calling Columbus a murderer is more than you would like your 5th grader to stomach at this point, I am not going to disagree. But, I am going to suggest that parents do the work to learn the truth themselves and also instruct their children in developmentally appropriate ways.
Some resources:
https://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/
https://readingspark.wordpress.com/2019/06/19/picture-this-diversity-in-childrens-books-2018-infographic/
https://diversebooks.org/
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/little-house-prairie-was-built-native-american-land-180962020/
https://www.wellforculture.com/
https://www.mprnews.org/story/2011/12/12/minnesota-mix-bobby-wilson-american-indian-art
I do understand that challenging long-cherished beliefs that speak to the core of our identity is difficult; it can spark defensiveness and anger. But, I hope that this inappropriate sweatshirt and the fact that Jennifer brought it to our attention will lead us to learn more about what was behind the shirt; to do better by our friends and neighbors. The work is scary but the knowledge is enriching for us individually and can stop further harm being done to Natives. (And, for the Native men and women who are following Jennifer, I hope you realize that this message is for the non-Native followers)
I wanted to add just one other title that addresses the impact of Columbus' conquests even to today:
ReplyDeleteThe Gospel of Trees: A Memoir by Apricot Irving (https://www.amazon.com/Gospel-Trees-Memoir-Apricot-Irving/dp/1451690452)
For a nuanced and fair discussion of Columbus and the New World, please read Carol Delaney, Columbus and the Quest for Jerusalem. It is an extremely well-researched and documented book that gives insight into the motivations of Columbus and the sources of the atrocities that were committed. Columbus was NOT a murderer. It is true that entire events of his experience are completely ignored or taken out of context. Yes, there were atrocities, but please don’t make Columbus the scapegoat!!!
ReplyDeleteIt always feels like a disservice to the past when people insist that we can't judge previous periods by our standards because, more often than not, the actions we now see as reprehensible were also criticized by contemporaries. That's the point of a de las Casas - there was a guy on the ground who saw this and said, "This isn't right." Just like there were abolitionists during slavery, dissidents during Stalin's purges, and the objectors during the Nazi era. We didn't need to wait until the 21st century to see that certain form of behavior is inhumane and it's doing a disservice to our history to imagine that earlier eras didn't also have the same capacity for moral discernment. By saying we can't condemn Columbus because he was a product of his time, we're also saying we can't praise de las Casas for being better than his time.
ReplyDeleteAnd, honestly, if I am horribly morally blind in some way comparable to Columbus, then I think posterity should judge me. (And let's remember that a huge number of natives committed suicide en masse, rather than submit to Spanish rule. We're not talking about a scenario where it would have been impossible to see the harm being done.) Talk about my blind spots, the way I was complicit in injustices and did nothing, condemn me for the cruelty I averted my eyes from. Use my failings to teach your children, "That's not a great way to live and treat other people. Let's think about how to do better." Why not? What good would it do anyone to pretend my soul was white if I stepped over homeless people and sanctioned the injustices happening before me? What's so scary about admitting that we might be doing things that a future generation will condemn us for? Shouldn't we be more worried about the harm we're doing to others than our reputations?
As for the question about the historical basis for my claims from Columbus, I'm leaving a few links.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2006/aug/07/books.spain
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/columbus-sex-slaves/
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/historical-figures/christopher-columbus/
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/columbus-confusion-about-the-new-world-140132422/
https://www.phillytrib.com/commentary/coard-council-must-stop-celebrating-columbus-genocide/article_f7014ead-9962-5958-9745-02b541df2fb9.html
https://www.vox.com/2014/10/13/6957875/christopher-columbus-murderer-tyrant-scoundrel
This is such a thoughtful and informative post! Thank you!
DeleteGood morning Jennifer
ReplyDeleteFirstly, l recently purchased your book Lessons from Madame Chic and l am so pleased l did. It is inspirational! It does not lecture or stand in judgement, it gives encouragement and gentle guidance to those of us who want 'to be ourselves but ourselves at our best.' It is by far the best self improvement book of its type and l commend it to all who enjoy 'your lessons'
The best thing the amazing Duchess of Cambridge wears is her smile. It is totally genuine and lights up her face to show joy when meeting people. She is an inspiration to all women and a total credit to her parents. She is most definitely 'a Queen in Waiting' and an amazing ambassador for Queen Elizabeth.
Hmmm the Tee Shirt debacle!!! This women has abused her position as a teacher - she is paid to teach the prescribed curriculum not to express her controversial views in a place of learning by subversive means ie a slogan tee shirt. If she cannot keep her personal views out of her professional life then perhaps she is in the wrong job. It was a childish immature gesture and she should be taken to task for it. All famous characters from history have their controversial side; Napoleon, Kennedy, Churchill, Thatcher, the very 1st Queen Elizabeth Henry's daughter to name just a few but they were giants in their time. Slogan tee shirts - for goodness
sake - grow up!!!
Does this infantile gesture not completely confirm your concerns on the way society is going -inappropriate casual clothes, casual manners, a 'Me Me' approach to life without regard for others. Perhaps she should read Lessons from Madame Chic and subscribe to your channel.
Thank you all for the links on Columbus. Definitely will pick up Carol Delaney's book. But, Columbus is not really the point of this article. This article has to do with dress, and this lovely blog has to do with how we behave as polite, civilized people. When we dress to provoke, we are not being polite. When we shout politicians down in restaurants because we disagree with their policies, we are not being polite. My daughter is actually part Native American, and she would not have felt "validated" by her teacher wearing that sweatshirt: she would have been frightened and probably would have cried. As always, the message is appropriateness. Thank you, Jennifer, for all you do to try to get this message out.
ReplyDeleteHello ladies,
ReplyDeleteThank you for joining the discussion in a civil way, even though we all have different opinions. I appreciate you watching!
With love,
Jennifer