When I look good, I feel good

When I packed for Armenia, I packed business casual, both for work and play. Modest skirts and work appropriate tops for the week, modest skirts and tank tops for the weekend. I also brought a couple ‘fun’ shirts in case there was a big night out, and some suits in case there was a formal meeting. I can safely say that I was the most conservatively dressed person in the office, possibly in the under 40 population of Yerevan.

The cleavage here is out of control. Plunging necklines everywhere, 4 inch heels on the dusty cobblestones, and just yesterday I was walking behind a woman who had a gold outline of a thong stenciled on the outside of her jeans. My suits stayed in the suitcase, but I was still the plain jane, simple sally, feeling a little silly in my button up shirt and khaki shirt.

Sometimes it is hard to keep in mind that Armenians, in general, are not very promiscuous, well, at least the women are not. We were at a case law training one weekend and there was a woman who was doing particularly well in all the competitions. It was very hard for me to hear what she was saying though, because she looks and dresses very much like the hairdresser from Legally Blond, also the same actress who played Stifler’s mom in American Pie. The jury is still out on whether she’s had plastic surgery or just looks very much like what all the plastic surgeons try to make women look like. But she wears the most outrageous outfits. Like beaded halter tops with and visible bra straps made out of tiny rhinestones, periodically gathered in heart shapes, and a short skirt covered in zippers. She had big hair, long nails, and long dangly earrings the size of a child’s fist. And she totally kicked ass at appellate brief writing. I also found out that she is a public defender and probably the only person in the history of Armenia to get a criminal case outright dismissed by citing ECHR precedent.

A little digging discovered that this trend toward the scandalous is a relatively new development, and in part a reaction to the fall of the Soviet Union. I was told that during Soviet times, there was a code of modesty enforced. Nothing more than hand holding on TV, and very little public sexiness. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, the sternness lifted, and voila, porn on public TV at 8 pm. (but still no pre-marital sex). Women also felt more free to dress how they pleased. At the time there was no where to go at night that was socially acceptable. Clubs were for strippers and drunken men. So the women started to dress sexily when it was socially acceptable- during the day. I suppose if I had no nightlife, no chance to get all dolled up and feel attractive, I too might look for a shorter, tighter, gaudier business casual. But I draw the line at rhinestone bra straps.

Last week I realized how far I’d come when I decided to wear one of my ‘fun’ shirts to the office. Everyone loved it.