Mathieu Cesar Amish Grunge for Jalouse France (1).jpg

I was intrigued to see this fashion editorial ‘Amish Grunge’ featuring models Zippora Seven and Dolores Doll, lensed by Mathieu Cesar for Jalouse magazine’s September issue. When AOC friends read our tag line “from fashion to flogging, telling women’s stories”, they smile at the irony.

The flogging reference is to my work on behalf of the 80,000 women a year in 2010, brutally whipped for male-determined inappropriate dress offences against modesty and Islam in Sudan. It’s ironic then that so many people assume I’m referencing the ‘50 Shades of Grey’ lifestyle, that I may be forced to abandon the tagline.

Evaluating these images as both a fashion editor and former fashion director, who also has two GlamTribal shops at Building Character in Lancaster, PA — the heart of America’s Amish country, I wonder just how accurate ‘Amish Grunge’, styled by Jennifer Eymere is, in its stylish portrayal of the Amish people.

Amish People Do Not Pose For Photographs

For starters, writes National Geographic, the Amish do not have their picture taken because they believe that photographs are ‘graven images’. Although most Amish refuse to be photographed, most make a distinction between a photograph taken in their natural setting — perhaps by a tourist on an Amish farm tour near Lancaster, as an example. The critical issue for the Amish is that they are not posing for the camera, as fashionistas do from morning to midnight.

The Amish and Guns

As for lavish display of guns in this editorial, let’s not send the fashionable message that the Amish belong to the NRA. They don’t. The Amish are pacifists and their traditions dictate that they abstain from any acts of violence. Most Amish are conscientious objectors, avoiding any involvement with the military. The Amish do hunt deer and other animals because of its involvement with nature. They believe hunting allows them to enjoy God’s creations while ostensibly fulfilling a practical need for food.