Charles Thatcher, Society of Explorers & Adventurers
Okay, so, the claim has been brought up again that the historical outfits my friends and I wear “glorify colonialism, opression, and racism.” I am finally giving a full response to be referred to in the future.
To counter, I would like to share some information and context on tropical/desert civilian wear from our target time period.
Our attire is “western civilian” travel/research-wear (1920s-50s) for hot climates, rather than that of imperial armies of conquest, colonization, and occupation. Yes, some of our gear was used by the military, but a lot of that was also available for private purchase, or from those who served in the Great War and kept some of their supplies after discharge (surplus as well). This was just the typical attire a person of “western civilization” at that time would use to keep with modern fashion while emphasizing functionality and practicality in the desert/tropics/inclement environments. This included the breathable materials that cover your skin from the sun and bugs, footwear to keep the dust, mud, rain, water, or bugs out, pockets and pouches to carry supplies and such, and breathable solar helmets to allow for ventilation while protecting from harsh sunlight (and you could also soak it in water to naturally cool the airflow).
As for the slavery and racism associated with the attire:
> People tend to ignore that there were many people of positive influence that wore such clothes in that environment, such as anthropologists, philanthropists, rural medical professionals, zoologists and other wildlife researchers, botanists, photographers, journalists, authors, and people who just wanted to travel and learn about places and cultures outside of their own.
They dressed like this simply because *that was just what fair-skinned people of European decent wore in those regions at that time*. In the city, you wore a suit or dress/skirt. In hot, isolated places, you wore lightweight versions of said clothes with practical features/accessories. There’s a reason camp/hiking shirts, vests, jackets still have all those pockets. It’s not because campers and hikers want to go commit genocide against the local humans and be white slavers, it’s because it is functional for the natural conditions they are going to face.
Yes, it was terribly shameful and evil what the empires of old did to pillage and claim the land and people they invaded and how they enslaved, killed, or mistreated the people that were already there for centuries and forced devistating cultural changes upon them. Words can’t even begin how disgusting and irreversible the acts of colonialism were.
We do have to remember that because someone dresses in a bush jacket and throws on a pair of boots because it looks nicer than a sporting t-shirt and hiking sandals, it doesn’t mean they are promoting the idea of an outside country acquiring full or partial political control over another country, occupying it with settlers, and exploiting it economically like those empires did. They just prefer not to dress ultra casually while they are in hot weather. (Myself included. I hate how I look in most casual wear)
TL,DR: Some people just wanted to learn and look handsome while doing it, using regionally practical version of their everyday wear from that time period. People who VISITED those hot regions weren’t all greedy, imperially and racially determined, genocidal, culture snuffers.
-Charles Thatcher, Explorer & Adventurer,
Essay used with permission.