> CD #62: Leopard print
A few days ago, I read this fun article in The New Yorker about the history and ubiquity of leopard-print clothing, as well as the idea of creating a “species royalty” to fund conservation efforts:
When a song or a design is used for the promotion of a product or an event, a royalty is paid to its creator, they pointed out. What if a fee were owed to an endangered species every time its image or characteristics were co-opted by commerce?
[…]
What if the cultural power of leopard print, that omnipresent fashion staple, could be turned to the advantage of the endangered animal to whom it rightfully belongs?
As a creature who also hopes to earn royalties one day, I am all for it.
I have exactly one piece of leopard print in my closet—a light wool blanket scarf I bought in March 2020, at the very beginning of the pandemic, because my home office felt chilly. I’ve used it mostly as a writing shawl and a reading blanket, but I still haven’t worn it out in public.
As the article notes, leopard print has signified many things over the centuries, from chastity to sensuality and glamour to punk. Currently, it “bestows the flavour of edginess where none is naturally occurring,” and that is where I hesitate: I don’t want to look like I’m trying to be edgy, lol. I just wanted a warm scarf and this was the most agreeable pattern they had. And now somehow I’ve invited all this extra symbolism into my wardrobe simply because I chose a print that has been featured in not just one, but two New Yorker articles in recent years. Why all this press for a print that’s been around for thousands of years? Is it Big Cat? I bet it’s Big Cat.
Many apologies for this post. I really don’t know how we got here.
:) Teresa
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I love the idea of a "writing shawl." Personally, it's fingerless gloves I need: I like to keep my space cold, but prolonged periods leave my fingers ice cold.
I love the royalty idea and have thought of something similar anytime I see the Coke polar bears and such. We co-opt animals as symbols so often but then don’t care for their environments. Also, did you ever see the episode of Portlandia with the skit “Put a Bird On It”?