Category: ireland

Unrelatabilty and 2025 Holiday Campaigns

I had plans originally to write about Ralph Lauren Christmas on its own, but then I saw two advertisements, one from local brand Steel City and another from Banana Republic, so bizarre that I knew I would be here. Hopefully not ranting too much, for the goal of this discussion for me is to think more deeply about the subtle oddities in my culture, I see weaving themselves in, like they are normal. Overconsumption, cultural appropriation, and the cosplay of wealth.

Banana Republic’s Holiday Edit

So what does fippery have to do with it? Fippery is another word for ostentatious; it’s showy. Frivility in dress or style. I also find the attitudes of these two brands, and I do want to write about exactly that. Banana Republic has always been in my mind, a bit ridiculous. But with every re-watch of Seinfeld, I see J. Peterman in Banana Republic’s threads, but their recent holiday commercial pushed me over the edge. They are that nonsense.

The holiday commercial is set in Ireland, County Cork, and I know I haven’t been to Ireland in 20 years, but dang, nothing about this commercial felt authentic. They play a cover of “Linger” from the Cranberries over the holiday scene in a pub, wandering around the town, finding a telephone booth with Irish Gaelic on the sign. They are all wearing vaguely Irish clothing, but really it looks like cast walked through a Premium Outlets on their way to Castletownshend, Cork. There are lovely Irish Christmas songs and many other songs by Irish bands that would have captured the spirit of the season better than a breakup song. No shade to the Cranberries, I love them. There were better Cranberries songs to pick. Personally, I would have looked at Dreams, Ode to My Family, and I Can’t Be With You to capture the nostalgia of the season with a non-traditional song.

Moving beyond the music, there was nothing really Irish about this ad. We barely see the town, we barely see the people, or the ancient beauty of Ireland. Think about movies such a Waking Ned Devine or Banshees of Inisherin – the landscape is a character, so is the music, and community. Ireland felt warm, not in temperature, but in the warmth of the people. The land feels like there is magic just under the surface, an imagination unbreakable, and a spirit that carries the culmination of all those who came before in an essence that makes you want to know more. The sweaters are intricate, made with the intention of preserving heritage crafts. Just take a look at Banana Republic’s holiday page compared to Blarney Woolen Mills, which is based in County Cork! The source material was right there. I guess what I am trying to say is obvious: Banana Republic’s collection is the fast fashion version of Irish style, don’t fall for it, no matter how they try to sell you on the “luxury” of it all. Now, what really bugged me about this ad was, in my opinion, the cultural appropriation of it all.

There is a fairisle sweater in this Irish collection, which is actually a Scottish heritage craft from the Shetlands. This sweater contains wool from Italy, being sold as an Irish-inspired sweater. You couldn’t even use Irish wool? Or include iconic Aran sweaters? Fisherman sweaters like the iconic one from When Harry Met Sally? The Donegal Wool sweater and sweater vest, straight up annoy me because these are again Italian wool. There is a wonderful mill in Donegal called McNutt that could have supplied true, authentic craftsmanship. We still have our clothing pieces from this store and Blarney Woolen Mills, 20 years later. I don’t like Ireland, which has been used for centuries, been the butt of the joke for centuries, being used again to peddle some lackluster clothes.

Gap, Inc. is a huge brand; they should have invested in sustainable Irish materials and supported the local Irish economy by using Irish craftspeople to create this collection. But just like J. Peterman, they come and see, then they steal other cultures’ designs to make a quick buck from subpar clothing. Look at the prices! The Banana Republic sweaters, made in Italy with Italian wool, versus the Blarney Woolen Mills sweaters made in Ireland from Irish wool, both made from merino wool, too. Local is better. Also, look at the craftsmanship of the Blarney sweaters; those cables are stunning and also affordable. Shame on you, Gap!

Steel City, What Are You Doing?

Actually, to quote the Big Fat Quiz Show, “You slag!” Steel City is a brand no one outside of the Pittsburgh area will know about, and that’s okay. Small businesses are great, and when this brand first started, they were cool. Their claim to fame was hyper-local graphic tees of beloved cultural things such as Turners Tea, the Stillers (aka the Steelers), Kennywood, Mr. Rogers, the Pens (Pittsburgh Penguins), and nostalgia. Over time, though they have expanded, which is great, creeping out to the suburbs of Cranberry and Ross Park Mall, and that is where things have taken a bizarre turn. In 2022, I went to their location in Cranberry Township and was appalled by how tissue-paper-thin the new items were. We had bought pierogi and Potato Patch shirts, which were of great quality, but the new stuff was off. The prices, quite higher than before, and I was no longer interested in their stuff.

But as targeted ads go, I keep seeing their stuff everywhere, and it has gone in some random places. There was a motorcycle and a desert aesthetic to their pieces now? Okay, odd. Neither of these things has anything to do with Pittsburgh. I guess the name is the only connection? Next, I got ads for quiet luxury workwear pieces, the local graphic tees, now behind a t-shirt club paywall. It felt soulless, and I was incredibly disappointed. I thought in the beginning maybe they were going to make the items in Pittsburgh, but they are made overseas. This morning, though, I got an ad that straight up felt out of touch.

Seriously? In this economy? With the amount of destruction the fashion industry creates on our planet? Honestly, Steel City, what the flipping heck are you doing? This brand is neither relatable nor cool anymore. Wasteful consumption is not in style, no matter what the internet says.

Ralph Lauren Christmas

Now, Ralph Lauren isn’t promoting this; this is just a TikTok trend, and I just wanted to drop my two cents. I’ve spent the last five years chasing the nostalgia of old Christmas, Christmas before everything hurt. Before people died. When I was a kid, things were simple. No matter how much you spend, decorate, chase – this aesthetic is not going to fix what is broken in your heart. I encourage you to seek out authenticity this Christmas. Volunteer time at shelters, donate supplies, check on neighbors. Call those friends or those family members you haven’t seen in so long and connect once again. The Home Alone house is stunning, but remember, what brings the true Christmas spirit is the relationships reconciled for the Old Man and Kevin on Christmas morning. People over things, always.

Happy Halloween or Samhain?

As a kid I carved pumpkins, as I mentioned in my jack-o-lantern pants posts, many moons ago. But as an adult, who has spent many years diving into history, the specifically Irish history of my ancestors, I have found myself switching to a new tradition. Turnips.

The turnip was the orignal carving vegetable for the original halloween, samhain in gaelic. Irish culture gave the traditions of halloween to the British colonizers and Irish immigrants took the traditions with them to America. Trick or treating, costumes, jack-o-lanterns carved pumpkins are all adopted from this key festival of ancient Ireland.

Samhain was a two day celebration. A bit like new year, a bit like day of the dead, and a time when the division between the spirit realm and earthly realm became thin. Fires lit the dark night, masks were worn and turnips carved to warn off evil spirits. The dead could return for a visit and it was unsettling. The world could end, if the gods were not placated.

Of course all this uncertainty is part of the human life and how we make sense of the changing seasons and our unpredictable world. I think its fascinating how they processed these uncertainties in a feast day, abd found ways to distract themselves in the darkness of short days and impending winter. Along with the othet traditions mentioned there was divination and superstitions, like predicting future outcomes with cabbages, or just games of chance, such as finding a small trinket in your slice of pie.

How does the macabre play role in Samhain and why do we have such traditions as graveyards and ghosts? It was a part of the ancient Samhain traditons to visit burial places, make offerings to the dead, and even eat in silence. Of course, while leaving a place at the table for a lost loved one or other spirits that may roam.

There is also a darkness to this festival, and layers to how far things are taken due to beliefs. This is where I stop feeling comfortable, when it gets into the druid roots. It could be quite a sinister feeling ritual, and the druids, well I had to pause my Udal Cuain research because this druid pagan chapter of culture is too dark for me. Any religion that practice human sacrifices is a no for me dawg.

But if you would like to learn more about the lighter and in my opinion, more fascinating parts of Samhain I highly recommend checking out the Ulster Folk Museum’s website.

Happy Halloween!

0

#77 – Giant’s Causeway

I’m currently watching the newest season of The Great British Bake Off, and it is bringing back wonderful memories from my childhood, thanks to one special contestant – Iain Ross. Iain is from Belfast, Northern Ireland, and his Irish charm reminds me of my trip to Ireland as a kid. He reminds me of the people I met, including my family members who live in County Antrim. He reminds me of my grandma, Florence, and my Gormley family tree. But I also remember the wonder of exploring this place called Ireland (and Northern Ireland) as an 8-year-old kid, who heard the legends of the places we saw, and found the stories truly magical.

Now, for political reasons, I wasn’t able to see Belfast due to some tensions around Orangemen’s Day. But there were lots of other cities and sites were got to see. There were stories of Dunluce Castle’s kitchen falling into the sea during a party. That was probably true. There are the ruins of tall towers, made to hide in safety from Viking raids, and also historical. But then there were the stories that lean into the fantastical, like the story of Finn MacCool and the Giant’s Causeway.

I had forgotten about the magical origin story of Giant’s Causeway until Iain turned the story into a pastry sculpture for the showstopper round. Finn MacCool, also known as Fionn ma Cumhaill in Gaelic, led a band of mythical warriors called the Fianna. Now, a giant Finn was in a rivalry with another giant in Scotland called Benandonner. To reach him, Finn created the causeway on the coast of County Antrim, which faces Scotland’s coast across the Irish Sea. When Finn saw how big Benandonner, standing in the distance across the sea, Finn decided this might not be a wise idea. Instead, Finn fled to his house, where he hatched a clever plan. He asked his wife Oonagh, to help him hide himself under a blanket, to disguise himself as a baby. Benandonner passed across the sea on the causeway, determined to settle the fight with Finn. He knocked on the door, but instead of Finn, he was greeted by Oonagh and a rather large sleeping baby, which Oonagh introduced as her son, Oisin. This terrified Benandonner. What could his father look like if this were the size of the baby? Benandonner fled back to Scotland, thwarted by the cleverness of Finn MacCool. In his haste, Benandonner ripped up the Causeway so that remnants only remain on the coast of Antrim, at the Giant’s Causeway site, and on the Scottish island of Staffa at the Fingal’s Cave site.

We know now that the hexagonal basalt rocks are evidence of volcanic eruptions that formed the Causeway in Ireland, but isn’t the creativity of my ancestors better? This story is one of my favorites. I may have been able to see through Santa Claus, but this filled me with the possibilities of a land where giants and magic roamed, and it filled me with a sense of wonder to exist in this place of extraordinary things. That’s what I began to explore in Udal Cuain and what continues to bring me back to Halloween every year – Samhain. The original celebration from Ireland.

Have you ever been to Giant’s Causeway? Did you know about the myth, and what do you think of it?

Sources:

https://giantscauseway.ccght.org/history-and-folklore/

https://giantscauseway.ccght.org/geology/

CCGHT’s Mythological Landscape of the Glens of Antrim publication

Create a website or blog at WordPress.com

Up ↑