Unsavoury... fashion magazine extolling the coolness of the "fascist look"

This is not a political blog, however, here's a story that I just want to put out there as it has angered me so much. Besides, it does have something to do with fashion as well, but in a very unsavoury way. And I feel it puts anybody who likes the 1940s look in the wrong place too.

Whilst I was on my holiday in Vienna, my pal and I picked up a free fashion magazine at a cosmetics store. It looks like any mainstream fashion mag you can get at the news stands, minus the stories - so it's just fashion - and lots of ads. How to wear this trend and that etc. The intellectual content is about zero, I'm not kidding myself there. However, I think this doesn't mean whoever publishes it shouldn't show a bit of responsibility and a minimum of political correctness, or at least common sense.

There was an article in it about the comeback of the 1940s look. From my perspective, it was a piece of fluff and they could have shown better examples, and been more precise about style elements etc. But nothing to offend anybody. Only, on the next page, there was a separate text insert titled "Cool im Fascho-Look" (Cool in the fascist-look). That boxed text basically implicated that since World War II "is so long ago", it' ok to find the Nazi-Look fashionable, and that Nazi uniforms look ever so dashing on men - even today. Therefore it mentions a German actor and an actress in Nazi roles as looking so elegant, and also claims that all that is needed for the look can be found through the "well sorted specialist trade". That really only implies one thing to me, and that is unsavoury to say the least.

This is a spit in the face of anybody who survived that time, and completely irresponsible, misguided and wrong. I was disgusted to say the least, and so was my friend. It's one thing to like the look of 1940s fashions, which I do too, but it doesn't mean I condone anything the Nazis did, or that I would even think of finding their uniforms something to copy! And no, it is never too long ago to not remember! There are countless wonderful 1940s Hollywood films that show the fashion of the time off to it's best that they could have cited.

Anyway, I was so put out by this, that I sent the magazine's publishers an e-mail. It's now a good two weeks since I did that, and they haven't replied. Well, I thought it's been long enough, and I'm still angry. So I sent another message to them, then I wrote to the Austrian press council to alert them to this, to the cosmetics chain where we picked the mag up (who would want to be associated to something like the?) - and all the other cosmetics or fashion shop chains, airlines, café chains and more that are listed as partners where the mag is available. Some of them are even international companies.

I see this now, besides working of my anger and disgust, which I think is the only thing one can feel in such a case, as a kind of experiment - who will reply, how fast, and what. 

So far, one e-mail has come back, claiming I was sending spam. Well, any client of theirs who has a Yahoo e-mail address will be very happy then!

The press council has replied, thanking me, and saying they'd like to look into this, however they needed the article. Of course I don't have that anymore, we threw the mag out. And they say they can't get it anymore anywhere near them. Oh dear!

One of the distributors has replied, basically telling me that I shouldn't have gotten myself so worked up, since this was obviously a magazine of not very intellectually highstanding content (really? I wouldn't have known...!). At the same time he admitted he hadn't read that (of course). And that was from the company's CEO. Very reassuring! Well, I'll make sure never to set foot into any of their outlets anymore.

So this is where we are at the moment. I will keep posting further developments.