Make a fashion statement wear a poppy

This November will be the 90th Anniversary of Armistice Day commonly known as Remembrance Day. Why not make a fashion statement and wear a poppy to remember the sacrifices of the many millions of soldiers and civilians who have died in war. Wearing a poppy not only signifies our memory to the sacrifices of these men and women but it also signifies and sends a message that we as a human race need to find alternatives methods to violence in addressing socio political and economic grievances.

Poppy Day is observed on 11 November at 11h00 to recall the end of World War One. The First World War resulted in over 40 million civilian and military casualties. South Africa lost over 9000 troops. When the guns fell silent on the Western Front on the 11/11/1918 at 11h 00, the poppy grew over the shattered landscape "carpeting the graves of the fallen." Colonel John McCrae, a medical officer who witnessed the carnage of the war wrote: "In Flanders fields the poppies blow. Between the crosses, row on row. That mark our place: and in the sky the larks still bravely singing, fly. Scarce heard amid the guns below … if ye break faith with us who die we shall not sleep, though poppies grow in Flanders' fields."

The First World War changed the role of women in society and provided an opportunity for fashion to move into a new modern age. The wearing of the corset ended, a new hemline was created and the wearing of the suit by women created a new epoch in dress code, fashion construction and the influence of fashion in society.