Clothes №1

President Ilham Aliyev and his family celebrated Nowruz in Shusha, Jydyr-dyuzu tableland (equestrian plays plain). The tableland is sacral for Azerbaijanis. Feint dancing of Armenians on Jydyr-dyuzu were meant to symbolize their lordship over Karabakh and Shusha (captured in 1992). In the summer past year Pashinyan danced on Jydyr-dyuzu for the last time, and the whole world knows how all this ended. In the celebratory night Aliyev built a fire to have tallied up the old year of the astronomical solar calendar.

Four months went by after the 2020 war; however, the Aliyev’s family arrived in Karabakh dressed in military fatigues. Clothes of Leyla, President’s daughter, were marked by the war theme. It should be noted that war colors in Azerbaijan came into fashion after the victorious war: it is no mere coincidence that even teenagers go out into streets in the form of special action forces. Added to this can be that Mr. I. Aliyev and Mrs. Mehriban Aliyeva appeared on Jydyr-dyuzu in the military uniform.

Account has to be taken of the fact that politicians’ clothes are none other than the language symbols and pabulum for reflection. It is not for nothing that many politicians wear red-colored ties with dark suits. "Red-colored ties are a symbol of power”, says American Mark Woodman, dress analyst. – There is something to imply dimensions of force and passion".

It must be acknowledged that shades of red color matter as well. Darker shades, for instance, wine-red (claret-colored), are good for trust-based relations. Ties of cerise shades, as well as pink colors will be appreciated as individual style associated with creative addictions of holder. In current times, a pink tie could signal about "solidarity with women", Woodman added.

It is worth remembering that Joseph Stalin made a public appearance in military jacket, jack boots and a visored cap. On the other hand, Soviet rulers made their appearance solely in civilian suits to thereby emphasize their dissociation from Stalin practice. Also, Nikita Khrushchev frequently addressed the public in the Ukrainian national shirt.

There are a dress code and rules to identify personal appearance of first persons. Note that candidates for first positions are meant to pay a close heed to image-makers, according to Marina Bast (Frankfurt, partner-inform.de).

Here it is worth citing that President Obama wore monotonous suits for business events. He explained the situation as follows:  “Herewith I’m trying to reduce the number of decisions to be taken. I don’t want to think of meal or wardrobe, for I have a lot to do”.

It must be borne in mind that German Chancellor Angela Merkel is notable for conservative views in dress selection. Extravagance-free which is typical for Russian ladies-politicians, Merkel conveys a principle of German women: “You’d better appreciate me on the basis of my business qualities, not the way I look”.

In an interview to “Emma” magazine Merkel said: “I go on maintaining a strongly pragmatic style. A hair style is to last for twelve hours; I cannot afford to powder my nose every two hours. It is necessary to reduce time expenditures for this to happen”.

It has to be kept in mind that as US Secretary of State, Mrs. Madeleine Albright preferred tasteful breastpins (1997-2001) and became popular as diplomatic language inventor. All world politicians kept a sharp lookout for breastpins Mrs. Albright wore. Handling breastpins, she exhibited support or disagreement when failing to give her opinion by words. Thus, during the war in Chechnya, at her meeting with V. Putin in 1999 Mrs. Albright drew on a breastpin depicting three monkeys: “I see no evil, hear no evil, and talk no evil”.

In doing so, she showed her attitude to the human rights violation in Russia. When the taps were discovered at the Department of State, Mrs. Albright perched a breastpin in the form of a beetle during her meeting with Russian representatives. Also, in 1994 on the eve of the war in the Gulf, Mrs. Albright came to the Security Council Committee with a breastpin in the form of a snake. Acting that way, the then US Permanent Representative to the United Nations retaliated against the Iraqi press that called her as “unrivaled snake”.

Another question is discussed in society: Why are Aliyev and his family arriving in Karabakh dressed in military fatigues? The daughter wears clothes with elements of military uniform in teenage vogue now in Azerbaijan. It is tantalizing to declare oneself as ostensibly special operations soldier.

It could be considered as normal for young woman to follow the teenage fashion.

Particular emphasis needs to be placed on the fact that the Aliyev’s spouse is dressed in military fatigues, and there is no reasoned explanation for this, especially as the glamazon wore military clothes and camouflage clothing. Note that she is not commander-in-chief as is her spouse who could wear his military fatigues all the year round. It should be remembered that as distinct from Karabakh visits Aliyev wore civilian clothes at online seminars in Baku. Why?

The question is about the dress-code’s language. Perhaps, the Aliyev’s meant to say that the war was not over, so they are not minded to part with their military fatigues and thus demonstrate readiness for action. In the meanwhile, Azerbaijan is busy with construction activities. In Aliyev’s terms, this is the end to the war; the Karabakh issue is not debatable.