- preface
Congo, a small country located in west-central Africa.
The slums here are like yellow-black sand all over the country, and most people are toiling and running for their next full meal. And in such a drowsy world, there is such a group of well-dressed, high-profile and eye-catching men.
They wore expensive suits with bow ties around their necks, cufflinks at the cuffs, boxy silk scarves in their pockets, top hats on their heads, and leather shoes that shone in the opposite direction. Dressed in avant-garde costumes, they walked out of crumbling earthen houses, passed by herds of noisy chickens, ducks and geese, and rode into a dilapidated truck for a party.
You think this group of gentlemen is a high class gentleman?
No, no, no, in fact they've probably been starving for a week, just to save some money on a designer tie.
These are the "Sapeurs", the African fashionists, who are known to the outside world as the "upper class gentlemen" of the Congolese slums. Let's see how much face these "upper class gentlemen" who want to die and suffer from sin really want face.
- Hungry upper class gentleman
Sapre often appeared in groups on the streets of the Congo in Africa, raising their hands and feet in elegance and courtesy, as if they were participating in a Paris fashion show.
If you see them, you'll be shocked by this avant-garde fashion. But don't think of them as celebrities or rich people, they're even poorer than ragged pedestrians!
In order to buy famous brands, they are already poor and even reduced to picking up garbage for a living!
Although they are poorly educated and at the bottom of society, this still does not discourage their pursuit of beauty. In other words, in a world where they can only talk about food and clothing, they regard fashion as "spiritual food."
They would rather be hungry, dress up in designer clothes, and enjoy the life of being crowded and pretending to be aristocratic and gentlemen.
Some people think that they do this as an escape from reality, and young people will become materialistic and gold-worshipping, swollen and fat for a suit, or become the poorest "leek" in the world of capital world famous luxury.
A documentary filmed by Russia's RT television in 2015 had a caption that "living in poverty, shooting like a billionaire" is extremely ironic.
In response, the Sapurs "gracefully" shrugged back: What is wrong with being born in this kingdom that can go to heaven at any time, and I am in charge of my soul and my own destiny? I am only true to my heart!
This is the purpose of the Sapp movement (also known as the elegant dressing movement): "When society does not give you too many choices, we must choose how to be ourselves." ”
They also believe that fashion and elegance are two different concepts, and that fashion sometimes does cost money, but elegance does not. It doesn't matter how much money a set of clothes costs, what matters is the value of the people inside the clothes.
As they say, the Sapurs pursued not only gentlemen on the outside, but also on the elegant interior. Dressing elegantly can show a decent appearance, and to be a Sapur, you must show respect for others, be polite, and be enthusiastic and inspired in attitude and behavior.
A set of expensive suits may require a salary of one year or more, and it is difficult to have them in a short period of time. As a result, some people choose to borrow money, and even embark on the road of breaking the law and committing crimes. But criminals, like those who wear fakes, will never gain the approval of the Sapurs because they don't think they're real gentlemen.
The Sapurs believed in self-sufficiency, rejected vulgarity, and opposed violence.
For Sapur, cigars are the ultimate plus for clothing, and they actively look for smoking areas when smoking cigars, and they also ask for the opinions of others, and they will light them when they are allowed.
Not only that, but the real Sapur also opposed racial discrimination, alcoholism and drug use, and was not allowed to eat soft meals and be merciful everywhere.
For them, designer clothes are a spiritual constraint. Others earn money to buy houses, and the Sapoles earn money to dress up, and the streets are their runways, and the clothes on their bodies make them polite, satisfying and honorable.
As the number of Sapurs gradually increased, they formed the "Sapp Society (Atmosphere Builders and Yashi Association)", which met regularly and held competitions. They will judge their respective outfits at the party, check whether their behavior, posture, etc. are elegant, and give the warmest applause to each seriously dressed partner.
It is said that "man depends on his clothes and horses by saddles", and the Buddha sometimes needed gold bodies and flowers.
The Sapoles wear clothes that favor the "three-color principle", and the colors on the whole body are not much or less than three colors. Their adherence to the three-color principle has made this classic collocation not only in the Congo, but has affected the whole world.
In the Congo, Africa, this dynamic, creative combination, the uninhibited fabric pattern overlaps, mixed with free souls from the slums, and plays a different fashion symphony on the world stage.
- The heart of comparison under the brand
The spiritual core of Sapp culture gives Sappers a very legitimate "reason to chop their hands", loyal to themselves, timely fun, fashion to give them positive spiritual feedback, their actions and appearance have changed dramatically, sounding very noble.
But to tell the good and bad of a culture needs to be objective, and the spiritual core of Sapp culture is indeed worthy of affirmation, but there is also a heart of mean contempt and comparison.
A genuine suit costs about $500, and only one suit is not enough, and having 10 suits is Sapur's entry standard, otherwise it will be ridiculed. 10 suits cost nearly $5,000, while the average Sappler earns an average of $200 to $300 a month, and some are even unemployed vagrants.
But they think the same thing, they'd rather go hungry than let themselves look shabby!
Severin Mongow is the quintessential Sapur, who is touted for having a cloakroom filled with designer clothing.
Others, Sapplers did not cut off the price tag, deliberately leaking the price tag outside to achieve the purpose of showing off, while Severin showed off by revealing the brand-name trademark. He said: You have to show the logo of your clothes, these are status symbols.
Severlin lifted his coat, pointed to the AMANI logo that had been hidden inside, and said, "This is the original Armani, and you see this is the victor laurent tie, the jimmy weston's leather shoes, and the cigar, this cigar I never order, it's just an accessory to decorate the façade." ”
Even from slums, Sapurs look down on people who buy designer clothes by picking up trash and borrowing huge sums of money, because they don't think they deserve expensive clothes. Everywhere there is a hint of comparison, ostentation and meanness.
And if you go through any pocket of their expensive clothes, you won't find a single coin.
After the party, the Sapp Society offers a lunch. People in bright suits and leather shoes who had just shined brightly ate in front of this rare lunch, and some people thanked the unknown lunch in the iron bucket, and they lined up in a long line, and after receiving it, they either stood or squatted to fill their hungry intestines.
Fashion and bread, for most of The Sapoles, can't be combined.
- What happened to Sapp
The Sapp movement arose in the colonial Republic of the Congo, when Africa, as an undeveloped land, not only had sufficient resources, but also very cheap labor.
Thus, European capitalism set its sights on this land and opened up Africa, which was still in a primitive society, with more advanced weapons.
At this time, most of the indigenous peoples of Black Africa were still "uncivilized" and "unclothed", and fashion and decoration had nothing to do with them until the emergence of the French aristocracy. This group of French people purchased a large number of second-hand costumes from Europe, which were used as a bargaining chip for communication and negotiation with local chiefs, and subtly instilled consciousness under the banner of "indoctrination".
At the same time, like the French aristocracy, Europeans began to divide up the local labor force. They used the money to hire local blacks in large numbers and to provide second-hand clothing to dress up domestic servants, just to make these black slaves look like they had been bought for a lot of money.
Saphor's dress was influenced by French colonial rule and parisian fashion was highly regarded among youth groups. The French taught them how to make croissants and how to wear them, and when the Congolese people drove the rulers away, the culture remained.
During the First World War, many Congolese and French were recruits in the same group. After the war, the Congolese soldiers returned home to praise the French view of war and violence, further tying the "sign of evolution" to European clothing.
This group of middle-class youth became the original Sapurs.
Over time, sap culture became popular among Young People in Africa and formed a subculture. For African youth, the dress is more of an ideology, they wear the clothes of the colonizers, the heart longs for respect and equality, and the clothes are also to a certain extent pinned on their political demands.
In the 1960s, the Sapp movement ushered in a major explosion. The reason was that the Republic of the Congo had just emerged from Belgian colonial rule, and the President issued a policy of "Africanization", that is, it was forbidden to wear Western clothing only traditional African clothing.
During the campaign, a Sapur was beaten in a suit, which caused an uproar. Since then, the Sapp movement has been given the meaning of resisting state power.
In the new era, a famous Congolese musician, Papa Wemba, also contributed to the Sapp movement, deliberately wearing a suit during his performance, openly expressing that "white people make these clothes, and we wear these clothes out of art".
Using lyrics and clothing, he called for encouragement for Africans to challenge the West in a Western context and not be afraid of the white gaze. In addition, he standardized Saphor's language, dress, and gait, bringing him closer to the elegant gentleman.
In this way, Sapur slowly opened up the living space in the West.
In February 1995, the founder of the Sapp movement, Stevaniakos ▪, died, and people dressed in gorgeous costumes to attend the funeral, in this unique way of mourning. On that day, on one side is the lifeless cemetery, on the other side are brightly colored people, and the strong contrast brings a shock to the soul.
- Absorb the essence of Sap culture
Although Sapp culture has a vanity side, it is undeniable that it has really gone out into the world and conveyed a unique African culture. From this point of view, we should take its essence and remove its dross, and learn from the spiritual character it adheres to.
The optimism that persists even at the bottom of society is worth learning.
In fact, China also had a kind of "bombing street" fashion, around 2008, QQ space suddenly became popular "killing Matt culture". Colorful and strange hair, eccentric families, in the online world overnight burst into flames, they are like Sapur, do not care about the eyes of pedestrians on the street, in that instant, they are the kings of their own spiritual world.
If we look deeper into the main teens who play Kill Matt, we will find that they have too many similarities with the Sapre. Most of these children are not highly educated, most of them drop out of junior high school and go to work in factories, there are no formal protection measures in the factory, they cannot get workers' compensation for injuries, and most of the wages earned will be handed over to the family.
The good youth passes on a cyclical, never-ending assembly line, mechanized labor numbs people, and there is darkness ahead, and they cannot see the future. And that culture, which outsiders can't understand, has briefly pulled them out of the swamp of life.
By their clothes, by their maverick hair, sapurs become the bright colors of the soul in boundless loneliness. With the same hobbies and emotions, they quickly condensed into a group to warm up and resist the cold winter of the world.
In the end, the killing matt culture fell on the Internet public opinion, and now it has become a memory of the times.
It was born in the solitude of the adolescent group, externally connected to the individual, although rebellious, but very fragile, because it brings only the noise of the outside world and temporary psychological healing.
In the end, we still have to find the right values, and only spiritual abundance can truly save a person.