When in Thailand, you’ll be able to spot a vacationer from afar by the “elephant pants” they’re most likely carrying. If you wish to gown in a approach that screams “I’m a international backpacker” at locals, there’s no better option.
Trend is within the eye of the beholder in relation to elephant-patterned trousers.
The so-called elephant pants are hardly ever worn by native Thais, however these mild and breezy trousers may be present in abundance in vacationer areas corresponding to alongside the pubs and hostels of Bangkok’s Khaosan street, as soon as made well-known by the 2000 movie The Seashore starring Leonardo DiCaprio.
There, they’re a phenomenon worn by a close to majority of vacationers in the course of the day, when they’re offered on the perimeters of the road for as little as 150 baht every (RM20) every.
Shopkeeper Sawat Daengurai stated he has been promoting garments on Khaosan street for a couple of decade, nonetheless. Gross sales solely began choosing up when he started to promote the elephant pants round three years in the past.
“I used to promote tank tops right here however the elephant pants are extra widespread, ” he stated. “I began promoting them later than everybody else.”
Marissa Arranz, 50, from Spain stated she has been to Thailand thrice and has by no means failed to purchase a pair on every go to. “They’re actually comfy to put on. They really feel so recent, ” she stated.
The wild patterns on the trousers resemble the designs of stitches that may be present in attire made by hill tribe villagers. However the elephants that intersect the patterns mark the trousers with a distinguished Thai identification.
A budget, vast and lightweight trousers with elephant patterns are vastly widespread with vacationers in South-East Asia.Elephants are the official nationwide animal for Thailand and are deeply rooted in its tradition and literature. The animal as soon as featured prominently on the nationwide flag.
“Foreigners just like the pants as a result of after they see the elephants they consider Thailand, ” says Mantana Kernkangpu, a 44-year-old service provider of elephant pants at MBK purchasing centre in Bangkok, one other main vacationer vacation spot for its low-cost merchandise.
Though the trousers might look Thai, Mantana stated “I wouldn’t put on them myself. I’m too outdated. They’re not my model.”
Cultural scientist Adam Geczy from the College of Sydney says the elephant pants have a transparent resemblance to harem pants from the early 20th century.
“Nevertheless, there’s a hippie edge to them which we might now name hipster, ” Geczy stated.
“These usually are not pants for the gentleman’s membership, ” says males’s grooming skilled Bernhard Roetzel, creator of the Gentleman’s Information To Grooming And Model.
“Whoever wears them doesn’t need to go there in any respect.” — Caroline Bock and Kaweewit Kaewjinda/dpa
