Apparently while Occupy Portland was camped out at Chapman and Lownsdale Squares, one of its subcommittees formed without our noticing: The Occupy Portland Fashion Committee began with Maxwell Hunter's belief—widely held among Occupiers everywhere—that the movement would have more credence if its members looked like upright citizens. He and his committee members "brought down bags of button-up shirts, ties, and slacks and dressed sharply in camp to ensure the cameras weren’t just picking up the train-hoppers, hippies, and hobos."

Now that Occupy Portland has... erm... reconstituted itself into something less constantly, urgently, publicly visible, the Fashion Committee has turned its attention to what fashion committees do best: Putting on a fashion show! Slated for an as-yet-unspecified date this coming summer, the committee is currently seeking designers:

OPDX Fashion committee has made the call out to local designers and artists to come up with worldwide uprising-inspired garb for a fashion show like no other. Created to both raise funds, as well as awareness of area talent, the event, which will also feature a silent auction, seeks to reclaim fashion as a political statement.

For instance, I guess, one could take a page from the 1980s or something:

Amongst creating problems for the 99%, President Reagan also waged a war against fashion. Belinda Carlisle, Cyndi Lauper, and Richard Simmons responded by making brightly colored tights a thing. And now, once again, we find our sense of taste threatened by the 1%…Nothing says revolution like "we’re not the same cliched template, we want change, and we want it now!" On a serious note, we are the OPDX Fashion Committee: bringing aesthetics and taste to the revolution. Because self-expression through self-decoration is a human right.

If you can’t look good, it’s not our revolution.

CRINGE. However, true:

Locally made fashion actually is its own political statement: Supporting home grown designers means voting with your money. It’s a way to invest in the local economy, keep our dollars circulating at home and create real, fair-wage jobs. Plus, it gives us a regional identity of which we can be proud.

Designers interested in becoming involved should email Maxwell or join the committee.