mantos
Persian (Iranian) short, tight coats/tunics/shirtdresses worn by rebellious Tehran intellectuals and flirty, pro-Western young women to satisfy the Islamic government's dress code. The government hates them (they "crack" down on them periodically, from what I've heard). Characterized by highlighting the curves of the body that they are supposed to conceal. Now sold in North America under the name "tunics". Better known as manteaus. Manteaus are not an Iranian invention and are copied from the French/British trenchcoat. The word itself is French, of course. Coupled with tight jeans or short rouched pants, a patterned silk scarf lifted up and tied loosely on the neck so that ALL of the hair shows through the front and back, HUGE sunglasses, and flat shoes. I personally wear silk scarves around the shoulders with them; I want them to look Western on me, of course. Manteaus are the perfect symbol of rebellion against a backward medieval theocracy and a love for humanism, women's rights, and one's own body as a sexual symbol....you gotta love them.
I am not Iranian, but I fell in love with manteaus/mantos after reading an Associated Press article about rebellion through fashion in Iran. I am a very defiant woman, and I absolutely abhor dictatorships and always admire those who rebel against them. I adore it when people use fashion to make a strong social statement (I do this myself all the time). It was no coincidence that last summer, the first manteaus appeared in stores here.... I now own 6, all different colors and styles (most of mine are more tailored to Western fashion and are short-sleeved, while the actual ones are usually long-sleeved and a little longer than mine, but just as tight!)! Yes, it even got me noticed by a very sweet guy from precisely those neighborhoods of Tehran, and the rest is history in the making, if you know what I mean....
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