USA Africa Dialogue Series - SAPE - Society of Elegant Persons...

Society of Elegant Persons of the Congo

http://www.pri.org/stories/2014-01-24/new-beer-ad-shines-spotlight-stylish-congolese-men-who-call-themselves-sapeurs

Hello All, 

It is always interesting to read about people who brave the odds and show that their identity is not solely defined by their location or economic circumstances, as the Sapeurs of Congo have clearly done. However, the writer of this piece suggests that the Sapeurs use all their money to dress to impress, while living in poverty. Although, one of the Sapeurs interviewed mentions that they sometimes swap coats, I am inclined to agree that the Sapeurs probably spend most of their money on their peculiar sophisticated sartorial tastes. Unfortunately, neither the article nor the accompanying documentaries tell us much about their families, and what provisions the Sapeurs make for them. However, If the background images are accurate, there is a lot of misdirected priorities among the Sapeurs. I wonder if there are Sapeurs among the middle class members of this society? Perhaps Guinness only focused on working-class Sapeurs who live in abject poverty to validate their punchline, that: "in life, you cannot always choose what you do, but you can always choose who you are". 

Does anyone know of groups similar to the Congolese Sapeurs?

F

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