Bäckadräkten is Sweden's first unisex folk costume, designed in 2022 by musician Fredy Clue (pictured) and textile designer Ida Björs. Their mission was to encourage wider participation in folk traditions by providing an outfit that is not restricted to any gender or geographic region. The design merges elements traditionally considered either male or female and borrows heavily from older folk costumes. The release generated international press attention and discussions on social media, much of the latter about the relationship between folk arts and gender. Many welcomed the design, saying it provides an opportunity for non- binary Swedes to be more involved in folk culture. Others reacted negatively, resisting the social change they see as associated with it. Clue released a sewing pattern in 2023 and started taking custom orders by 2024, encouraging users to modify as they see fit, saying: "The real work continues with us learning to listen to oneself and others." (Full article...).

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%C3%A4ckadr%C3%A4kten

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1833:

The Slavery Abolition Act 1833, officially abolishing slavery in most of the British Empire, received royal assent. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery_Abolition_Act_1833

1914:

In the first naval battle of the First World War, British ships ambushed a German naval patrol in the Heligoland Bight (pictured). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Heligoland_Bight_%281914%29

1993:

The first direct Presidential election in Singapore was held. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presidential_elections_in_Singapore

2003:

A pizza delivery man in Erie, Pennsylvania, was killed during a complex bank robbery when a bomb that was locked around his neck exploded. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Brian_Wells

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

Phrygian cap: 1. (Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome) A soft, close-fitting conical cap with the top bent forward, represented in Greek and Roman art as worn by ancient Phrygians, and later associated with the Roman liberty cap. 2. (by extension, anatomy) A congenital abnormality of the gall bladder with no pathological significance, caused by a folding at the distal part of the fundus. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Phrygian_cap

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

Nothing is more frightful than to see ignorance in action.   --Johann Wolfgang von Goethe https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Johann_Wolfgang_von_Goethe