Unbelievable of Inevitable? The Flu-Ready Fashion Trend

The latest fashion trend to hit the streets of North America has a fairly good argument for its inevitability. For the past week or so, every media outlet available has been voraciously covering developments of the swine flu. From questionable death counts to ominous alert ratings issued by the World Health Organization, questions of closing borders and banning travel to calls for folks to remain calm, the coverage has been chaotic at best. In hard-hit places and areas of high risk, people are being urged to stay home from work and school, and to avoid crowded public places. But many city slickers know how to keep themselves protected if going out of doors amidst the pandemonium and possible infection threat. It's a little device employed en masse by Asian populations back when SARS was wreaking the sort of havoc --at least, in terms of journalism-- that we're seeing today with the swine flu.
That's right, we're talking about the good old surgical mask. Once confined to the realm of operating rooms, these thin paper face-huggers have become a first response measure for the public when reports of outbreaks make breathing others' air a bit sketchy. But with the increasing prevalence of these outbreaks, the surgical mask is fast threatening to become a bonafide accessory. Yes, a fashion accessory. As people around the world are finding out, just because you're donning a ho-hum piece of cloth in the name of good health doesn't mean you have to look ho-hum yourself. In this creative spirit, many surgical mask wearers are beginning to truly accessorize their pieces, most notably with paints.
We're not so sure which paints are best, though there are likely issues pertaining to breathability and even toxicity (we don't recommend slathering a mask with magic markers just prior to putting one on, at any rate). But several health-conscious citizens have either researched or disregarded their way to success, producing some pretty interesting mouthpieces. One especially popular theme, despite being a bit foreboding given the slightly panicked environment, is skulls.



Back in Asia, where the surgical mask popularity stirred up its origins, at least one artist has been dreaming up elaborate and attractive designs for the accessories. Perhaps someday soon we'll see the mass production or designer lines of surgical masks, leaving us to wonder whether we'll be able to match them to our bags, shoes, jewelry, and other accessories, too. Or maybe, just maybe, we'll see surgical masks strung up in the sparkling beads and bright finishes of costume jewelry, which would likely be a lot of fun, even if it required an entirely new (and humongous) sort of jewelry box.



For now, plenty of celebrities have been spotted donning shamefully unadorned masks, including TV pair Spencer Pratt and Heidi Montag. And of course, who could forget Jacko's bold appearances with mask in tow? As the hubbub over swine flu continues, we're anxiously awaiting to see how creative vity dwellers and celebrities alike approach the artistic opportunities of the surgical mask.