In some Kibbutzim it was determined to report all clothes
given as presents to the storehouse keepers, who reduced them from the
member's norm, thus enabling members not to part from personal gifts
whiie at the same time maintaining equality, at least in quantity.''
Presents in general were viewed as a "social problem," but on tbe
practical and particular level, a more lenient attitude resigned to the fact
that members will keep and wear their gifts." In spite of disagreements
over the change in clothing distribution, the move toward more personal
freedom and less communal dictation was a one way route: Kibbutzim
did not reenter the norm system after introducing a personai allowance.
Furthermore, more clothing items and other consumer goods were
gradually included in the personal allowance system."
Figure 4
Meal in Kibbutz Gh/at Brenner's
communal dining hall,
November 1951. Photographer;
Fritz Cohen. Israeli Government
Press Office, Item no. 36779.
picture code D290-091.
Kibbutz Dress in the 1950s: Utopian Equality, Anti Fashion, and Change 325
Conformity i
Alongside direct discussions of principles, followed by formal changes
in the policy and the system of clothing distribution, other and less
formal changes were also taking place in Kibbutz society and affecting
its sartorial culture. One of the challenges facing 1950s Kibbutzim was
how to maintain social unity and conformity as the community was
becoming more heterogeneous. The ideological and age uniformity of
Kibbutz founders was giving way to a multi-generational society, to
where newcomers sometimes brought ethnic-cultura! novelties, and
where the unifying ideology played a lesser role (Bamachaneh 1950;
Gelbert 1954:53,95).^"
On the one hand. Kibbutz members described change as inevitable,
declaring that, "We have to realize that male and female members
won't be content, as they were ten years ago, with a iight-blue shirt,
a pullover and white socks." New needs, such as nylon stockings
for women, should therefore be acknowledged and calculated in the
clothing budget.-^ Note the use of the word "need," which was more
appropriate and suitable to Kibbutz austere ideology than the word
"wish," legitimizing its content by connecting it to the Kibbutz formal
motto. Moreover, present "needs" in the 1950s covered items such as
nylon stockings, which in the recent past were condemned as a symbol
of bourgeois vanity.^''
On the other hand, sartorial change was accepted only as long as it
was not considered improper. In 1956, a member of a religious Kibbutz
demanded "a bit of modesty." He wrote that lately there appeared
some outfits that clearly deviate from the acceptable dress. Although
the Kibbutz has moved to a personal clothing allowance and people
can choose their outfits as they like, the member alluded to the biblical
phrase "That when they shall see them, they may remember all the
commandments of the Lord, and not follow their own thoughts and
eyes going astray after divers things" (Numbers 15: ^9) . He concluded,
"A minimal consideration for public opinion is required even within the
personal allowance. The deviants should return to the framework."^^ In
a religious Kibbutz, the term "immodesty" could mean either excessive
luxury, contradicting the Kibbutz value of simplicity, or sexually
provocative apparel, contradicting the religious value of chastity.
Significantly and typically, the writer did not have to specify or explain
his exact meaning: Kibbutz members who read their bulletin well knew
their local codes of dress and easily recognized when these codes were
transgressed; they also probably knew exactly who the "deviants" were.
Local gossip and social pressure are powerful tools in small collective
communities.
Triandis writes that the advantages of collectivism are particularly
clear when resources are scarce, but become less obvious as societies
become richer, larger, more differentiated, and more exposed to mass
326 Anat Helman
communication.
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