Why Do so Many Women Hide from the Public Using Ethnic or Religious Dress, Glasses, and Head Coverings?

Lately in the news are discussions of how some women made infamous or famous by the media can hide from public scrutiny. One of the easiest ways to disguise yourself is to don ethnic dress of your choice.

For example, if you are female and have a famous or infamous face made popular or unpopular by media coverage and you want to be let alone, especially by paparazzi, by mentally disturbed people in a crowd of protesters who want to harm you for no reason other than their own belief that they are doing it to save the world, children in general, or other people, is to don the garb of someone least likely to be bothered by a vengeance seeking crowd.

You might, for example, as a woman on the run from possible danger from nuts in the crowd who are out to hurt you because of your media coverage or your legal trial, put on Islamic dress, such as the hijab and long coat that covers your hair. Most people won't think of looking for you if you are in Islamic dress and especially if you walk along with another woman or small group of women dressed in Islamic dress. Glasses made of plain glass would further distract others from taking notice of you, but sunglasses draw attention to you as does a wide-brimmed hat.

You might even think of going to a mosque and becoming a Muslim. But your reasons shouldn't be only because you're on the run and hiding out--not from the law-- but from other women or men who want to stalk you or harm you because of your wide media coverage or what they think you've done. You get the picture.

You might even get a marriage proposal from someone of similar beliefs or background which could save you from homelessness if you have no money or place to stay on a permanent basis. But that's your choice entirely.

Another place to hideout is to don a snood. By covering your hair with a snood, you may also hide in the ultra orthodox Jewish population in towns such as Brooklyn's Crown Heights, Boro Park, Pitkin Avenue and 13th Street, certain towns in upstate New York, or small towns with largely similar ethnic populations such as Lakewood, New Jersey, towns where there are thousands of orthodox and ultra orthodox Jewish men and women who may wear conservative dress and perhaps a snood to cover the hair (women). Want to hide in a city of mostly one ethnic type? Check out the clothing patterns.

If you don't look Indian, don't go out in a sari and expect not to be noticed. But in a hijab and long coat, you can look pretty much like anyone, any race or complexion from convert to East European, from Syrian to American of two parents of different origins. Nobody is going to single you out because the dress doesn't fit the facial features or skin hue.

Another way to hide out and disguise yourself is to wear a white lab coat. Nobody would approach and run you off the road in a white coat, hopefully, if you were perceived as a lab technician, doctor, dental hygienist, or other health care worker as far as dress (not in practice, of course, without licensing and training).

So you might put on scrubs or a white lab coat to go out in public to do your supermarket shopping or necessary appointments. The same goes for any white uniform and white shoes, perhaps a nurse's hat. Not that you'd be applying for a job as a nurse, but people would probably leave you alone no matter who you looked like. You could always say you clean floors and mirrors in a beauty salon and wear a white uniform if pressed for what health care job you do. In a uniform of white, nobody knows if you're cleaning houses or working in a hospital or nursing home. Some women in white in TV ads also are pictured as mechanics or selling car insurance.

And the disguises go on. So the point is, there's no hurry to cut your hair, change the color, or go to extremes of plastic surgery unless you really need it for health reasons. Why change your face when you can change how people perceive you by your dress?

Other disguises could be a nun's attire, either Catholic, Orthodox, or Buddhist, or wearing a chef's hat and white coat. People would then think you cook food or are with a catering company. This has nothing to do with you applying for a job in those fields as it relates to what to wear to be invisible in a crowd if your face is all over the media.

You could wear a mask of an elderly person that looks real as in the old TV series, Mission Impossible. You could don a mask of a person much different or of a person of another racial inheritance. But the idea is to find the least extreme change you can make to present yourself to the rage of the crowd after you as least likely to be you for the purpose of going out in public to buy your food or clothing or visit your legal team or, eventually to find a job or open a business.

What would draw the least public attention to you as a woman avoiding the rage of the crowd? It's whatever would present you as someone least likely to be yourself, such as a white lab coat or dressing with hijab to show you don't want to be approached by the public to be abused. You need a protective dress that's the great equalizer. And loose-fitting, long clothing makes you less likely to be bothered by aggressive people who think you look like somebody they want to take revenge upon.

You get the big picture. The idea is to protect the person who's legally free and has to hide from the public's anger whipped up by media attention. And the same goes for look-alikes. Want a good disguise? Try ethnic garb. Perhaps you'll find peace in one of the ethnic groups you choose or in the profession you seek to emulate.

If you wear a white uniform, you are not posing as a doctor because a white dress could also mean a great cake decorator or a person who sits at the receptionist desk in a spa or beauty salon. And some housekeepers/maids also wear white uniforms. Take your pick.

Ethnic or vocational-related uniforms are legal, such as a white dress that can be worn by nurses or cake decorators alike. You don't need a license to legally wear a head scarf and a long coat or other ethnic dress or a white lab coat. You could wear a lab coat at a convention's exhibit trade show booth selling mattresses, face cream, or vitamins. It's all about the image people react to when they see you in public. Keep your garb loose-fitting. Cover your hair. It's the great equalizer.