As more countries drop mandates or regulations for the public wearing of masks under the ‘living with Covid’ regime, can we suggest that masks continue to be worn, if not for safety reasons public, then for the sake of urban fashion. Mask-wearing has a cool and exciting tradition. Worn by villains to conceal their identities – shapes ranging from the classic “folded handkerchief” option of bandits, the stylized rubber masks of famous personalities from movie bank robbers, to Halloween-inspired masks from horror movies – masks were always very classy with bad boy and bad girl dangerous appeal. While the Bhutanese masks worn by monks while dancing during religious festivals have a different (unearthly?) thrill, perhaps the rest of us should remove them as decorations from our walls from time to time and wear them at parties, masked ball style.
Masks were something East Asian countries culturally adopted as an accessory with perks like sunglasses or hats after the Hong Kong flu (H3N2 virus) hit in the late 1960s So even when wearing a mask was not mandatory, citizens preferred to don them in public. It also meant the emergence of a fashion line. So even if masks are removed from public health guidelines, it could benefit your street credibility to continue wearing them to make a strong style statement.
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