Venezuelan flag sparks fashion craze

CARACAS, Venezuela -- If you think America went crazy over its flag after Sept. 11, you should visit Venezuela.\nVenezuelans do not just decorate their homes with flags. They are wearing them on T-shirts, shorts, skirts, backpacks, fanny packs -- even bikinis.\nIt is a fashion craze spun from the turmoil surrounding President Hugo Chavez's four-year rule, in which pro- and anti-Chavez Venezuelans are fighting to prove which side is most patriotic.\nAlmost every clothing store in town seems to carry items featuring the yellow, blue and red banner with an arch of seven white stars in the middle. On every street in Caracas, at least one person wears some form of the flag.\nNow, Venezuela's haute couture is embracing the trend. On Wednesday -- National Flag Day -- 20 local designers displayed flag-inspired gowns at an evening competition at the Melia Hotel in Caracas.\nThe fashion elite sipped wine while gazing at mannequins sporting gowns ranging from regal to outrageous.\nThere was a simple strapless A-line with layers of yellow, blue and red chiffon.\nThere was also a mini dress made from linked copper and bronze stars. Underneath, was a royal blue bikini. A yellow cape swept down the back, decorated with yellow, blue and red parrots.\nThe winning dress was to be worn by Venezuela's contestant at the 2003 Miss Universe pageant.\n"It used to be cheesy to wear the flag," said designer Octavio Vasquez. "Now it's matter of pride to wear the flag, hold the flag, be the flag."\nIt all started when Chavez bucked a law banning national symbols at political events. During his frequent rallies, Chavez uses them all: the flag, the national anthem and images of 19th-century independence hero Simon Bolivar.\nThe result was a flag war. Vowing to "take back" the emblem, Venezuela's opposition turned its own marches into seas of red, blue and yellow. Opponents unfurled the banner outside their car windows, homes and office buildings.\nBut the power behind the fashion is Venezuela's army of street vendors. Eager to profit from the protests, hawkers got creative, selling everything from flag knapsacks to tricolor beaded jewelry.\nFor some, it's all a bit much. Sitting on a park bench, Jesus Flores, 80, eyes a vendor.\n"Wearing the flag as a bikini isn't patriotic," he grumbles. "The flag is a symbol. We should respect it"