The government in Austria has spent about $461,000 on a study of “far-right fashion,” which oddly concluded that any style could be suspect “if it is worn by people the study authors consider right-wing.”
A report at LifeSiteNews confirms the government originally was going after things like “polo shirts,” “old money” clothing and floral dresses.
“Be careful if you wear polo shirts, ‘old money’ clothing, or floral dresses. You could be considered a right-wing extremist: A fashion researcher at the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts is studying right-wing extremist fashion from 1989 to the present,” Austrian news outlet Exxpress said.
The assessment which delivered such significant results was three years long, called “Fashion and Right-Wing Extremism” and won’t end until next month.
Exxpress said the work focuses on neo-Nazi fashion from the 1990s including classic bomber jackets and combat boots and also looks at “tradwife” fashion.
The money came from the government Austrian Science Fund which is run by Eva-Maria Holzleitner who is in the Social Democrats party as minister for Women, Science, and Research.
Elke Gaugele, who leads the study, supposed far-right groups would try to spread their messages through clothing, LifeSiteNews explained. “Gaugele and her team visited specific stores in Germany and the U.S., conducted interviews with employees, analyzed visual material online, and carried out network analyses.”
Gaugele cited the Austrian “Identitarian” movement and claimed, “There, you can clearly observe the shift toward the hipster look. This is meant to embody a new style: We’re all good-looking, smart, and hip.”
But she also had to admit clothing styles across the political spectrum are similar, “Consequently, it appears almost any style could be considered ‘far-right’ if it is worn by people the study authors consider right-wing,” the report confirmed.
She explained that as being because far-right styles steal designs from other segments of society.
LifeSiteNews said, “The authors said that fashion trends have expanded and become more international and include themes such as ‘gender bashing’ and ‘green bashing’ or ‘ecology bashing.’”
Maximilian Krauss, leader of the Freedom Party, said, “Nearly 400,000 euros in taxpayer money is being spent on a fashion study about supposedly far-right clothing styles. While Austria is struggling with inflation, a housing shortage, and security issues, your tax money is being spent on this. You couldn’t make this up.”
According to the Viennese fashion researcher Elke Gaugele, the spectrum of clothing styles she has examined now ranges from streetwear to the so-called “Old Money” look to polo shirts or the “Tradwife” style.
As part of a three-year research project, the scientist at the Academy… pic.twitter.com/SKwo61MsiH
— Adam Scott (@chefcascottccc) August 6, 2026
Mit Steuergeld gegen «rechte Mode»: Wiener Forscherin nimmt Polohemden und «Old Money»-Look ins Visier https://t.co/YltS02nlEq
— Eddie Graf (@Eddie_1412) August 9, 2026
€400,000 To Study “Far-Right” Fashion Trends: FPÖ Outraged
Austria’s Freedom Party has criticised a publicly funded university study examining how right-wing extremist fashion has evolvedhttps://t.co/z55fbmD3sJ #FWF @TheTorontoSun
— Marvin Wiseman (@MarvinWise83638) August 5, 2026
