First Marie Claire praises Kendall Jenner for making cornrows hot, then Vogue deems big butts ‘in,’ thanks to J. Lo and Iggy Azalea. Now Elle.com has declared Timberland boots ‘the new fashion shoe for winter,’ looking to Gwen Stefani, North West, and Rihanna.
Of course in fashion, everything old is declared new again. Whether you call burgundy oxblood or wine, the color is renamed every fall, burnished with a fresh gloss, and rolled out as if it were the second coming. It’s almost a necessity in the world of style to spin something we already knew was cool into something unexpected. But in this case, it seems to smack of ignorance and cultural appropriation. Braids have been hot. Big butts have been in style. Timberlands have been the dopest boots for winter. In the black community.
Of course Black Twitter has taken Elle.com to task.
Though Danielle Prescod (who is black) only opined on Timberlands resurgence for less than 1,000 words (read her article here), many took issue with her story’s lack of reference to Timberland’s popular and longstanding place in African-American culture. In addition to mainstream magazines typically giving negligible attention to minority communities, they also seem to discuss trends that obviously began in urban culture without even a passing reference to the originators/early adopters.
Author Danielle Prescod
At any rate, we all make mistakes. Perhaps Elle.com will beef up the article with a line or two. Or perhaps next time, if they want to avoid controversy, they’ll just do a little extra homework.
What do you think?
**Update: @DaniellePrescod has issued a statement, via Twitter. Black Twitter is not at all pleased with her response.
Are you?
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