Thread by @EscoBlades

I see the girl who wore the Chinese dress to prom retorted with "its a fucking dress"

(not linking to it directly cos no need for extra pile on)

What a disappointing response.

Back during the #BlackPanther run, @danikwateng talked with me about appropriation vs appreciation of traditional African clothing. You can read that here
teenvogue.com/story/african-…

Here's the rub really. You can absolutely (white folks) appreciate things from cultures that are not your own. That involves work on your part. It also involves a degree of humility when it comes to being called on those things.

Because, a lot of the time, that "cute" dress or "cool" piece of clothing that you want to wear, from some place you can't point to on a map, has considerable significance to those whose culture it represents.

If I see you wearing agbada tomorrow, I may pull you up and be like "Bruh, what are you doing?" and laugh at you.

Another Nigerian might be depely offended. Both responses are valid. Getting defensive about that says A LOT. Stop. Listen. Absorb.

TL:DR - you *can* wear whatever the hell you want. And folks can give you that side eye. Some might question your decision. It's kinda like speech and consequences.

(I nearly made it through a thread without a typo, dammit)