Tom Ford in a Headdress; but that's not the interesting part

 (image via HuffPo)

AK Note: Hi, remember me? My apologies for the sudden post drop off, school has been ridiculously busy. But I'm back, promise. And I'm still always looking for guest posts if anyone is interested...nativeappropriations@gmail.com

A few days ago, Huffington Post posted some preview pictures of Tom Ford's photo spread in French Vogue (he's a fashion designer, btw). The first picture of the spread is of Ford, sporting a warbonnet. So, we all know why it's wrong, and we can add him to the list of recent celebrity redface transgressions. Not that exciting. 

What I am fascinated by, however, are the comments on the article on HuffPo, but mostly on the re-post over at Jezebel. We all know I'm not a big fan of the Jezebel commenting community on issues of race, especially on Native issues, but check some of these out (the whole comment thread is here):

"That photo is many types of wrong.  I have never seen a racist as big as a horse before."

"Nothing like a little cultural insensitivity to start out a... lunch."

"Why has the NA/1st Nations type headdress become the new hipster fashion statement? Was blackface just too messy?"

"You guys!! I'm sure he's 1/16 Cherokee! Totes ok!"

"If I were a Native American I would have a complete wardrobe of religious headgear from every possible sector of Anglo culture and I would wear them at the most inappropriate times and places. I would dress up as the Virgin Mary for Halloween and wear my sporty pope hat to the beach."

and I liked this one, as a reference to the whole Meghan-McCain-Trail-of-Tears-tag debacle (thanks!):

"Doesn't Tom know that such things are only tasteful if you include a handy trail of tears tag?"

 Some Native voices even came out of the woodwork:

"As a first nations woman, I challenge all headdress wearing hipsters to come to any powwow, next year in your fake feathers. If you are arrogant enough to wear them, then I assume you're brave enough to wear them around those who earn their headdress one feather at a time.

"Dear Tom Ford,
My culture is not a photoshoot prop.
You're an ignorant douche."

or this woman, married to a Navajo man (her screenname is "DineBoo"--just cute):

"What is it with people wearing headdresses? Heck, I'm married to a Navajo man and I don't bust out the turquoise, the velvet, and the squash blossoms to wear out in public.

The headdress is sacred, which carries individual meanings to each different tribe. It is not a flashy hat. The way people have been wear the headdress makes it look like there is only one tribe in existence now."

Um, what happened? Where are all the cultural appropriation defenders? Where are the people telling me to "get over it?" Why can't I fill my Bingo Card?! There is one woman, who posts a question about wearing a headdress and Indian jewelry, but she then thanks the commenters who respond and send her links about why its wrong. She thanks them.

The HuffPo article has one comment about the wrongness of wearing a headdress as well--and no one pushed back. The replies thank her (him?) and agree.

Have we just witnessed a shift in the space-time continuum? Has the message started to get across? Definitely too soon to tell, but I can't even tell you how refreshing and uplifting it was to see these comment chains. I mean, it was barely a month ago that we were talking about Paris Hilton on Halloween.

Thoughts? Are people getting sick of the trend? Is this just an anomaly? Are the people who click through to an article about high fashion a different, more enlightened subset of the population? Whatever it is, this is ridiculous. In a good way.


Jezebel: Tom Ford Shows French Vogue His Headdress Collection
Huffington Post: Inside Tom Ford's French Vogue

(Thanks Alicia!)