A couple of weeks ago, I drew attention to how obsessed Urban Outfitters is with the term “Navajo” to represent a catch-all stereotypical southwest/plains asthetic. Then this week, reader Julia sent me a link to the Anthropologie website, with several “Native” inspired pieces. The one that caught my eye was the “Haida Poncho,” shown above. I just thought it was …
Urban Outfitters is Obsessed with Navajos
“Navajo Nations Crew Pullover“ A search for “Cherokee” on the Urban Outfitters website reveals 1 result. A search for “Tribal”: 15. A search for “Native”: 10. “Indian”: 2. But Navajo? 24 products have Navajo in the name alone. This post started as a massive Urban Outfitters take-down, I spent an hour or so last week scrolling through the pages of …
Oh Spirit Hoods.
Oh Spirit Hoods. One of those fashion trends that makes me pause, cock my head, and say “really??” If you’re unfamiliar (meaning you’re not one of the 15,000+ people who “like” the brand on facebook), Spirit Hoods are furry animal hat/scarf combos that are all the rage with tweens, celebs, and hipsters alike. I’ve gotten a few tips recently about …
The Today Show thinks "Tribal Jewelry" is a "Summer Outfit Maker!"
Right on the heels of our great discussion on Al Jazeera’s The Stream, the Today Show decided to feature “tribal jewelry” as one of its go-to summer “outfit makers.” I’ll embed the video clip below, but I don’t know how long it’ll be up on the site, so I took some screen shots and made a quick transcript as well: …
Let’s Talk About Pendleton
(look from Pendleton’s new “Portland Collection” for Fall 2011. Source here.) Last night I was cold. So cold, in fact, that I had to pull out not one, but two, of my Pendleton blankets to add some extra warmth to my bed. As I shook them out and laid them on my bed, I thought about how special these blankets …
Project Runway’s "Squash Blossom" blouse
I’ve been reading a few Project Runway recaps and watching some sporadic clips online (again with the no cable thing–you think I can get cable written off as a blogging expense?), and a couple of people sent me this image from last week’s episode. From what I can gather, the contestants were asked to create a textile design, and then …
"Navajo" Fashion Spread in Seventeen
(via my culture is not a trend, click for bigger version) Cultural appropriation in fashion has now gone seriously mainstream. The favorite read of tweens and teens everywhere, Seventeen Magazine, featured this “Navajo” fall fashion spread in their August issue. On many levels, I find this even more offensive than having a generic “tribal fashion” spread. I know I always …
The Ultimate Tribal Fashion Roundup (June 2010 version)
(TNA Spring Catalogue) It’s been a while since my last tribal fashion roundup back in March, and even longer since I first questioned the emergence of Native themes in fashion back in January. The trends don’t seem to be slowing down, and if the prevalence of the hipster headdress is any indication, they might be sticking around for even longer. So …
But Why Can’t I Wear a Hipster Headdress?
(image from http://www.facebook.com/iamhowlingwolf, which is an entire post in itself. geez.) I’ve posted a lot about the phenomenon that is the hipster headdress (see here, here, and here), but I’ve never really broken it down as to why this trend is so annoying and effed up. A lot of this will be review and is repeated elsewhere on the site, …
The Jezebel Fashion Post that keeps on giving
(Jen Mussari’s now iconic image 🙂 ) I’ve come across some awesome blog posts in response to the Jezebel piece (found here) on Native fashion that Lisa at Sociological Images pulled together with images from this blog. The comment thread on the piece was really interesting, with people debating what should be deemed “ok” what is “offensive” and some just …