BLACK.
Being fashion forward is something that many strive to do. From being up-to-date with the latest fashion, to being a trendsetter; making an impact in the fashion industry will always be a goal for many and will pose a challenge to most. Yet, one thing that many people do not think is, “Is my choice of apparel truly defining what I am trying to express?” As the apparel may instead, define who they are unknowingly.
Afrocentricity: A fashion style that blossomed in the 1940s for the purpose of colonization to
segregate African descendants into economical colonies to define how black their blackness was.
What is someone’s blackness? In Africa, “blackness” is similar to our Western civilizations social status.
Normally, we see that most people who wear clothing are trying to represent themselves as a form of expression but that is a more Western adaptation into fashion.
In Africa, the fashion is not a true form of expressing oneself but a method in which one is silently labeled.
For instance, wearing a dashiki is a current trend that many are embodying; feeling as if it is bringing them into the roots of their ancestry. This may be so, but not many truly know or understand the purpose behind the dashiki apparel that derives from Africa. Dashikis were originally intended to label one’s social status to ensure that they remain in their place when it came to economic and cultural opportunities in Africa, categorically: lower class, lower-middle class, middle class, middle-upper class and upper class. The difference in an African’s physical appearances were also taken into consideration when defining their placement in social rankings from cultural patterns and language structure. In order to organize the differences of culturally different Africans, dashikis were created with bright colors, intricate pattern designs and various fabric textures to dictate where they belong in social standards.
The Afrocentric Fashion has been adapted over and over again through time, including the 1960s and 1970s where the Black Panthers and other Black Nationalist and civil rights groups embodied the clothing style as a form of protest. However, today, the fashion has been embraced as a meaning of being proud of your roots and where you come from. Now, don’t get me wrong, it is absolutely great to be proud of your roots and heritage, but at what cost?
The whole point of wearing clothing is to voice your personality and style without speaking a word. But by wearing certain clothing, like dashikis, are you truly defining the clothing or are you allowing the clothing to define you?
