Over the years we’ve seen many incidents of western brands indulging in cultural appropriation i.e. taking something that belongs to other cultures and trying to pass it off as your own. And of course, all it does is really make some hot shot brand look like they’re out of ideas.
But believe me when I say, nothing will prepare you for this one. A UK clothing store Thrifted topped the list of one of the most ridiculous products to come out from cultural appropriation.
I mean just get a load of this. They’re marketing a kurta, and that too without a shalwar, as a perfectly normal dress!
Never did we think that an act of cultural appropriation would become a fashion faux pas. So forgive us as we still can’t get enough of how silly and ridiculous this kurta looks!
Plenty of people have mistaken South Asian fashion as ‘tribal chic’ especially with the theft of ethnic prints. But only a kurta as a dress? There’s low, and there’s a special kind of low. No marks for guessing which one belongs here.
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The kohla-puri being sold as Christian Louboutin’s own creation was pretty drag. Last time we saw something as funny as a kurta worn as a dress was when a lungi was sold as a ‘flowing mini-skirt’.
Thrifted and Their Shalwar-Less Kurtas
The UK clothing store Thrifted, as the name suggests, sells thrifted goods at vintage stores. So when the got their hands on a bunch of kurtas, they sold them as ‘boho dresses‘.
Cultural appropriation doesn’t just stem from ignorance but also exoticization. That’s why not only did the store dub the kurta as a ‘boho dress’ but also took away the shalwar.
That is basically the equivalent of walking around in an oversized tee with no pants. Not a t-shirt dress just an oversized tee (they’re too risque for a family show anyways). The sheer dumbfoundedness of the situation is hilarious. How do we even react to this?
We want to be mad about them appropriating our culture, but we can’t stop laughing. South Asian Twitterati didn’t take to well to this.
@thrifted_com Cultural appropriation at its finest.
— Gurkirat Kaur (@KiraAkila) September 11, 2019
https://twitter.com/imjussaiyan868/status/1171946984904830976
These cases of racism that are reported to twitter are cliche as fuck. You see them absolutely everywhere. Actual racism is either silent or violent. The nasty things scumbags say is protected by the first amendment unless it’s a direct threat. Real racism is horrible.
— Phoenix_(Watch JoJo)_Moya (@PhoenixMoya) September 10, 2019
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“Vintage boho dress” pic.twitter.com/Oux1TcccTA
— I have opinions on things (@ChantellePhinda) September 11, 2019
https://twitter.com/dxya_d/status/1170322062625296385
https://twitter.com/mahhheen/status/1171302296053043201
https://twitter.com/abbygov/status/1171297140884365313
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So when some people called them out, Thrifted took down the items and apologized.
Hi @dxya_d – Thank you for bringing this to our attention. We have taken these items off of our website. We bought these from our suppliers as 'vintage boho dresses' and sold them in the belief that they were. We apologise for any offence that has been caused.
— Thrifted (@thrifted_com) September 10, 2019
But does that mean people will stop stealing things from our culture in the future? Some things never change.
via Images
