End of the Year Issue
Loowit Morrison
April
Clean girl.
We can all picture her: slicked-back bun, neutral nail polish, “no-makeup” makeup with lip gloss. She is an image of sophistication, elegance and fashion, not to mention hyper-trendy. She is a model off-duty. She is praised as glowing. And, more often than not, she is white.
The clean girl aesthetic is widely credited to celebrities such as Gigi Hadid, Hailey Bieber and Kendall Jenner, champions of the “model off-duty” look. However, the unquestioned praise of white women who flaunt the clean girl look perpetuates a deep double standard in the fashion industry.
Despite the face of the aesthetic being white, the clean girl was born in Black communities. The typical “clean girl” gold hoop was not born with the emergence of the clean girl aesthetic in the early 2020s. They actually have roots traced back to fourth Century Africa, in modern-day Sudan. In the U.S.’ Jazz Age of the 1920s and 1930s, singer Josephine Baker pioneered hoops as a fashion statement, and thus began their ascent to staple jewelry. Throughout the 1900s, stars such as Cher and Diana Ross continued to popularize the hoop. Chola style, defined by Chicana women on the U.S.’s West Coast, was also instrumental in the popularization of gold jewelry. Chola was used to symbolize Latina women’s struggle and to assert their unique cultural identity.
Perhaps the most appropriated element of historically Black fashion is lip liner. An essential in many girls’ bags, no matter their race, lip liner was not just invented to upgrade a lip look. Liner first emerged in Black communities in the 1920s as a way to combat the exclusion of Black women from the beauty world. At a time when shades of brown were not even available in the makeup industry, Black and brown women had to “be the creators of their own beauty”, according to NYC makeup artist Sam Fine. While seen merely as a makeup tool today, the history of the lip liner is a story of protest—of Black women seeking femininity in a white hegemonic social landscape.
What, then, allowed lip liner to expand past Black and brown communities? Well, it was only when white women adopted it, when liner went “mainstream”, that the negative connotations associated with it evaporated. Once viewed as “ghetto,” as soon as it was claimed by white women, it became “sophisticated.”
In August 2022, Hailey Bieber’s tutorial on her “unheard of technique” for “brownie glazed lips” went viral. A combination of brown lip liner and clear gloss, this look was received with praise and enthusiasm as the “hot new thing” in makeup. However, this look was not a “new thing” at all. It was merely the elevation of a Black beauty trend by a thin white woman.
The adoption and appropriation of Black fashion trends by white women is not limited to makeup. Long nails, which date back to Egyptian women in 3000 BCE, have long been donned by Black women. Black disco icons in the 1970s U.S. expanded the popularity of acrylic nails, which were brought to the forefront of fashion after being worn by Donyale Luna, the first Black supermodel on the cover of Vogue, in the March 1966 edition of the magazine. The growth of the acrylic nail was fostered by other Black icons, including track star Florence Griffith-Joyner and pop stars Missy Elliott and Janet Jackson.
Today, acrylics are celebrated among all races. However, their perception on white women versus Black women reveals a deep double standard in fashion. When white women wear acrylics, whether a clean girl “Bubble Bath” pink or with an elaborate design, they are seen as chic and cute. When a Black woman wears acrylics, on the other hand, she is seen as “cheap” and “unprofessional.” Even the same set of nails would be seen in a completely different light based on the race of the person wearing them.
Hoops, lip liners and acrylic nails are only three examples of the clean girl’s double standards. Despite its roots in Black culture, the clean girl aesthetic is rarely associated with Black girls. In fact, while heralded as fresh and cute on white girls, when Black girls wear hoops and nails, they are seen as the opposite.
The clean girl aesthetic is not the only example of fashion’s racial double standards. Black people have long been pioneers of fashion, and can be credited with many of society’s favorite looks today, from athleisure to logomania and all-leather looks. This influence, however, is often pushed aside and purposefully ignored by a white-dominated fashion landscape that refuses to give credit where credit is due.
Along with the slick back bun, braids have been a defining source of double standards in the fashion industry. Braids and cornrows date back thousands of years, the earliest known depiction of which is illustrated in a rock painting from the Sahara desert, around 5,000 years ago.
While braiding culture is not limited to Black culture, braids gained a special significance during times of slavery in the Americas. Various braiding styles were used to draw maps of escape routes, denoting obstacles and pathways to freedom. Braids hold inextricable cultural significance in Black communities, highlighting a long-fought battle for freedom and unique identity.
However, braids are also a place of contention. Despite holding a large place in Black identity, braids are a source of stereotypes and stigmatization, especially in the workplace. A study from CROWN Workplace Research in 2023 found that one-fifth of Black women surveyed between the ages of 25 and 34 had been sent home from the workplace due to their hair, and Black women’s hair was two-and-a-half times more likely to be considered unprofessional. Black women’s hair, whether in braids or an afro, has been widely regarded as “messy.” However, when a white woman wears braids, such as Kim Kardashian’s “Bo Derek braids,” she is praised as cutting-edge and cool.
The more we analyze current trends, the more we uncover the ignored influence that Black culture has had on fashion. Without trailblazing Black leaders in the fashion industry, the world wouldn’t have sneakers, hoodies or name-plate necklaces. These trends have been seized and appropriated by the white-dominated industry, distorted to appear as belonging to white people only.
This isn’t to say that the world should stop wearing sneakers or hoop earrings. Actually, we should do the opposite: it’s time to embrace these styles as more than just ‘trends’, but as a long-lived facet of Black culture. Recognizing the enormous influence that Black communities have had on fashion and aesthetics will allow for the long-overdue dismantling of structural hegemonies, which not only ignore Black culture but also build an alarming double standard between races in the fashion industry.
So the next time you reach for hair gel, lip liner, or even your favorite pair of sneakers, think back to where they came from. So much of what we, as a society, love today has roots in Black culture, and it’s time to recognize, celebrate and uplift that.
Photo source: Historical Liscense on Flickr