Glamazons,
I’m all for creative expression but this is a bit much. For Spring 2013, Dolce & Gabbana showed a collection that seemed to be a tribute to the colonialist era complete with burlap dresses.
But the one item causing ire around the interwebs is a pair of Blackamoor-inspired earrings that show a black woman’s head, adorned with a scarf, heavy gold jewelry and darker skin.
It conjures up images of Aunt Jemima for me, and the associations of lampooning and stereotyping that come with that aren’t pretty.
It’s a bit disconcerting to take offensive colonialist images of black women, slap them on a pair of earrings and call it fashion.
While some critics have taken to calling the earrings ‘racist,’ I can’t figure out whether they’re attacking black women or just exocitizing them.
Either way, it’s highly offensive on the runway and I would literally gag if I saw someone wearing them on the street.
What do you think of the earrings, Glamazons? Are you offended?
The collection also included similar images on dresses:
Deep sigh.
Kisses,
Glamazon Jessica
I’m afraid those earrings and images are misunderstood. They are not related to colonial America at all. For many years now, Dolce and Gabbana’s work has paid tribute to Domenico Dolce’s native Sicily. As you can see on many of the garments in this collection, Sicilian images of paladins, lemons, and sicilian cart artwork appear on their garments. The image of a dark-skinned Moorish woman wearing a turban and crown with fruit and flowers coming out of her head also pays tribute to Sicilian iconography. Sicily is famous for it’s hand-painted pottery. A unique part of their pottery tradition are the “teste di Moro” (heads of the Moors), which are basically flower pots in the shape of human heads wearing a turban that are often painted to have dark skin. Those earrings are very obviously mini teste di Moro. You can learn more about the teste di Moro here: http://siciliamo.blogspot.com/2007/10/balcony-sce…
Also,if you google image search teste di Moro you will see that many of them have dark skin.
Please keep in mind that the Sicilians have a lot of north African heritage. The teste di Moro are considered to be beautiful and not a mockery of black people.
Sincerely,
Cristina Gispert
I’m afraid those earrings and images are misunderstood. They are not related to colonial America at all. For many years now, Dolce and Gabbana’s work has paid tribute to Domenico Dolce’s native Sicily. As you can see on many of the garments in this collection, Sicilian images of paladins, lemons, and sicilian cart artwork appear on their garments. The image of a dark-skinned Moorish woman wearing a turban and crown with fruit and flowers coming out of her head also pays tribute to Sicilian iconography. Sicily is famous for it’s hand-painted pottery. A unique part of their pottery tradition are the “teste di Moro” (heads of the Moors), which are basically flower pots in the shape of human heads wearing a turban that are often painted to have dark skin. Those earrings are very obviously mini teste di Moro. You can learn more about the teste di Moro here: http://siciliamo.blogspot.com/2007/10/balcony-sce…
I’m afraid those earrings and images are misunderstood. They are not related to colonial America at all. For many years now, Dolce and Gabbana’s work has paid tribute to Domenico Dolce’s native Sicily. As you can see on many of the garments in this collection, Sicilian images of paladins, lemons, and sicilian cart artwork appear on their garments. The image of a dark-skinned Moorish woman wearing a turban and crown with fruit and flowers coming out of her head also pays tribute to Sicilian iconography. Sicily is famous for it’s hand-painted pottery. A unique part of their pottery tradition are the “teste di Moro” (heads of the Moors), which are basically flower pots in the shape of human heads wearing a turban that are often painted to have dark skin. Those earrings are very obviously mini teste di Moro. You can learn more about the teste di Moro here: http://siciliamo.blogspot.com/2007/10/balcony-sce…