The Glory is in You: Reclaiming Black Girl Style
When you think about style, who and what comes to mind? From the latest runway shows by European Haute Couture houses, the people seen in magazines, celebrity paparazzi streetwear or the latest #trends on social media, fashion and style can take on many forms. In our hyper digital and visual world, no matter what images I am exposed to on the daily, my truest and realest style inspiration has always and will always come from Black women. It can be the local girls at the salon getting their hair done, to Black women in tv-shows and movies, my Black girl style inspiration has come from seeing people who look like me represented.
Often as Black women we are made to feel smaller, unworthy, or ashamed of our bodies and self-conscious about the way we show up in the world. People love to steal our ideas, brilliance and shine but to all the negativity and hate out there, I say – you can try to imitate but you cannot replicate. Though society tries to sell the image that anything associated with Black bodies is “ghetto” or “unprofessional”, Black people are the originators of cool, trend-setting and avant-garde fashion – even when we are not credited for our inventions.
Authentic confidence comes from within and showing up as your beautiful Black self is the highest definition of beauty, class and style. We have every right to rock bold lipsticks, wear tighter fit clothing (without being inherently sexualized), experiment with different patterns and textures and live our best lives – OUTLOUD.
From box braids, bantu knots, rocking a wash and go, to wearing neon wigs with inches for days – from the beginning of time Black women have made our own mark, and place in the world. Growing up, one of my first memories of Black girl style was watching my own mother get dressed up every day for work in all white professional settings. She would always look impeccable, wearing bright colour, always letting me know, “We are Black, we have to wear colour”. She chose to stand out with her personal style and even switched between weaves, wigs and braids in the workplace.
The beauty of style is that it can be customizable to your needs, tailored to suit whatever and however you feel that day. Style can be a powerful tool for us as Black women to reclaim public and private spaces, being able to embody our #BlackGirlMagic. Ultimately, by reclaiming Black girl style we can be a force so powerful – it doesn’t have to be named.
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Born in Montreal, Sarah Micho is a self-described woman of the world, writer and systems thinker. Having lived across many different provinces in Canada, much of her work is underlined with the sentiment of redefining the concept of home while trying to make a home for yourself in the world. As a lover of arts and culture on top of all things fashion and design related, her sensibility is influenced by viewing and understanding the world through a Black women's lens. Her work has been published in Calgary Poet Laureate’s ThisMightHelp audio poems project, New Forum Magazine Issue #3 and AfrosInThaCity.