Written by Kaitlyn Lai

These memes look familiar?

But what is cultural appropriation really?

My outfit to school yesterday consisted of a sweater, a tartan skirt, a trench coat and a pair of chelsea boots. I have faint brown prints on my arm from a henna pattern. I had kimchi for dinner, put on my batik pyjamas and listened to some blues.

I am Chinese.

Am I a cultural appropriator?

Numerous articles about the fashion industry are headlined with the term “cultural appropriation”. Whenever I read them, questions have always lingered in my head: who gets to decide what is meaningful and should be respected? Who gets to excuse cultural violations as harmless cultural appreciation? It is interesting which pieces of clothing we are allowed, or expected, even, to imbue with meaning, and which are just mere pieces of fabric sown together for everyday wear. Cultural appropriation is definitely not a black and white issue. With the influence of globalization, trend forecasters scour streets all over the world for inspiration. However, under fast fashion on top of for-profit fashion companies trying to get as rich as they can, factories are under immense pressure to churn out cheap replicas of “what is considered hot at the time”, and often, culture can fall victim to this pressure.

In recent years, clothing garments based on the idea of the Chinese qipao are popping up more and more in fast fashion. Pretty Little Thing, Boohoo, Missguided … you name it. As I scrolled through Pretty Little Thing, dresses designed to resemble the Chinese traditional dress appeared in front of me, characterized with Chinese button knots and a high collar. At first sight of what was displayed on my screen, I saw nothing wrong with Chinese culture in Western fashion. I am proud of my culture, it is beautiful, and it deserves to be celebrated.However, as I looked closely, I saw that the wide sleeves and bright multi coloured floral prints, features of the Japanese kimono, were mixed with features of the Chinese qipao in the design of numerous dresses. It didn’t make sense to me. As I scrolled through the page again, I realized that all of these dresses were categorized as “oriental”. I started to notice the deep plunges, corset backs, body con fits of the dresses…and then I saw the association between the dresses to a certain idea of the Asian woman: exotic and erotic.

Kaziah Daum picked out the Chinese qipao from the thrift store because she fell in love with its modest neckline. She decided to wear it to prom because she felt beautiful in the dress. There is nothing wrong with a white girl wearing a Chinese dress, or non-Western culture being integrated into the Western fashion world. But when the Western fashion industry is ignorant towards the differences between non-Western cultures they borrow from, or when these cultures are sexualised in the name of fashion, it is not okay, even under the harsh demands of fast fashion.

"It's just a dress.” But sometimes it is not.