A $98 Silk Nightcap Draws Comparisons To Sleep Bonnets, Claims Of Cultural Appropriation

Always~Wear~Joy

Well-Known Member

Ashleigh Lakieva
| July 23 2019,
09:23 am

Black folks can’t have nothing without a colonizer trying to cash in on our culture.

On July 19, Fashion Magazine published an interview with Sarah Marantz Lindenberg, founder of NiteCap, a satin sleeping bonnet. Yes, you read that right and before you ask, yes she is. According to the profile, Lindenberg came up with the idea while trying to find a solution for acne caused by her hair.

“There were products on the market but none of them had a functional and fashionable solution for me—synthetic fabrics that I felt did more damage, or horrible colors that I felt silly going to sleep in,” she explained. “It inspired me to create something of my own.”


She went on to give props to people who have been wrapping their hair for ages but insisted the methods are “a lot less glamorous than my product.”

This is her product.



Fashion Magazine eventually updated its story with a sentence about the bonnet’s significance to Black people, according to NBC News. NiteCap addressed the drama by posting a statement on Instagram.


“A small business grew quickly, but in the process I failed to connect it back to the broader historical context,” it read. “We stand with those who are hurt, and we respect and hear their voices. We’re committed to honoring the historical significance of hair wrapping and this will now be part of our approach.”
 

Ms. Tarabotti

Well-Known Member

Ashleigh Lakieva
| July 23 2019,
09:23 am

Black folks can’t have nothing without a colonizer trying to cash in on our culture.

On July 19, Fashion Magazine published an interview with Sarah Marantz Lindenberg, founder of NiteCap, a satin sleeping bonnet. Yes, you read that right and before you ask, yes she is. According to the profile, Lindenberg came up with the idea while trying to find a solution for acne caused by her hair.

“There were products on the market but none of them had a functional and fashionable solution for me—synthetic fabrics that I felt did more damage, or horrible colors that I felt silly going to sleep in,” she explained. “It inspired me to create something of my own.”


She went on to give props to people who have been wrapping their hair for ages but insisted the methods are “a lot less glamorous than my product.”


This is her product.



Fashion Magazine eventually updated its story with a sentence about the bonnet’s significance to Black people, according to NBC News. NiteCap addressed the drama by posting a statement on Instagram.


“A small business grew quickly, but in the process I failed to connect it back to the broader historical context,” it read. “We stand with those who are hurt, and we respect and hear their voices. We’re committed to honoring the historical significance of hair wrapping and this will now be part of our approach.”

So she's blind as well as a thief. Those "wraps' are not glamorous- far from it.

Part of being a business person is doing research to see if your 'idea' has been done before and if so, how your concept is a game changer. She straight out stole the concept of headwrapping and would never have added the cultural context if she hadn't had been called out.

I feel compelled to go on her website and tell the ladies to go to their local BSS where they are cheaper
 

msdeevee

Well-Known Member
Her bonnet is “THE LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE “ version. She & the bonnet look just like Half pint & Mary.

There are many much prettier versions designed by Black Women that accommodate all our hairstyles from straight pixie cuts to long , locks.

I have a large assortment myself. I’ve never paid close to $100.00 for no bonnet!
 

PlanetCybertron

Well-Known Member
Maybe my neutralness gets me in trouble on subjects like these, but even this kind of throws me off.

Yes there’s that milk maid type of style, but I honestly don’t think that was what she was even going for, but she darn sure shouldn’t have used the word bonnet. And anyone who wishes to uphold a business should know their way around words, and their intended meanings/connotations.

Bringing history into this, gets kind of dodgy just because there’s hundreds of cultures who have in some way or form, wrapped or protected their hair, for generations and generations back.

There’s plenty of Vikings/Dutch/Irish/Celtic/Baltic/UK, and other older European cultures who also have used head coverings.

BUT!

I could see if she designed it along the lines of how it was designed back then, (culturally speaking in Europe), but the darn thing would’ve looked COMPLETELY different. And that’s the kicker right there. It wouldn’t have looked like the style she’s trying to sell.

She mentioned none of the bonnets or wraps she used before looked functional. Uhhh bih where? Every African or Middle Eastern Head wrap style is TOP NOTCH. It’s beautiful, and it’s iconic. But she didn’t even try to bring anything culturally significant to the table.

Lemme use a hypothetical.
You do not see ANYONE trying to take the iconic/well known head wrapping style that Middle Eastern people sport so beautifully, and claiming they’ve made a new “invention” or “model” just because they used some different material.

And this lady has done just that. Down to the way she tied that black head wrap, that is iconic and culturally significant to Africans and African Americans alike. It is nothing new, and we have made so many different prototypes, styles, colors, and ways to tie and wrap them which are unique to our culture, as well as many other cultures, spanning back hundreds of years.

If she wanted to make some sort of head covering, she could’ve easily named it something different, and even used some historical stuff from cultures of European backgrounds like how I mentioned earlier, But this whole thing was just not thought about all the way through. I understand a lot of people In today’s society are very sensitive about a lot of subjects, but a truly intelligent individual knows how to come across to the masses, espeacially if they’re promoting a product.

I don’t think this woman is trying to be insidious with her motives. I get that she’s just trying to make some money, but from a business standpoint, what she did was rather ill-prepared. From a cultural standpoint, what she did was just plain dumb and lazy, especially claiming she “invented” something.

But that 98$ is straight up theft. And I don’t care WHO buys it. She’s scamming whoever is daft enough to think that her product performs better than something of the same design and material for 3$ at Walmart.
 
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snoop

Well-Known Member
When I hear the word "bonnet", I think of the head coverings in Little House on the Prarie. If hers were in that style I wouldn't think of it as appropriate that word for a head covering.




And why are we quibbling about names instead of setting up a company with thr above ladies picture and charging $98, too? If they want to pay $98 for a head wrap, let's get that money!
 
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