being qaali

Love & Hip Hop’s star Joseline Hernandez was a guest co-host on The Real this week, and had some very strong opinions on the fashion styles of the Kardashian-Jenner clan.

The 30-year-old and Kylie Jenner had recently been pictured wearing the same Balenciaga thigh high boots prompting a Who Wore it Better debate on the BallerAlerts Instagram page.

The co-hosts then gave the audience and the Puerto Rican Princess the chance to weigh in on who they thought wore it better, which Joseline responded to with this:

Well first of all, I’m her mama. She’s my daughter, okay?… She copies me, Kim K copies me — all of them copy me. I’m going to tell you where real street style comes from — the real street style comes from the streets. The girls like me. The girls that is fly. The girls that don’t have that much money to be able to afford $2,000 boots. Let me tell you something, when I’m in Puerto Rico and I [was] in Miami growing up I didn’t have that much money to wear $12,000 boots, I’m gonna make it work out. I’m a fashionista…and I never made these blogs, but all the girls that make the blogs copy of my stuff. I mean really, all the girls follow me. All his is where they wanna be, so I definitely wore it better.

Now whoever you think wore them better, and how much we believe that the first family of reality TV are directly copying Joseline’s look, there is something very important in her statement. The appropriation of urban fashion. (1) I hate that word (2) can we not just say black or latino or whatever other minority group you won’t directly sat just to stay politically correct when in truth we both know you can’t say ‘Black Lives Matter’ without stating that ‘All Lives’ do to but I digress.

the real street style comes from the streets.

Yes it does.

This includes Run DMC making Adidas and sneaker culture what it is (shoutout to Missy too). Let’s not forget baby hairs, cornrows, braids, bantu knots (you would think that the ‘bantu’ would win this argument but here we are folks). This includes gold hoop earrings and the feminine tom-boy look (e.g. Kehlani). It includes dark lipliner, the coloured weaves, the spandex, the long nails, our naturally blessed bootys…the low-rise sweatpants with crop tops and bandanas “hanging from the left side” although that be the crip side and trust me there is no Kardashian or Jenner who be about that life. Basically anything Rihanna does.

Are you following me? Everything that black people are called ghetto/ratchet/trashy for doing, that when on a Chanel or Michael Kors runway or better yet when worn by a Kylie Jenner, Miley Cyrus, Katy Perry or Taylor Swift, it’s so edgy and unconventional. Really?

This story isn’t new. Hip Hop has very much crossed over into the pop world and with that comes a lot of adoption of hip hop culture but for some people it’s so forced and inauthentic. Imagine Eminem, you got that? Now think of Riff Raff, do you see my point? If the fashion world wants to push this, by all means it’s great I’m sure so many people will appreciate it but how is a designer only casting one black model (at best) on their runway but their ‘inspiration’ is black culture? It’s hypocrisy.

Here’s the thing, there is no issue with people borrowing inspiration from different people and places, but when you do it in such a manner where you either don’t recognise or appreciate where it comes from or use it as a satirical façade then you’re taking away the meaning of something that may be empowering or important to someone else which is a complete mockery.

There are young girls who are sat in their principal’s office because their braids are deemed unprofessional. Women who naturally have big lips but are called monkeys but the percentage of women seeking out lip fillers has surged in the past couple of years. We have this parallel existence of non-PoC women who have pushed ‘borrowing’ to a new level where they get all the acclaim and almost no backlash. And to some young Asian, Black, Hispanic girl or boy that can be absolutely disheartening. Imagine having your expression, your art, your way of life exploited and the idea of being credited seeming ludicrous to the privileged.

I may not even care about who wore the boots better, because let’s be honest there will never be a time I’m buying $12,000 shoes, but Joseline Hernandez said something important, and for anyone to overlook this point and solely focus on her shade towards the Kardashian-Jenner clan is just counter-productive. This shit is real, people are too comfortable being ‘down’ but not being down✊🏾