September 29, 2014

Dolls Kill sells "Battle Headdress"

Company claims Native American "Battle Headdress" not racistOctober. It's a time for changing leaves, for pumpkin spice everything, and for racist Halloween costumes full of cultural appropriation! Tis the season.

One company has gone above and beyond and insists their VERY RACIST "Battle Feather Headdress" is not actually racist. In the most condescending way possible. Because of course.
Dolls Kill is a strange website of very odd items. It's like Hot Topic and Forever 21 got drunk together at Coachella and decided to make a new store while jacking the prices up to Are You Fucking Kidding Me heights. Dolls Kill is your one stop shop for fringe denim cut offs, lycra body suits, blinged out rompers and other poor fashion decisions. They also, apparently, dabble in a shitload of racism.

They've been called on the carpet before for offering clothes that are racist or appropriating culture. Tumblr is full of images and product descriptions that are near horrifying in how tone deaf and not okay they are.

So what makes this instance worse? A Tumblr user contacted the company about the headdress and received this absolutely jaw-dropping email in response.


Commenters respond

A couple of comments on this posting:Ovdanyakad
That email was... fucking ridiculous. I am SO TIRED of this "I'm edgy" culture being an excuse to be a completely unprofessional piece of shit. However this company has pulled trashy moves in the past so....

sweetGolden
The worst part is that variations of this article appear every Halloween. You could probably write one draft and just replace the company/product(s) as needed. It would save time for the next several years.
Comment:  Needless to say, the Dolls Kill "response" is completely nonresponsive. Who cares what their attitude is when the costume itself is racist? As always, the intent behind a racist act or image is irrelevant.

For more on the subject, see Trelise Cooper's Models in Headdresses and Vogue Editor in a Headdress.

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