OOTD: "Dark Girls Can't Wear Bright Colors"

It's a common misconception that dark-skinned people can't wear bright colors, bright lipsticks or dang near anything because y'know darker skinned people are systemically objectified in every culture but that's another story for another day. If you'd like to learn a thing or two in the meantime, here are a few links:

👉🏾 How Colorism Affects People Around The World - Oprah (Video) 

👉🏾 What is Colorism and How Is It Shaping The Way People See The World - Buzzfeed 

 👉🏾 The Persistent Problem of Colorism: Skin Tone, Status & Inequality   

Get ya reading on, babes. I will revisit this topic in it's entirety at another time. 

The notion that I couldn't wear a particular color or shade because I'm a dark chocolate mami has never really stopped me from wearing anything but it's like that voice in my head that would fill me with doubt and insecurity if I let it. While I'm confident enough to set these thoughts aside, they still exist and their existence alone is reason enough for me to wear every single color of the rainbow. 

These insecurities are built upon centuries of  racial discrimination and enforced inferiority based on skin-tone and I would be doing myself a disservice if I gave in to that.  While many people have moved past these ideals, the thoughts still exist and the history remains.  This can seem kind of contrived if you didn't grow up and live under the microscope of racial scrutiny. It may be hard to understand why someone may not feel comfortable wearing a certain color or look but its important to listen to people when they express their frustations and thoughts about this instead of invalidating them due to your lack of experience with their problem.

All the politics and uncomfortable history aside, I felt extremely cute in this dress and received tons of compliments from people and my favorite was "That color looks amazing on you". That compliment really brought a smile to my face because it silenced some of the inner insecurity I'd held on to growing up about wearing certain things  as a dark-skinned woman. 

Outfit Details

Dress: Old Navy

Bag: Thrifted

Shoes: H&M

Earrings: Housing Works

Photos courtesy of Mariana Quevedo.