Oh Uh-Uh: White Woman tries to gentrify head wraps. Sistas hand her several seats

What in the actual caucasity is going on here?! (theroot.com)

I remember learning how to wrap my hair. It was like a rite of passage to say that I was old enough to care for my own hair. I went to the fabric store and purchased a yard by yard of silk fabric to wear at nighttime. This protected my then straight and now coily tresses from my cotton pillowcases. While my texture may have changed, wrapping my hair at night has not.

You know what else hasn’t changed: white people stealing appropriating ideas from black culture for profit. Case and point; entrepreneur Sarah Marantz Lindenberg claims she “came up with the idea” of a “washable silk head wrap” that prevents breakouts and preserve hairstyles, ie a head-wrap.

In an article with Fashion Magazine, Sarah says “My concept came out of a problem that needed solving,” explained Marantz, who founded the company, NiteCap, to sell her so-called “invention” that was already being used by millions of black women every day. “It inspired me to create something of my own.”

As Becky the Bonnet-thief Sarah says, her NiteCap supporting “the regrowth of all the little baby hairs”. The👏🏽 Little 👏🏽Baby 👏🏽Hairs👏🏽. The appropriation is pretty blatant.

And unlike Marc Jacobs who, in his 2017 show had his majority White models don head wraps without giving any credit to the culture (and was dragged for that), Sarah is being hailed as a brilliant innovator.

The article says that “ Marantz Lindenberg came up with the idea around the time of her wedding, after a dermatologist suggested she try sleeping with her hair out of her face to control breakouts. Clips kept falling out, ponytails gave her a headache and silk scarves, while effective, proved impossible to master.”

Meanwhile, Black women have more than mastered head wrapping, we have made it an art-form. 

But not one of those women gets the credit for being an entrepreneur or inventor. Nevermind that Black women have worn head wraps since the Continent. But when we wear our hair wrapped up, it’s not seen as glamorous. Nope, the trope is so true: ghetto until proven fashionable.

Of course, I am not alone in my sentiments:

not a white lady pretending she invented sleep bonnets and selling them for $100 https://t.co/DYxZNILJCE

— vampire workday (@imbobswaget) July 20, 2019

@ashleybjoseph just saw your article about the Nitecap. It would be nice if you all did research before writing these stories. The hair bonnet and doo-rag have been around for more than 20 years in the black community. They both sell for less than $10. Lol

— Cocoa_Creme (@CocoaBellaBella) July 21, 2019

$98 for this ugly skin-tight "NiteCap"?

You can get a satin bonnet (that WILL fit your head) from the Beauty Supply for $4. It's always been that way.

Stop gentrifying good hair. https://t.co/PB9smtzjZf

— 𝐖 𝐈 𝐍 𝐎 𝐍 𝐀 𝐏 𝐄 𝐀 𝐂 𝐄 🦇 Otakon (@winonapeace) July 21, 2019

Why would you pay $100 for this #NiteCap sleep bonnet when you can get sleeping bonnets at Walmart, Target, Sally's Beauty Supply or Amazon for less than $5? They out here gentrifying sleep bonnets. 🙄 https://t.co/NPXaqoJGgt

— Freelance Auntie 🍬🍸🥧👵🏽 (@naturallyfabu) July 21, 2019

While the editor has gone back and made a note from the original article, saying “Though not strictly used just for sleeping, the item has a long history in black hair culture.”, the damage has already been done. Something that Black women have been doing for centuries has been once again co-opted, made palatable for white popular culture, and given press without any actual research or respect for the culture that originated it.

Just make sure you secure your boxer braids, Bo Derek braids, loose Afros or mini buns in your NiteCaps.