if that's your style...

i don't generally like being told what to do.

i saw a blog post recently that had a title something like this: trends to leave behind in 2012. it was a complete guide on what should absolutely be left behind, under-no-circumstance-should-you-ever-wear-navajo-print-ever-again, especially in 2013 kind of post.

it was endless. and i found myself thinking, shit. i love navajo print. wait.

what?

navajo print?

are you kidding me?

not native american print. not southwestern print. navajo. only one of the 550-ish federally recognized tribes in the united states alone. it is their print? they lay claim to that style of textile? and you did the research to back that up? (my assumption is no. and it is an assumption - something i'm working at not doing anymore - so if you did do the research. i apologize. i think my thoughts are still relevant, though.)

for the record, the navajo nation website does not include a section on its peoples' prints as a staple of culture.

i know, it's not that big of a deal... only it is. in tiny corners of the blog world, bits and pieces of gross generalization are becoming the norm - mainstream. and we tend to make excuses for people all too much. excusing bloggers, writers and reporters who had "good intentions" or "didn't mean it that way."

so. check it. mean it. say what you mean. mean what you say. and think before you hit publish or send.

this blog that i'm referring to, i can't even find it again. i google searched trends to leave behind in 2012, and i got thousands of posts. not the specific one i was looking for, though. so whoever the author of that post is... is probably not making a huge dent in the grande lexicon of it all. hell, neither am i. however, i am thinking. listening. counting on you and me to hold me and this blog accountable. to let me know, respectfully, when i say something asinine or disrespectful.

because really, it's what creates dialogue. it's what we thrive on to continue to learn and to create change and awareness in our techno-centric world in 2013. the human component.

oy. this was supposed to be a post about how i've always loved southwestern print, high-ponytail buns (currently known as the top-knot), bold colors and feather prints/accessories. (all of which i am to leave behind in 2012 to avoid social ridicule and embarrassment. eff that.)

so. hey, fashion blogger i can't find - i'm gonna keep wearing all these faux pas things, as i've always done. i'll just wait until they come back around in another twenty to fifty years - i'll be trendy again then!

please don't tell me what to do, how to think or what to wear. as nene leakes of the real housewives of atlanta once brilliantly and so eloquently said, if that's your style, that's your style.

thanks ne!