“I was rooting for you. We were all rooting for you.”
Tyra Banks’ iconic speech still remains relevant today as the internet—namely Twitter users–berates the usually beloved country music star Kacey Musgraves for cultural appropriation during a Dallas, Texas concert on Thursday.
Musgraves posted a number of photos to her Instagram story of her, er, rocking her take on, “Áo Dài,” a traditional Vietnamese garment that has become the symbol of feminine beauty and the pride of Vietnamese people. When worn appropriately, it’s a tight-fitting silk tunic over trousers.
But the six-time Grammy Award-winning artist skipped the pants—both on her IG story and onstage. Unsurprisingly, she received immediate backlash.
"If you wanna bring Ao Dai on stage. Fine. But do not sexualize it by not putting the fucking pants on. This is absolutely disrespectful and degrading. Do you even know what you’re wearing?" Twitter user @itsanxoxo wrote.
https://twitter.com/zoongz/status/1182875628447645697
https://twitter.com/itsanxoxo/status/1183007786730323975
kacey musgraves wearing about ao dai without pants is sickening,, ao dai were made to be conservative yet elegant n she rlly out here w her coochie out n a headpiece that ain’t even from viet culture... a whole mess!
— angel :3 (@vietnganz) October 13, 2019
why is no one talking ab how kacey musgraves wore an áo dài, a traditional vietnamese dress, WITH NO PANTS ???? TẠI SAO ???
— tiv ?? (@tivonaa_) October 13, 2019
.. she really just played a game of pick and choose with cultures, like, hi can I have an order of an áo dài(Vietnamese formal wear) with no pants, also a side of a South Asian headpiece bc why not, just lookin like an odd subway sandwich order, no sense of reason or regard https://t.co/5YVsb5IDgV
— grovy ? (@grovymango) October 12, 2019
https://twitter.com/DoNguyenMai/status/1183078767876460546
...Then came the flood of responses regarding her headpiece. What made the addition worse was that it had nothing to do with the already offensive outfit.
"The nature of white ppl to pick and choose (half of ao dai and whatever is on her head??) pieces of Asian culture honestly repulses me," Twitter user @MelCLiu wrote.
https://twitter.com/clairevtran/status/1183059271572963333
https://twitter.com/MelCLiu/status/1183135192615141377
Musgraves, for her part, hasn’t responded publicly to the verbal lashings. But this isn’t the first time she has been accused of cultural appropriation. In 2017, she was similarly hounded for questioning on Twitter whether anyone would “be offended” if she “was ‘Smokahontas’ for Halloween.” (Though no one ever saw photos, we assumed the costume would’ve combined marijuana with some offensive take on Native American outfits.)
Back then, the internet was similarly up in arms. Musgraves opted for a doll costume.
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