Something from my library for Black History Month, Let’s Face It, Elsie Archer’s “guide to good grooming for negro girls” which was illustrated by Harper Johnson, a prominent African-American artist-illustrator.
"What about fashion fads? Remember the days of the gold hoop earrings? "Earrings as large as bracelets!" . . . our fashion magazines stressed. The fashion picture never looked better than when bracelet loops on fashionable ears were supported by cool crisp cottons with full graceful skirts. But lo and behold, they turned up all over the place--in the classroom, in the office, on crowded buses and subways. More than often in the wrong places. Schoolteacher's blood boiled when girls paraded into classrooms looking like Zulu queens with gold loops larger than arm bracelets. This was one example of carrying a fashion fad a little bit too far. Be very careful when "everybody" does a thing. Know when and where to inject fashion fads into your appearance. Know when these fashion suggestions are good for you. If fashion fads take away from your gracefulness and femininity, avoid wearing them. You must, at all times, be comfortable and at ease in your clothes and in the accessories you wear with them." --Elsie Archer, Lets Face It, illustrated by Harper Johnson, Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Company, 1959.