In defense of rose gold

While I sat back and admired how my new rose gold laptop case and bag matched my “time to be a mermaid” glittery phone, it suddenly stuck me: was I now a basic bitch?

You don’t have to know me very well to realize that minimalism isn’t exactly my style. I may be five foot nothing but I will grab your attention with glittery tights, bright colors or huddled in my big faux coat. However even I, a devotee of Paperchase collections of cute animals and unicorn stationery, took a moment to reconsider so much rose gold coordination.

While the “bro” could be the male equivalent, similar stereotypes for guys seem to lack the specificity of the “basic bitch” with her rose gold iPhone or Starbucks pumpkin spice latte in hand. Men aren’t ridiculed for liking certain flavors of coffee or posting another #hotdogsorlegs photo on Instagram, so why are young women? God forbid we clap along to friends but sure, guys can reuse the same Inbetweeners joke until the world ends and it’s still “top banter.”

Don’t get me wrong, I have found some good-natured mockery hilarious, like the @omgliterallydead Instagram account where Starbucks supplier and social media manager Dana Herlihey captures the basicness of “Skellie.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/BUo-vjWhjtN

There’s a perfectly balanced humor in a plastic skeleton trying out Snapchat’s flower crown filter or recreating Kim Kardashian’s Paper magazine cover. Although I’m not sure what to feel about the fact that Skellie seems to be doing life better than me by meeting the OINTB cast or getting her brows done by Benefit.

But the explosion of rose gold in social media, fashion and beauty isn’t coincidental or basic. Like Meryl Streep’s iconic speech in The Devil Wears Prada, the decisions of industry powerhouses trickle down and in 2016, Pantone chose Rose Quartz as joint color of the year alongside the tranquil blue of Serenity. You can enjoy “basic” fashion and be interested in more “high-brow” subjects.

Also before sighing that this is such a first world problem, these smaller issues form the building blocks in feminism’s fight for equality. I’ve recently overheard a male colleague’s aesthetic choices being complimented for showing his creativity but my preference for coordinating accessories somehow short-circuits my brain.

Even in everyday life, people can be quick to judge yet rose gold doesn’t have to be a warning sign for basic, unoriginal tastes – but in fact it’s just the opposite. I’ve realized that Punjabi culture, where bling is king, has influenced me and rose gold feels like an alternative for embellished bangles and ornate earrings. Fusing Western and Eastern fashion is a way of linking different parts of my identity together and it’s unfair to assume that other’s preferences don’t work in the same way. Fashion is meant to be about self-expression.

Originality and intention is so important when it comes to fashion, and that means that criticising rose gold – or any other quintessentially ‘girly’ fashion choice – is completely unfair. What sums up the unfairness of criticizing women’s “basic” preferences, is how cultural appropriation is ignored in comparison. The problem with the “basic bitch” is not her preferences, but her gender. People don’t hate on rose gold because it’s ugly, they hate on it because “girly girls” like it.

And in doing so, all they’re doing is depriving themselves of this great Instagram aesthetic. Embrace it.

@DaljinderJohal