(BBN Editors: This story surfaced earlier this month, but it is the same dilemma women of color have faced in the mainstream workplace: Deciding to wear our hair in its natural state or straightened is more than a flip decision. For many of us the decision requires great analysis). (philly.com) ONE OF THE things that Glamour magazine is famous for is proclaiming certain clothing choices "fashion don'ts." They're usually tasteless or careless mistakes that women make - exposed thongs, muffin-top jeans, stockings with sandals or sheer mesh blouses over bare skin. So, you can imagine how taken aback some black female attorneys at a New York City law firm were to learn from a Glamour editor recently that afros or dreadlocks were considered a fashion don't for the office. It happened during the summer following an invitation to a junior editor at the women's fashion magazine to address a group of female attorneys at the law firm of Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton. According to American Lawyer magazine, the editor showed a slide of an African-American female wearing an afro. "A real no-no, announced the Glamour editor to the 40 or so lawyers in the room. As for dreadlocks: How truly dreadful! The style maven said it was 'shocking' that some people still think it 'appropriate' to wear those hairstyles at the office. 'No offense,' she sniffed, but those 'political' hairstyles really have to go." You can imagine how that went over, especially with the 10 or so African-American attorneys present. Here they were supposedly being treated to a discussion on style and, instead were told that wearing their hair in its natural state was political. In other words, if a black woman with naturally curly hair chooses to forgo hours at a beauty salon and instead wear her hair in its natural state, it amounted to a Glamour fashion-don't, according to this editor. Editor-in-chief Cindi Leive issued a public letter saying, "To be clear: Glamour did not, does not, and would never endorse the comments made; we are a magazine that believes in the beauty of all women. (view source for full article)

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