Eva Marcille Blames Criticism Of “Traditionally African” Hairstyle She Wore To Cynthia Bailey’s Wedding On Us Being “So Colonized And So European”

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Cynthia Bailey tied the knot in grand fashion on Saturday, and she had some of her best Real Housewives of Atlanta girlfriends by her side to celebrate the moment as bridesmaids. Though very uncommon, all the bridesmaids wore white (Bailey did wear a nude, embellished bridal gown though, still differentiating herself), and they all stood out by wearing very different styles of gowns. No bridesmaid stood out more though than Eva Marcille. The model and TV personality wore a strapless gown with a high slit. She accessorized not only with gold slides, but also with blinged-out bracelets and, most notably, a pearl-adorned updo. The beauty has been wearing short goddess locks, and instead of wearing them down for the celebration, she pulled them into an updo with pearls covering the look.

The style ended up garnering many mixed reactions. Some thought it was “gorgeous,” while other said the style was “a hot mess” and told Marcille so on her Instagram page. A relative of the star responded to detractors by saying that “Soon and very soon ppl will start stealing this hair style.” Some disagreed, one even pointing out that it’s already a known style people do with locs called a “palm tree.” Eventually, Marcille responded to all the conversation, taking to her niece’s comment to say, “Little do they know it it is traditional African hair style especially to an elegant evening. We are so colonized and so European we don’t even see black beauty in front of us.”

“I love my hair, my uniqueness and BLACK BEAUTY,” she added.

Marcille also stated on another post when asked why she wore her hair in the style that it was “because @cynthiabailey liked it.” Marcille was comfortable in the look, and the bride had no complaints about it, so that was all people needed to know.

It’s refreshing to see Marcille stand up for a look that she says is traditionally African, as she was heavily criticized (including by me) last year for calling RHOA co-stars Kenya Moore and Porsha Williams “nappy heads.” But as she would later say, she claimed she didn’t mean any offense because she too considers herself what she called those women.

“I’ve said it before, I am definitely head of the Nappy Hair Committee – me, my momma, and my daughter. And anybody that identifies with us? Welcome. And if you don’t identify with that, that’s totally fine. I mean, nothing offensive,” she said. “I happen to be a Black woman…I explained that to Marley the other day.  She was rolling around on the grass, and got grass all in her hair. As I tried to take it out, she began to cry. I said, ‘Baby, you are Black. You have beautiful curls called naps. It’s going to hurt!’ It’s just what it is! I’m not offended by the things that make me beautifully Black.”

All that being said, this beautifully Black and very tall wedding style had a lot of people talking. Hit the flip to check out what they had to say about it on social media.