Name Change

Wow.  I think I need to change my name from Blackwillow Boho to something else.  This is not just a rebranding whim - I've suddenly realised that I've done something very inappropriate....

To explain a little; Blackwillow is a name I took on when some seven or so years ago I started making costume items for the tribal belly dance community, headdresses and belts and decorated bras and the like.  I'll tell the full story one day but for the moment all you need to know is that it came from events at the time plus a little nod to my gothic image loving past.  I became, for the purposes of my website and business cards, Blackwillow Tribal because I was aiming my wares at the tribal belly dance market.

In the last couple of years that side of things has dropped off - I've sold hundreds of headdresses and a few decorated bras and belts in my time but after my son was born the recession took hold and I discovered that fewer and fewer people were buying, more and more were making their own.  So I decided to close down my (at the time) expensive website and open up an Etsy shop were I could be a little more eclectic - still some headdress, feathery things and such but more jewellery, embroidered cuffs and the like.

I decided to retain the Blackwillow bit and then add a new descriptor to the end, something that would help sum up what prospective buyers might find in my shop...so I settled on Boho (as in Bohemian).

Here's where I begin to find myself feeling really stupid.  As a belly dancer I would never presume to call anything I've done, dance or costume wise, by the word gypsy.  Why?  Because it's an inappropriate racist slur of a word.  This blogger says it so much more clearly than I could. As a belly dancer I know this, have had discussions about and have read many a forum post about this word and how it is used and I understand I should not use it.  So I don't and I totally respect why it should not be misappropriated.

But, when you look up the definition of Bohemian, what do you find?
1. A native or inhabitant of Bohemia.
2. The Czech dialects of Bohemia.
3.a. A Gypsy.
b. An itinerant person; a vagabond.

I'm such a fool....

Expect a rebrand (or at least a name change) very soon....