Christmas 2018, and my 7-year-old daughter and I were decorating our tree when she asked me something that changed my world forever. “Mummy, can fairies be Black?”. I was caught off guard. What do you mean can fairies be Black, as I looked at my Christmas trees filled with white santa, white fairies and of course our white elf on the shelf. I felt ashamed. How could I have missed this? My daughters didn't see themselves. They didn’t think angels or fairies could be Black. In their home, their safe place, they still were not represented.
So off I went, looking online for fairies/angels and tree toppers that represented myself and my girls. I’m an Amazon/eBay/Etsy/ queen, and after 3 days of searching I finally found some Christmas ornaments of colour BUT they were being shipped from the USA with a £20 postage and package fee! Why should we pay so much just to see fairies and angels that look like us? Why couldn’t I buy one in John Lewis? Why were there no UK options. I was flabbergasted, but also not surprised. After all….. This was Great Britain Pre BLM. Black people didn't exist until 2020, so why would there be Black angels and fairies in 2018? I was annoyed, but also promised myself that next year, my tree would be filled with representation. A white Christmas will be no more in this house. That year we improvised and ended up using a Black Barbie as a tree topper - and she sparkled bright!
Filled with ideas, I walked into 2019 on a mission to diversify Christmas. Not just for my children, but for every child out there who had never “seen” themselves at Christmas. My business partner Alison and I started researching and brainstorming while trying not to get angry. Why was every image of Santa white in the first place? The legend of Santa Claus can be traced back hundreds of years to a monk named St. Nicholas. It is believed that Nicholas was born sometime around 280 A.D. in Patara, near Myra in modern-day Turkey. TURKEY! Which means at the very least he would have had a tanned brown complexion rather than the pale, rosy cheeks image we are bombarded with.
So we decided to create a range of festive decorations that represented US.
Christmas should be for everyone. But in the UK there is a severe lack of representation for Christmas decorations. Santas, Elves, Angels, Nutcrackers, Nativity Scenes, all the faces are White. This old-fashioned ‘white only’ tradition is severely outdated and hugely undermines an inclusive Christmas. Particularly as what we show to our children is what they believe.
And so in October 2019, MARCH MUSES was born. We are the UK leaders in Christmas Decorations of colour, founded by 2 Croydon mums on a mission to help make the festive season become more inclusive.
Our 24 product range featuring Black angels and Black Santa baubles is individually handmade with close attention being made to skin tone, hair design, body shape and size. They embody diversity, elegance and a side of Christmas that is rarely seen, and our range of decorations of colour will ensure that everyone can feel included in the holiday magic.
