Zariyah Harris Wants to Encourage Black Women to Wear Their Bonnets

Hats, caps, veils, scarfs, and bandanas. With the various head coverings that are often seen, there are two in particular that have garnished up a bad reputation when it comes to be being seen out in public. I hadn’t thought too much about it until a few months ago when I started back wearing a bonnet myself.

I stopped covering my hair with a bonnet for two years and my hair completely stopped growing. It was breaking off faster than it could grow. As I began to understand the benefits of wearing a bonnet, I also began to wonder why there is such a taboo about women wearing bonnets out in public; it’s often seen as unprofessional, ghetto, or unbecoming. As an item that covers our hair not for fashion, but for protection, I can’t help but wonder about this narrative that says wearing a protective cover on my hair in public is frowned upon. I took this opportunity to sit down with Zariyah Harris, founder and owner of Bourgeois Essentials, which sells luxury high quality bonnets and durags at an affordable price.

Dove: Zariyah tell me more about Bourgeois Essentials and how you got started.

Zariyah: I started Bourgeois Essentials while I was working a full time job as a long term temp administrative assistant. I knew I wanted to start a business that provided a unique product that…