After Ms. Daum, 18, shared pictures on social media of her prom night, a Twitter user named Jeremy Lam hotly responded in a post that has been retweeted nearly 42, times. Some Twitter users who described themselves as Asian-American seized on Ms. Other Asian-Americans said the criticism was silly. When the furor reached Asia, though, many seemed to be scratching their heads. Far from being critical of Ms. Daum, who is not Chinese, many people in mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan proclaimed her choice of the traditional high-necked dress as a victory for Chinese culture.

Ever heard of yellow fever? No, not the disease you can pick up when travelling to certain countries. I'm talking about when Caucasian men develop an acute sexual preference for East Asian women — even becoming a fetish, for some.

W hen is a dress just a dress? Remember those photos of the little cocktail number that looked blue with black lace to some and white with gold lace to others when they were in fact the same frock? Its beauty, however, turned into a curse when photos posted on social media of her wearing her beloved vintage find made her a target for tens of thousand of tweets accusing her of cultural appropriation. If anything, the qipao represents power and class, not race, and certainly not the culture of some exploited underclass.