Fashion advice subreddits are turning back the clock to protest Reddit

The female and male fashion advice subreddits are protesting Reddit’s API changes and recent actions toward moderators by changing their focus in a hilarious way: now, posts on those subreddits must be about fashion from the 1700s. Both the r/femalefashionadvice and r/malefashionadvice subreddits switched over after putting the choice to a community vote, and the subreddits are now filled with wonderful threads asking about very old fashion.

One incredible thread in r/femalefashionadvice, titled “How to dress for a dinner party with the guy I rejected but now like? (1813),” is clearly a roleplay of Elizabeth Bennet from Pride and Prejudice. “How do I dress in a way that says, ‘I am so grateful you saved my sister and my entire family, but I also don’t want to embarrass you about it, but also I’m totally in love with you now and if you proposed again I swear I would accept?’” the user wrote. Many comments delightfully play along, with one user asking for the original poster’s age and noting, if they’re over 30, to “light yourself on fire and give up, seriously.” One thread asks the community for recommendations on “which glove is best to slap someone in the face with?”

The old-school changes are all in good fun, but the subreddits are part of a larger movement of dissent at Reddit that has taken place over the past few weeks. More than 8,000 subreddits went dark to protest API changes that will force popular apps to shut down, but many subreddits have reopened after feeling threatened by Reddit.