David Luiz celebrates 32nd birthday with extravagant party, ill-advised costume

David Luiz turned 32 on Monday, but who wants to throw a birthday bash just hours after failing to triumph against a team specialized in “anti-football”?

So the party was held on Tuesday — and of course it was a costume party because David Luiz. It was well-attended by friends, family, and teammates, from both the men’s and the women’s team at Chelsea. Birthday celebration and team-building activity all in one! A brief moment to relax before sealing our fate for next year with the remaining 5-6 games this season.

The Good

The costume party welcomed many familiar faces in costume, with N’Golo Kanté winning the hearts of many (again) with his ... adult ... sized Batman getup. I mean, just look at Kanté here. So precious! Here he is with the Captain of the New Zealand Football Ferns and Chelsea’s own Ali Riley.

(Chelsea’s resident — or not so resident, as it were, at the moment — Batsman did take notice as well, wondering if Kanté had found the keys to his locker back at Chelsea. Never change, Michy!)

Other members of Chelsea Women made it to the event in grand style as well. Reigning PFA Women’s Player of the Year, Fran Kirby, as well as Maren Mjelde and Maria Thorisdottir joined the festivities as Donkey, Shrek, and Princess Fiona.

Scorer of the away goal last week at Lyon, Erin Cuthbert represented her motherland in traditional Scottish garb, then tried her luck at the mechanical bull and failed spectacularly. (If the background looks familiar, that’s because the party was hosted at Under The Bridge, the live music venue ... under ... Stamford Bridge.)

They also had a Hulk, like all good parties (Bethany England).

Gonzalo Higuaín came as Elvis.

Not dead yet!

The Bad

Olivier Giroud came as a chicken wearing a chicken rooster for a hat.

That rooster is Footix, from France 98, and he was barely scratching the surface cool twenty years ago, to be generous.

The Ugly

David Luiz and his fiancée adorned themselves in Native American garb and headdress for the party, at the very least, a bit of a faux pas in today’s social climate. Some would say it’s downright offensive.

Native American headdresses, in particular, have become rightly seen as prime examples of cultural appropriation — the act of “borrowing the identity”. Wearing someone’s culture as a cute and fun costume may not be intended as a malicious act, per se. The underlying issue resides with failing to understand the meaning and tradition of the garment and the ongoing stigmatization many, if not most Native Americans still face.

Education is the way forward. Please read this open letter.