Saturday, 22 October 2016

Facts On African Fashion Designs

By Larry Olson


Every community has its unique style of dressing that identifies them. Africa is a continent which is rich with diverse styles of clothing ranging from traditional designs to the modern ones. Due to the coming of the Europeans and Arabs to the African land, the African fashion designs were changed, and today some of them are more attracted to the modern way of dressing.

The coming of the Europeans and Arabs made the natives adopt the new styles of clothing thus abandoning some of their traditional styles. The influence by the Arabs is seen in the design of embroideries and robes while the influence of the western culture in seen wearing of western styled clothes and shoes.

Kaftans or boubous is an example of the natives clothing. These are full length embroidered robes which today are mainly worn by the East African women. The garment was initially worn by men from West Africa. It is made from cotton or silk. Kaftan is also traditional female clothing in countries such as Mali, Senegal, and Ghana.

There are different styles, prints, and color for traditional women clothing. The typical women clothing includes dreaded skirts, veils or blankets with intricate motifs. Most women are known to love colorful jewelry made of copper, grass or beads. The Ndebele women, for example, are fond of wearing traditional clothes adorned with beadwork.

Another popular dress with the ladies is the queen dress. It has an attracting style thus making it a must wear cloth for every woman. Besides, the Tie Dye is also a famous traditional dress among young women. This type of dress has unique symbols and design which are believed to have fertility meaning.

Now lets have a look at men clothing. In most the East Africa region, kangas and kitenges are like the Tshirts and are usually worn around the waist in hot weather. The popular dress code for Kenyan men is known to be a long sleeved dashiki shirt that goes with matching shirt and a hat or kofia. The men from their neighboring country Tanzania wear white robes called kanzu while Buganda men are fond of wearing dashiki shirts and a hat during informal events.

Some clothes are designed for particular events. This is meant to mark the importance of such events. These clothes are designed in a particular way, and people are not allowed to put them on during any other occasion only on the dedicated event should it be worn. For example, during transition ceremonies where girls enter womanhood, they wear clothes designed in a special style. Also, there are special clothes which they wear during a marriage ceremony. Besides, the Zulu boys while courting put on the western styled clothes.

Something special with the Zulu clothing they is still fond of putting their traditional dress. These include leopard skin and brightly colored feathers with bishops feathers adorning their headdress. The traditional clothing styles are not popular today. This is due to the new design styles that were introduced by the foreigners. Today, very few people are still wearing the traditional fashions.




About the Author:



No comments:

Post a Comment