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.

Initially, Europeans and Arabs played a significance role in influencing the African clothing more so in the northern region. The influence of their culture continues to be seen in the design, embroideries and the robes worn by some people in their daily lives. The majority of modern African usually wear western styled shirts, dresses, pants and shoes. Others continue to wear a combination of modern and traditional clothes.

Most women in East and West Africa region are fond of putting on kaftans. These are full length embroidered robes which are made of cotton or silk. Initially, they were being worn by men, but today it has become a favorite style for women. They are no longer just designed as unisex but have a feminine touch to them that shows they are meant for the ladies too.

The traditional; women garments are of different styles, prints, and color which ranges from earth tones vibrant indigos. Usually, women wear dreaded skirts, veils or blankets having elaborate motifs. Besides, women are very popular with colorful jewelry made of copper, grass or beads. For instance, the women from Ndebele community like wearing traditional clothing adorned with beadwork.

On the other hand, the queens dress is usually a flamboyant one in terms of its designs and styling. This is a common traditional wear which shows off the full figure of a woman. Tie dye which also continues to be a traditional dress among young women today is characterized by symbols as well as design suggesting fertility meaning.

Having looked at the women dress now lets look at what African men wear. We are going to dwell on the men found in East Africa region. Most men like wearing kitenge and dashiki shirts during hot weather. For example Kenya, men are fond of putting on long sleeved dashiki shirts with a matching hat while in Tanzania men wear white robes also called kanzu. In the neighboring Uganda, men wear dashiki shirts also with a hat for informal events.

In exceptional occasions, people put on special clothes dedicated to those events. Africans value their culture so much to the extent that they have designed special clothes for specific events. For example, there are specific styles of clothes which are worn during engagement ceremonies and while undertaking ritual celebrations of a girl entering womanhood. Besides, following the marriage ceremony, women put on beads on their collar and brass earrings which resemble the wedding rings. To add, Zulu boys while courting wear western clothes.

There is something unique with the Zulu clothing design. Even as people are adopting to the Western styles, they still put on their traditional leopard skin and brightly colored feathers as well as bishops feathers adorning their headdress. However, today only a few people are wearing the traditional clothes. With the coming of the western and eastern people, the culture of Africans on clothing designs changed and most people nowadays have fully adopted the foreign designs.




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