African clothing and fashion is a diverse topic that provides a look into different African cultures. Since Africa is such a large and diverse continent, traditional clothing differs throughout each country. Fashion will always be the talk of town and it can be easily found in our traditional African wear for men as well as senator styles. With every new day, comes a new challenge; and our African traditional wear for men can become handy to get that look.
Vibrant Mix of Modern and Traditional: The African Clothing Store That Gives Back | My Go-To
By putting particular emphasis on the traditional African clothing for men, we mix casual and trendy to give a new unique look. You can absolutely rock a celebrity style look with our traditional wear for men and Nigerian senator dress styles and make it memorable for the days to come. Senator styles for men and other styles should always be an extravagant affair of fun and fashion with our range of traditional wear for men. You are already dressed to kill with traditional wear for men because it is all about expressing yourself.
Whether you are the star of the evening or one of the audiences, a native Nigerian male traditional attire can turn out to be a blast! Your style of carrying Ghanaian men traditional wear can be a mixture of both fun and thoughtful to give a new perspective of looking at things. You can pair up your favorite sneakers with a traditional attire for men and still look sharp. D&D Clothing presents an amazing collection of traditional African male clothing and senator styles for men inspired from old Ghana, Nigeria, and Ethiopia. And we also know how to blend them with traditional Africans men's clothing in the most subtle and exclusive way.
If you have ever been to any traditional African event, one of the first things you will notice is the elegant and bright display of traditional African clothing. This often adds color and elegance to the already often energetic scenes. Traditional African clothing represents one of-if not the biggest-symbols of the continent’s rich cultural heritage and diversity. They mostly wear these clothes for special occasions, traditional festivals, and special events. However, some creative designers are now combining traditional African clothing with other materials to make unique designs. Often, these dresses reflect the traditional society and the status of certain individuals or groups within an ethnic group. Apart from their elegance, owning one of these traditional African clothes can help you to connect to your roots.
Fabrics and Styles Across Africa
Fabrics for making traditional African clothing vary from one region to another. For instance, while Sahelian Africans prefer cotton Boubous, Northern Africans naturally make theirs of silk. African clothes are products of mostly silk, cotton, and chiffon material. Dashiki appears to be the most popular African clothing. While it is worn mostly in West Africa, its use has spilt to other regions of the continent. East African users, particularly in Kenya and Tanzania, prefer to call it Kitenge. As you head towards the northern part of the continent, the most popular traditional cloth will become Djellaba. This silk robe is usually worn over other clothes by both men and women. This mode of dressing is predominantly associated with Muslims.
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For example, many countries in West Africa have a "distinct regional dress styles that are the products of long-standing textile crafts in weaving, dyeing, and printing", but these traditions are still able to coexist with western styles. In Northeastern Africa, particularly in Egypt, styles of traditional women's clothing have been influenced by Middle Eastern cultures; this can be exemplified by the simply embroidered jelabiya which are similarly worn in Arab states of the Persian Gulf.
The djellaba (worn in Northwest Africa) shares similar properties with the boubou, the dashiki, and the Senegalese kaftan. In Sahelian Africa, the dashiki, Senegalese kaftan, and the grand boubou made from Bazin material are worn more prominently, though not exclusively (the Bògòlanfini, for instance, is worn in Mali). The dashiki is highly stylized and is rendered with an ornate V-shaped collar. In East Africa, the kanzu is the traditional dress worn by Swahili-speaking men. In Southern Africa, distinctive shirts are worn, like the long dresses they wear. In the Horn of Africa, the attire varies by country. In Ethiopia, men wear the Ethiopian suit and women wear the habesha kemis. In Somalia, men wear the khamis with a small cap called a koofiyad.
There are several outlets for you to buy African fabrics. However, to be sure you are getting authentic textiles from top-class designers, visit only reputable outlets. Etsy and Amazon are great places to start.
Traditional African Attire: A Closer Look
Here are some examples of traditional African attire:
1. Kente Cloth
Kente is a unisex traditional African clothing that finds its history among the Ashanti and Ewe people of Ghana. It is made out of cloth strips of silk and/or cotton, designed to fit the cloth’s patterns. Despite technological advancements, native Ashantis still weave their Kente clothes by hand. Historically, Ghanaian royalties wore the fabric in a toga-like fashion. Thankfully, you don’t need to visit Ghana to get kente fabric or outfits today.
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2. Iro and Buba
Iro and Buba (popularly called Iro ati Buba) are native to Yoruba women of Nigeria. The original version of the dress features five pieces. There is the Iro, a large wrapper tied to fit around the waist. Buba is a loose blouse worn on the upper part of the body. Gele is a head tie which Nigerian women are globally famous for. The Pele is a short fabric tied on top of the Iro around the waist. The Iborun is a scarf that drapes over the left shoulder. However, trendsetters are doing away with the Pele and Iborun, replacing the traditional Aso Oke with other fabrics such as lace, cotton, or chiffon.
3. Toghu or Atoghu
The Toghu or Atoghu is a traditional outfit that is popular among the Bamileke people of North-Western Cameroon. In the past, only men and women of royalty wore the Toghu as a sign of traditional superiority over the commoner. In terms of design, Toghu is embroidered with colorful patterns. It is made of black velvety fabric. Since the turn of the 21st century, Toghu has gone global as more African Americans continue to trace their roots back to Cameroon.
4. Agbada
Among the Wolof of Senegambia, it is referred to as mbubb or boubou (French), while the Hausa and Fulani people of the West African savannah call it riga. This attire is crafted from a single piece of fabric, typically measuring about 150cm in width, with the length tailored to the wearer’s height and style preferences. The grander version of this robe, often referred to as the grand Boubou, utilizes fabric that is approximately 300 cm long, elegantly draping down to the ankles. Distinct variations exist between the genders. For women, the agbada features a generously rounded neck, while men’s versions boast a more pronounced, V-shaped neckline. This subtle distinction adds to the robe’s appeal, allowing for personal expression within the framework of traditional design.
5. Xhosa Traditional Attire
Xhosa traditional attire, known as Isikhakha or UmBhaco, is a vibrant ensemble that reflects the rich cultural heritage of the Xhosa people of South Africa. The centerpiece for women is a long skirt (isikhakha) made from cotton or wool, often dyed with red ochre, symbolizing a connection to the earth and ancestors. This is paired with a decorative apron and a white blouse adorned with black bias binding. The outfit is complemented by intricate beadwork in the form of necklaces, bracelets, and collars, which communicate social status, age, and life stages. Geometric patterns in the beadwork, such as triangles for unmarried women or chevrons for warriors, carry specific meanings. For ceremonial occasions, women wear elaborate headdresses (iqhiya) made from colorful fabrics. Men’s traditional attire includes wrap-around skirts, beaded necklaces (isidanga), and ceremonial sticks.
6. African Mud Cloth (Bògòlanfini)
African mud cloth, known as bògòlanfini or bogolan, is a traditional West African textile originating in 12th century Mali. This handmade cotton fabric is renowned for its unique dyeing process using fermented mud, which creates distinctive patterns with deep cultural significance. The creation of mud cloth involves weaving cotton strips, dyeing them yellow with n’gallama tree leaves, then painting designs with fermented mud. Each pattern and symbol carries specific meanings related to historical events, proverbs, or cultural beliefs. In recent decades, mud cloth has gained international recognition, particularly after Malian designer Chris Seydou introduced it to global fashion in the 1980s.
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7. Kanzu
The Kanzu dresses are worn for occasions. Kanzus are white or cream African traditional clothing worn by men in the African Great Lakes region. This includes Burundians, Congolese, Ethiopians, Kenyans, Malawians, Rwandans, Tanzanians, and Ugandans. The English call it Tunic, and the Arab, Thawb. It is especially popular in Uganda, where men wear it to weddings and festivals.
8. Habesha Kemis
The Habesha Kemis is African traditional clothing belonging to the Habesha women of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Habesha Kemis is usually a robe that stretches from the neck to the ankles. Ethiopian and Eritrean women rock it for formal events and vacations. Nowadays, it comes in various forms including short- or long-sleeves. It typically comes in grey, beige or white shades and is sewn from cotton fabric.
9. Jillaba or Djellaba
Jillaba or Djellaba is a long, loose-fitting unisex robe. It is usually full-sleeved and worn also in the Maghreb region of North Africa. Traditionally, the main material for designing djellabas is wool. However, these days lightweight cotton djellabas have become trendy. Djellabas often sweep the ground. However, lightweight variants are often slimmer and shorter.
10. Shuka Cloth
Maasai men wearing their Shuka cloth. Shuka is traditional African clothing that belongs to the Maasai people of Tanzania and Kenya. Popularly called the ‘African Blanket’, it is often red with black stripes. Before the colonization of Tanzania and Kenya by the Scottish, high-ranking community members wore Shuka as a traditional garment. Today, it is also gaining traction as urban wear. Workers wear a variant of this traditional clothing to their places of work. Previously, only the Maasai originally wore Shuka. However, this traditional African cloth is now gaining acceptance all over the globe.
11. Dashiki
Dashiki is African traditional clothing indigenous to the Ewe people of Ghana. They are also colorful garments that cover the upper part of the body. Dashiki is a Unisex loose-fitting shirt, long or full-sleeved, with an embroidered V-shaped collar. They also come in many colors and forms. Most times, Ghanaians wear Dashikis with drawstring pants for formal and informal occasions. Although once common in Ghana and a few West African nations, Africans and Blacks in the West now wear them. Dashikis are stylish, colorful, and easily point the wearer back to their roots.
12. Isidwaba
Isidwaba is a popular dress among the Zulus. Otherwise known as Isikhakha, Isidwaba is a traditional skirt worn by betrothed or married women in Southern Africa. It is usually made from genuine leather which could either be cowhide or goatskin. The lady adorns it with colorful mat-like fabric. Since the 19th century when it came into existence, Isidwaba has maintained its form and design among the Zulus. Traditionally, fathers of brides give out Isidwabas to their daughters from the cow the bride gets during her coming-of-age ceremony. Subsequently, she has to wear the skirt on the day of her marriage.
13. Isiagu
The Isiagu finds its roots among the Igbo people of South-East Nigeria. ‘Isiagu’ literally translates to ‘the head of a leopard’. However, it will surprise you to see that the cloth has the head of a lion. Well, the lion is taking over the totem reserved for the leopard. The Isiagu marries a silk fabric with the head of a lion emblazoned in a definite pattern. It is a long, loose-fitting top usually worn over a pair of black trousers or knitted wrappers tied around the waist. Interestingly, the Isiagu is also a status symbol among Igbo men. They wear it for formal occasions such as coronations, traditional meetings, and funerals of Chiefs. It used to be an abomination for women to wear isiagu. However, millennials have changed that narrative. Some even use it to make their wedding dress.
South African Fashion: A Historical Perspective
The Republic of South Africa, with an estimate of more than 57 million people from countless backgrounds, ethnicities and religions, holds in it an immense cultural diversity that is expressed through the vast array of topics ranging from cuisine, music, languages to celebrations. Fashion, connecting closely with one's daily life, also plays a crucial role in the identification of South Africa's culture and people, merely as it does every elsewhere in the world. Clothing can be chosen for convenience, or be used to express style, political beliefs, religious beliefs and perspective in life.
One of the earliest vestiges of South African attire was traced back to around 2000 years ago when Middle Paleolithic population descendants, the Khoisan, settled in Cape Peninsula in the south-western extremity of the African continent. These people were divided into two groups: the hunter-gatherers San and the pastoral herders Khoikoi. Without foreign contact, garments and cloth were unavailable for them to import. Instead, these early settlers altered available resources such as game and domestic animals' softened skin, and sometimes, plants and ostrich eggshell for attire making. In addition to these sources, the introduction of metal also gave them more choices for fashion. The arrival of the Khoisan people were followed shortly after by groups of Bantu peoples, who, through the Bantu expansion, ended up with conflict and occupied the land of the Khoisan people, forcing them into dispersion and absorption into the Bantu-speaking community.
The settlement of Bantu-speaking peoples of South Africa resulted in the formation of the Kingdom of Mapungubwe, from 900 to 1300 A.D., that flourished with trades from other foreign regions for gold and ivory in the exchange of clothes, glass bead and Chinese porcelain. Bantu-speaking inhabitants in South Africa also lead to the derivation of modern main groups of people in South Africa, which are the Nguni speaking people, comprising four smaller groups: Zulu, Xhosa, Swazi, Ndebele.
Colonization starting from the mid seventeenth century undoubtedly changed South Africa in all aspects, and fashion together all those changes was influenced heavily by the arrival of new materials from Europe as well as the Eurocentric view about the body and clothing, perceiving that South Africans dressed like necked imposed changes on traditional fashion of these indigenous groups of people. Traditional clothing made with local materials were incorporated with new style and items from Europe.
In the early nineteenth century, glass beads and plastic beads from Europe added new materials to the traditional collection of materials that South African indigenous people used to make beadworks. Around the late nineteenth century, Isishweshwe fabric was introduced to South Africa through importation from England and Germany. The cloth was made with indigo dye and later, with a synthetic form of indigo dye with a range of colors ranging from blue and red to maroon and brown, associated with decorations from replicated and orderly organized geometric patterns. Isishweshwe slowly blended itself to the fashion world of South African people, appearing on clothing of working-class people, rural women and male soldiers.
Though popular, because it was imported from other countries, it was not recognized as unique to African fashion until 1982 when a South African company, Da Gama Textiles, began producing the cloths helping make it be considered a representative fabric of South Africa. With the influence of colonizers, Western fashion came to rule over South Africa with educated class people preferring Edwardian top coats and hats. Working men also went with Western style that boost the demand for these products. During this era of classifying people by their ethnicities and races, unique dress of each South African indigenous community served to make that community distinct.
However, besides that, wearing traditional dress also acted as a way for South African coloured people to express their resistance and displeasure with the government ruled by a minority of white people. Traditional clothes were worn by leaders such as Nelson Mandela, who put on a Xhosa traditional garment, in 1962 in his trial for attempting to overthrow the government. The expression of his identity as a true South African person spoke for the aggression in resistance and asking for one's won control of one's country.
While traditional dresses were worn as part of expressing one's identity, South African fashion in the apartheid period witnessed the continuing growth of influence from European fashion. Pre-apartheid fashion in South Africa depended heavily on European fashion import whereas post-apartheid fashion celebrated one's ethnicity through many South African designers bringing a touch of Africa to European style clothing. One noticeable example is Marianne Fassler who incorporated leopard-print with clothing in European style.
After the apartheid period ended in 1994, South African traditional dresses continue to be the way to express pride in one's nation and identity as well as an enormous source of inspiration for famous fashion brands such as Sun Goddess, Stoned Cherrie and Strangelove. Pieces such as head wraps and A-line skirt inspired by Xhosa people from the nineteenth century were brought back on the runway. South African fashion is a coming together of different style, culture and response to social circumstances. It's a hybrid between African people themselves and foreigners they interacted with.
The Secondhand Clothing Industry in Africa
Countries in sub-Saharan Africa are one of the top destinations for the import of used clothing. Although used clothing was commonly sent for the lower class communities, it is now commonly found within other social classes in Africa. Secondhand clothing is found in everyday apparel for many people, regardless of their class difference. This is because there was always a variety of clothing and it was a good price.
However, typically in Muslim regions, such as North Africa, do not partake in this trade due to religious reasons. Although these clothes are often donated by organizations in belief that people in rural and poor areas will be obtaining them first, the people who live in the cities get the clothing first. Since urban areas are full of fast and changing lifestyles, they are able to adapt to the change in cultures, such as change in tradition dress. These foreign clothes often are drastically different than what people are used to in more rural parts of Africa. People may believe that they are being insulted by being given something that they believe to be old, tattered and dirty.
The second hand clothing industry has left both positive and negative impacts within African society. An impact that one would commonly not think of is the resale of imported western clothing. South Africa, among other nations, has created legislation of imported or donated goods in order to curb the resale of the donated items. Côte d'Ivoire, Nigeria, Kenya and Malawi had to completely ban the importation/donation of second hand clothes in order to try to control the resale.
Another negative impact commonly argued is that the importation of western clothing leaves a negative impact on local clothing producers. However, the opposite side of the argument believes that the high importation creates new jobs for the people living in the port cities. These jobs include the sorting, washing, re-tailoring and transporting of the clothes to the markets.
Another impact that could be argued either negatively or positively, is that secondhand clothing has become more common to wear than classic African textiles. In Zambia, where it is known as salaula, secondhand clothing has basically become a new type of traditional clothing. Zambian cities are full of used clothing markets, which are extremely successful. Since Zambians have been wearing more western clothes, traditional textiles and crafts have seemed to become scarce.
While Senegal and Nigeria prefer to "follow long-standing regional style conventions, dressing with pride for purposes of displaying locally produced cloth in "African" styles". It can be argued that Zambia is losing a piece of its culture by wearing only western styles or even that people in Senegal and Nigeria are not open minded enough to try to incorporate western styles into their fashion.
Evolution and Global Recognition
As of 2016, there has been a boom in the development shops, clothing boutiques, hotels, as well as major restaurants in Accra, Ghana. As time passed there has been more recognition for the development of art through the creation of fashion in countries such as Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, and South Africa. While there is a global disconnect between the western world and their interpretation of African fashion through the use of tribal patterns, many designers have risen and made an impact on the high-end fashion industry by putting a twist on their traditional African garments. New designers are now trying to expand their entrepreneurial footprint and enlighten the world on the versatility of African fashion.
More specifically Johannesburg's development in making an impact on the fashion industry has been more intentional. With the help of many designers, Johannesburg has built up a fashion district in the inner city that has made a name for itself globally. While new designers use this location as a stepping stone for their expansion, established fashion houses also play a role in the maturing of the district. Conversion of the established and developing fashion houses has built international respect for South Africa with the fashion industry, making South Africa's Fashion Week a major destination in the worldwide fashion takeover at the beginning of each spring/summer and fall/winter season.
European influence is commonly found in African fashion as well. For example, Ugandan men have started to wear "full length trousers and long-sleeved shirts". On the other hand, women have started to adapt influences from "19th-century Victorian dress". These styles include: "long sleeves and puffed shoulders, a full skirt, and commonly a colorful bow tied around the waist". This style of dress is called a busuti. Another popular trend is to pair a piece of modern western clothing, such as T-shirts with traditional wraps.
