The beauty of traditional Arab attire is a foremost trait, especially in the North African Arab countries, such as Morocco, Tunisia, and Algeria. North Africa, which comprises Egypt, Libya, Tunisia and Morocco, is a hotbed of cultural influences intermingling with each other, as well as those from diverse tribes and European societies. Following similar trends like other parts of the Continent, North Africa has its own unique style and influence on fashion. Although the North Africans way of dress and style dates back to the rich history of its lands, it's hard not to feel and see its influences on fashion even to this very day.
Traditional African clothing represents one of-if not the biggest-symbols of the continent’s rich cultural heritage and diversity. 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. They mostly wear these clothes for special occasions, traditional festivals, and special events. This often adds color and elegance to the already often energetic scenes. However, some creative designers are now combining traditional African clothing with other materials to make unique designs. Thus, some hitherto traditional African clothes are becoming everyday wear.
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 for making traditional African clothing vary from one region to another. African clothes are products of mostly silk, cotton, and chiffon material. For instance, while Sahelian Africans prefer cotton Boubous, Northern Africans naturally make theirs of silk.
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.
Moroccan women in traditional clothing
Read also: Culinary Traditions of North Africa
Morocco
Moroccans follow a vibrant culture and civilization. Such a culture inspires their way of living life, mannerism, clothing, and cuisine.
I Bought a Traditional Moroccan Dress and they Invited Me Tea 👗 *Agadir*
Moreover, “djellaba” made from different materials, such as, (cotton, wool, cashmere, silk), is the customary Moroccan apparel for both men and women, which is a long loose robe with full sleeves, and a pointed hooded garment. Men also wear djellaba and are made from wool (traditional variation) or cotton (modern robes).
The women dress “caftans” dazzled by adornments with beautiful braiding, beads, and sequins sewn onto luxurious materials. Also, djellabas for women are commonly very much draped with beads or decorations and are bright in color. On the other hand, the Men’s djellaba or caftans are dull in color.
Moroccan caftan
Moroccan women are very dedicated to their cultural wear despite its expensive cost. A “takshita” dress is long, loose, made up of two pieces, and a belt with stunning designs and details. Caftans and takshitas are worn at childbirths, funerals, weddings, and other commemorations that merit dressing up.
Read also: Comparing Africa and North America
Also, “balghas” are traditional Moroccan soft slipper shoes with a pointed end, no back part, and made from leather. Also, a “gandora” is like a djellaba, and the most significant difference is that it has shorter sleeves and has no hood.
Tunisia
Tunisian traditional dress
Tunisians celebrate their heritage on March 15 of every year by donning traditional fashions in public. Moreover, a very famous male costume in Tunisia is called the “jebba.” It is made of silk and wool.
It also nearly covers the full body as the forearms and calves show. The garment can be worn with a “farmla” which is a vest. “It is a vest full of large gold braids. Wide opened; it is full of buttons with buttonholes.”
The jebba outfit is finished off with a jacket, called a “montane” with baggy “sarouel” (or sherwaal/trousers). The sarouel ornamented with sewn patterns or accessory pockets at the bottom. The men also wear a woolen “tunic” with long sleeves. “Burnoose” is made of a heavy wool robe and is worn in the winter, and it is a long, loose hooded cloak.
Read also: Complex Realities of Northern Black Life
Tunisian women have many more variations of customary clothing than men do. Even though young females regularly favor Western-style attire to traditional costumes, a lot of Tunisian women still wear national apparel in everyday life.
In Tunisia, one of the most common urban outfits consists of an embellished chemise, baggy pants, and white silk or woven veil called “sefseri” to cover the head. A “fouta” and a “blouza” are another typical Tunisian outfit. Tunisian stitching is distinctive, vibrant, and intricate. There are many methods of sewing. Very colorful, silver, and golden threads used.
Algeria
Traditional Algerian clothing
Moreover, Algerian fashion is very distinct. It was formed by the impact of three different empires: Arab, African, and the Mediterranean. The geographic position of Algeria in history was the reason for culture mixing: meetings, trading, and interactions between the three territories were joint.
Algerian men wear a “burnous,” a long woolen cloak with a hood. Typically, a burnous is white and consists of fine thin wool, often festive, decorated with embroidery, braids, and patterns on the fabric.
Men also wear baggy trousers with a wide fabric belt, a shirt, and a jacket or vest. A “fez” is the traditional Algerian male headdress. “It is a felt tight-fitting cap in the shape of a short cylinder.
The traditional female garments are generally bright, colorful, modest in layout, and richly adorned. Cotton, wool, and velvet are the fabrics used to make clothes. “Karakou” is one of the traditional Algerian dresses. It always has a velvet jacket decorated with gold threads.
Typically, the jacket is worn with the customary Arab trousers called “saroual,” but modern-day karakou can be worn with a long skirt. A “djeba” is the Algerian traditional celebratory dress and usually worn by brides. The clothing material is lavish, elegant, and beautiful; it can be decorated with lace, embroidery, beads, glitters, jewelry, and other ornaments.
Patterns, Colors and Fabrics
One of the signatures of North African dresses is the patterns. With their pretty and distinctive designs, they may be assumed to be just that, designs; particular by people from other parts of the world. However, for the North Africans, the patterns are much more significant, as they are tools that symbolize messages, and of course, serve as beautification for the wearer. North African tribes use patterns to tell stories or convey messages of war, trade, religion, and environmental mishaps.
While it is possible to find similar patterns across tribes and regions, you'll soon realize that visual similarities are all they have in common. They are known by different names and the underlying significance and message are not necessarily the same. The concerns the tribes seek to symbolize are nothing out of the ordinary. They typically border on protection against harm, evil and bad luck, and by extension, promoting good luck, health, fertility, wealth. All these are part of the thought-process that informs the patterning of customs and other artefacts throughout the regions.
The ‘evil eye’ is a well-known North Africa fashion design that symbolizes protection against bad luck. And are often apparent in the patterning applied to marriage custom in particular, and a host of other traditional functions in general. The popular bakhnuq, a marriage shawl from southern Tunisia is woven with a combination of wool and cotton. The dyeing technique used leaves a white cotton motif that is resistant to dye. The resulting patterns among other things also signify snakes' vertebrae and cloak pins that pierce the evil eye. Also, the different colours of the bakhnuq indicate the woman's status.
Colours are very important elements in everything we see with the eyes. The preoccupations that inform the choice of the colour palette used to adorn the fabrics and what emotions they evoke in us conform to the science of colour psychology. Bold and bright hues like Red, Orange, and Yellow are used as an expression of passion, fertility, strength determination and youth. While less bold and more subtle options like Blue and its close shades connotes peace, tranquillity, harmony and maturity. The choice of colours is often an important medium for the North African tribes to extol specific qualities, attributes or simply pass a message.
The embroidery work is symbolic of North Africa's textile. It's a thing of pride for these people. With great dexterity and creativity, they create elaborate and beautiful designs that are usually hand-sewn by using a needle to apply thread or yarn. Apart from textile, you can equally see them incorporate embroidery with other materials such as pearls, beads, etc.
Djellaba
The traditional clothing style for the North African regions is the dress popularly known as the Djellaba. Generally, it's a long loose-fitting garment that is typically worn by both men and women with subtle variations of course. The Fabric used for the Djellaba is mostly dictated by the weather or season. During the winter or cold season months, the locals would normally wear clothing made from wool because it can help keep them warm. However, this kind of weather occurs only for a small part of the year as most of it is typically warm which is consistent to the African continent. Hence, you're more likely to find more of this piece is made from cotton and soft silk. There are also simple tunics worn by brides from various and diverse towns in the region. They are also made from cotton and soft silk in simple T-shaped designs.
Influence of other cultures
European influence is commonly found in African fashion as well.Distinctive ceremonial costumes continue to be produced by weavers and embroiderers in different parts of North Africa, displaying the dynamism with which textile traditions throughout Africa have developed since antiquity. Despite the clear influences that have helped to shape North African cultures, an internal dynamic has molded these elements into the distinctive material culture characteristic of each region.
