The Beautiful Project: Nigerian Traditional Clothing And Dress Styles

Monday, July 2, 2012

Nigerian Traditional Clothing And Dress Styles

The Nigerian Traditional arrangement was in bold and colourful attendance at this Ghanaian function I visited recently with hopes of covering different Kente designs and patterns. The trademark of the Nigerian traditional attire is the head wrap, properly referred to as the gele (pronounced gay-lay) made from stiffened fabric and elaborately arranged and held together with hair pins. Though it can obstruct the view of anybody stuck behind the wearer, it is nontheless a beautiful thing to behold.

Specifically, the Nigerian traditional costume has it's origins with the Yoruba people who claim 21 percent majority of the Nigerian population. The common fabrics used to make the clothing are lace, jacquard, ankara, and tie and dye.

But there is more to the Nigerian traditional clothing ensemble. Here are the parts:

Gele is the headwrap
Buba is the blouse
Iro is the bottom piece which is essentially a rectangular piece of fabric wrapped around the waist, and
Iborun/Ipele is the accessory scarf

So when it's all put together, here is the look...