Clothing in Africa and elsewhere

Abstract

From the scanty apron barely covering the female genitals, still shocking to the missionary, to the voluminous blanket, which the Victorians condemned Eros to wear, up to the fashionably tailored and stylishly worn covering of elegant city ladies, fashion changes have always run the gamut from simple protection to aesthetics, from the useful to the extravagant, thus expressing both one's distinctive individual identity and one's collective, social position as well. This is accomplished in a variety of ways, by the type of material used, the specific colours chosen, the cut, the use of embroidery, the manner of wearing a garment, and the size of the wardrobe. These all allow the observer to measure the social standing and wealth of the person so remarkably dressed. It is also important to pay attention to the prestige of the major cities, which are renowned for their high standards of African fashion, as well as to the dandies, who frequent the discotheques. It is especially necessary to pay attention to the ways in which tailors, business people, local stars, and journalists tend to be trendsetters in matters of fashion.