Beauty in our Traditional Attire

The ideas of our traditional attires are very unique and interesting. The Nigerian print material and other traditional cottons are well known all over the world and are now sewn into fashionable modern western attires. These traditional wears is part of our culture as Nigerians. However, over the years it has developed   into international materials known all over the world of fashion. In this article, we are going to be looking at the three main tribes in Nigeria. The three main tribes in Nigerian are known and recognised mainly by the way they dressed. They are identified by their culture and way of dressing. First and foremost, let’s look at the:

 Hausa-Fulani or northern clothing –the northern or the hausa men usually wear a wide sleeved robe known as the  babban riga which is a floor-length robe with very long sleeves which have to be folded up to expose the hands. This is also equivalent to the Yoruba's Agbada and the material usually used for this attire is brocades. Even though the babban riga is considered a Muslim garment almost every Nigerian man wear one for formal occasions or at has at least one in their wardrobe. This type of attire is usually accompanied by a traditional headpiece to match the baban riga (a round cap) known as the fula. The typical northern woman wears colourful wrappers, sewn in beautiful styles with matching blouses and veils. The materials used for this type of attire vary from Ankara, lace and other beautiful materials. The abaya is also another dress worn mostly by the northerners. This is a long free gown usually with beautiful design. This type of attire is always accomp anied by a veil or hijab.

Traditional Igbo attire

The igbo people are socially and culturally diverse. Their traditional clothing is usually worn on important occasions in the cities and every day in rural areas. Men usually wear cotton wrappers, shirts and sandals for day to day wear. For formal occasions they wear attires from better materials than that used for day to day wear, i.e a long shirt, often decorated with tucks and embroidery, over a dressy wrap, shoes, and a hat. The outfit worn by the women are eye catchy, elegant. Women wear wraps for both informal and formal occasions. The everyday wrapper is made from inexpensive cotton, dyed locally. For formal wear, the wrapper is either woven or gorge, and often imported.  The blouse for formal wear is made of lace or embroidered. Women also wear a head tie, a rectangular piece of cloth that can be worn a number of different ways. For traditional weddings, the igbo attire is usually adorn by many accessories such as the head beads, waist bead, bracelets, neck beads and anklets. Centuries ago the only reason the Igbo wore clothing was for modesty, clothing was not used for style or to display status, according to research.  Over time their garb evolved. Today most of the people, especially in urban areas, wear western styled clothing. However in rural areas they often still wear traditional clothing.

 Yoruba traditional wear

The Yoruba people of Nigeria are known for their exquisite clothing. Sometimes their clothing is usually elaborate which serves as an indicator of status and wealth. For special occasions such as weddings and funerals they wear especially beautiful garb.

Gele - This is a traditional Nigerian headgear which women tie around their heads. There are many variations of how they wrap it. Agbada - For formal events the Yoruba men often wear a robe called an agbada over their clothes. This looks like the hausa baban riga, but only in different material.

Buba - A Buba is a loose fitting blouse with long sleeves and a neckline that is either V-shaped or round. It usually falls a little below a women’s waist. This is a typical Yoruba woman’s blouse.  Iro – the iro is a long wrap-around skirts. The rectangular skirt is worn by wrapping it around the waste and tucking it in at the end. Sokotos – the Sokotos are trousers that are very loose-fitting with a drawstring used to hold them up at the waist. The popular material used by the yorubas is asoeke.

The culture and tradition of the Nigerian people are diverse and very interesting. Different trips in Nigerian have different mode of dressing and a way they wear these clothes. It would be interesting to travel round the country and also see how other tribe dresses.