The Jewel of the Loom #1
Clothing, next to food and shelter, makes the traditional list of immediate basic needs for every human anywhere on earth. Primarily, clothing protects human body from various elements that can harm the body. Wearing clothes also seems a social norm, as being deprived of clothing in front of others may be very embarrassing, or not wearing clothes in public could be seen as indecent exposure. That is where the saying:
“you are addressed the way you dressed”
actually comes in. In addition, clothing performs a range of social and cultural functions, such as individual, occupational and gender differentiation, and social status.
In African culture, very different values are attached to different clothes. This is reflected in what they wear to different social functions like wedding, naming, funeral and even traditional festivals. However, talking about a particular cloth that fit perfectly for any social gathering among Yoruba people up till today, a cloth called Aso Oke stands at number one position any time.
Aso Oke, which translate top cloth in English language, is a hand loomed cloth woven by the Yoruba people of Nigeria. In traditional Yoruba culture, when you acquire a piece of Aso Oke, it is believed that you have acquired something of very great value that can be pass from one generation to another. And this is basically connected to its beauty, durability and the sense of pride attached to it. In fact, Yoruba people actually believe that a particular kind of Aso Oke referred to as Alaari in Yoruba language is the greatest and most adorable of all clothing materials. And this is why you can't be wrong if you call Aso Oke "The Jewel of the Loom" for the Yorubas.
Aso Oke comes in different types, textures and color shades. The three main traditional types are Alaari, Etu and Saayan. These categorization is due to the materials used in making them. In ancient times, the cotton used in making Aso Oke were locally grown. Also, the loom and other instruments used in weaving of Aso Oke were made by local craftmen and blacksmiths.
However, with technology comes different modern and easy ways of making things. New techniques and production methods have been looked into to eliminate the weight and thickness of the Aso Oke, and to make it more accessible for casual wear. Modern Aso Oke is made by using computer design applications to structurally manipulate and combine motifs into definite shapes of grids and geometries.
In Yoruba culture, a complete female clothing set includes Gele (head tie), Buba (top), Iro (wrapper) and Iborun (extra cloth for covering). While the complete set for male comprises of Fila (cap), Buba (shirt), Sooro (trousers) and Agbada (gown-like overall).
In a future post, I will write in details about types of Aso Oke and uses in Africa emerging fashion industry.
Kindly upvote and follow @nezer for more, if you like this article. I will be glad to respond to your comments as well. Thank you for reading.
Sources:
gogeafrica.tv
weddingfeferity.com
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