Our Culture In Style

Africa, a land of passion and creativity is the most amazing continent on the earth. It is said that its culture, music, art, literature, and cultural practices have provoked interest and respect throughout the world. How have we, the citizens of Africa payed due this respect?. Have we forgotten the essence of our culture and its Fashion whilst getting ultimately used to this modern lifestyle? 

This generation has corrupted us and our judgement of things. We are now accustomed to this new type of fashion that we seem to have forgotten or pushed aside, our very own. Sometimes, the only times we get to remember our cultural attires is when we are told to buy 'Aso Ebi's' for a traditional marriage ceremony, or a Calabar costume for the Calabar Carnival. Handmade beads have never been pushed aside or not admired, neither has our African Art and Fashion been looked down on in times of exhibitions, so why should we Africans deny what makes us us. 

Just like the 'Green Scarf' in the movie titled 'Confessions of a Shopaholic ', a touch of what we represent in the form of Beads, Bags, or other kinds of accessories added to our wears can make what we wear outstanding and different from what we see everyday. The last Calabar Carnival held in 2013, was tagged "Pornival". This was as a result of the massacre of the original carnival costumes. Women especially, wore attires that barely depicted the African style of the Calabar people, because they rather preferred to wear their very short skirts, with little tops to show their bossoms. One could hardly find the time to breathe in those costumes. The Calabar Carnival used to be a sort of carnival where everyone who participated in it were very proud and happy to represent their culture with the original cultural costumes. 

Using Banks also as a paradigm for the portrayal of modern culture in our Fashion today, one cannot find the workers dressed up for work on a serious weekday in a Gele, with Iro and Buba instead of their Suits. These Banks are owned by heads. And these heads are white. While working for a white man, one has to adhere to the rules and lifestyle of that white man if he or she wants to remain on duty. It is not that we do not love our culture and what we represent, because we do, but the lifestyle of this modern era we live in has expanded our everything including our type of fashion, and has made it possible to say that the younger generation of Africa is at much risk. It is left to us Africans to either embrace this modern world that is eating away our cultural heritage, or fight for it by portraying our culture and lifestyle in what we wear.