Dashiki avaThis is one of the most famous and recognizable African garments. It is known and appreciated far beyond the African continent. It is called “dashiki” and it is never out of fashion. Thousands, if not millions, of people in Africa and African diaspora wear dashiki in daily life and for special occasions, like weddings, celebrations, and even formal meetings. What’s so special about this piece? Why are there so many contemporary and authentic dashiki around us? How come that this folk garment survived throughout the complicated history of Africa and is still extremely popular today when so many authentic clothing articles are forgotten and left behind?

This garment is authentic for Africa and has a very typical design. When you look at dashiki, the first thing you think about is Africa, with its rich culture, bright patterns, and beautiful landscapes. Also, this clothing article is one of those pieces widely popular around the world among people of African descent.

This piece of folk clothing is typically African. The colors and patterns are very distinctive. The name also derives from this continent – dashiki or dàńṣíkí is translated from Yoruba language as “shirt” or “inner garment”.

 

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Male dashiki collar

 

In general, dashiki is a colorful garment for the upper body. It is worn by both men and women. The design of male and female dashiki is slightly different – men wear it in the form of a shirt, while women in the form of a blouse, tunic, or dress. This item is popular in many African countries, though it sometimes has a different name. For instance, in East Africa, it is called “kitenge”. Another name is “java” as the same garment is worn in Indonesia.

But dashiki usually has a specific detail – a V-neckline with a certain pattern at the shirtfront. This pattern can be either printed or embroidered.

 

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Dashiki print

 

There are formal and informal dashiki, as well as authentic and contemporary. The original dashiki is a loose-fitting pullover shirt, thigh-length, with V-shaped collar and embellished neck and sleeves. The sleeves are usually short and loose.

If to talk about the formal dashiki, there are 3 slightly different variations:

  • dashiki suit – it consists of a dashiki, drawstring trousers called “sokoto”, and a matching kufi cap (traditional African skull-cap). This outfit is a popular groom’s costume in Africa;
  • Senegalese kaftan – it includes an ankle-length shirt, sokoto trousers, and a matching kufi;
  • grand boubou or agbada – it consists of a dashiki, matching trousers, and a flowing gown worn on top.

Informal dashiki are diverse. Actually, there are no strict rules as to how a dashiki should look like. That’s why we can find so many contemporary variations.

 

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Modern stylized dashiki dress

 

Modern dashiki can be dyed in any color. There are a lot of black dashiki with colorful pattern. Among the most popular other colors are orange, purple, blue, red, dark-green, etc. Wedding dashiki historically were usually gray, white, blue, or purple. The black and red colors were considered the colors of mourning.

The modern African fashion widely uses dashiki cut and embellishments. There are dozens of different variants of contemporary clothes that, basically, are stylized dashiki. They can be of various length, design, style, etc. You can find even dashiki-inspired bikini or ball gowns. And that’s great because it means that this traditional heritage garment constantly gets a new life and will not be forgotten or out of fashion. There is a future for dashiki and this future is bright.

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