s/o - inappropriate attire thread - Nigerian dress

[Miss Marple]

When my son graduated this past spring, I was delighted to see the beautifully attired Nigerian families. These families traveled from Nigeria to attend their son/daughter's graduation in petroleum engineering. Can I just say that their outfits were stunning works of art?!?

 

Both husbands and wives wore matching patterns with the wives sporting incredible head pieces. I wondered how they kept them on their heads.

 

The event was obviously very important to them and they represented themselves in what I would assume is traditional attire.

 

My question is this: Is this attire worn frequently in their home country? Is there anything symbolic about it? I would love to know more about the dress as well as their use of it. IMO, it was about as fancy as one could get, but I wonder if there is something even fancier that they use for even more important occasions. I was delighted to see these folks amid the crowd of traditional American garb (which means there was a huge variety of style/color/coverage).

[Cinder]

I don't know the answers to your questions. We have a couple of families at church where the parents are from Nigeria and they sometimes wear traditional outfits but I'd never thought to ask about it. But I do agree that they're beautiful!

[LG Gone Wild]

When my son graduated this past spring, I was delighted to see the beautifully attired Nigerian families. These families traveled from Nigeria to attend their son/daughter's graduation in petroleum engineering. Can I just say that their outfits were stunning works of art?!?

 

Both husbands and wives wore matching patterns with the wives sporting incredible head pieces. I wondered how they kept them on their heads.

 

The event was obviously very important to them and they represented themselves in what I would assume is traditional attire.

 

My question is this: Is this attire worn frequently in their home country? Is there anything symbolic about it? I would love to know more about the dress as well as their use of it. IMO, it was about as fancy as one could get, but I wonder if there is something even fancier that they use for even more important occasions. I was delighted to see these folks amid the crowd of traditional American garb (which means there was a huge variety of style/color/coverage).

 

Not just Nigeria but I've seen that getup of women doing every day things. Not the men but the women. We have one family at our church that dresses that way. I love looking at the mom. I would say it is nearly guaranteed at special events but not out of place in the humdrum of everyday life.

[lovinmomma]

Obviously, every country in Africa is going to be different but in Tanzania this dress was reserved for church Sundays and special occasions. The women would wear skirts basically every day but they were usually paired with a top and they didn't wear anything on their heads during the week typically. Not sure if that helps or not?

[magic]

We have several Nigerian families in our church and they almost always dress that way. For very special occasions- baby dedication, Easter, family celebrations, etc. they will dress in matching clothing with gorgeous headdresses on all. I love seeing their clothing.

[Miss Marple]

Thanks for the feedback. It is interesting to hear of those who have these folks in their communities. It was a new experience for me :)

[Mom in High Heels]

I went to high school with 5 Nigerian sisters (they were boarders, I was a day student) and while they wore American style clothes in the US, when they were home, they wore Nigerian dress that was always pretty fancy from the photos I saw. They only wore the fancy headdresses for church or social functions though(their dad is a wealthy businessman who is also involved in the gov't), and had plainer (though still pretty fancy IMO) headdresses for every day. Like I said, they are from an affluent family, so it could be different from your middle and lower class families there.

 

I see Nigerian women (well, I'm assuming, they could be from another African country) all the time here in Germany dressed in traditional clothes all the time. I see them at Aldi, on the train, in restaurants, etc, and it doesn't seem like it's a special dress, just...clothes.

 

I LOVE Nigerian clothing. It's just so beautiful. I want to stare at the women when I see them, but I'm afraid they'll think I'm daft.

 

 

ETA: These girls from my school were from the Hasau (sp?) tribe and their father had multiple wives. Only 2 of the 5 that were there when I attended were full sisters. There were 6 more girls in Nigeria who would be attending when they were ready to start the 9th grade. It was a crazy expensive school for boarding (around $30K/year per girl, 20 years ago), so their dad must have been loaded. :001_huh: I don't remember how many boys there were, but it was a crazy number. We all thought it was so weird, but it was just their daily lives.

[Rhonda in TX]

Oh, I love Nigerian dress. My nephew married a girl whose parents moved here from Nigeria. For the wedding, her mother wore a typical American mother-of-the-bride dress, but then changed into Nigerian dress for the reception. Her father wore Nigerian dress the whole time, as did family and friends who were also from Nigeria. They were all so beautiful.