Sweeping Shawls And Colorful Beads 3000 Years Of Fashion In The Horn Of Africa

Out of the Horn of Africa comes a history and culture unforgotten and alive for over three thousand years, where unique styles of architecture, art, cuisine, music, literature have survived. But the distinct culture of the region is best, and most remarkably, represented in Ethiopian and Eritrean clothing.

Ethiopian clothing and Eritrean clothing traditions are multifarious throughout that region, differing based on a number of factors: questions like the region one comes from, the language they speak, the climate in the area they live in and the faith they belong to, can all be determinants of the kind of clothing someone from the Horn of Africa is accustomed to.

The traditional dress of the highland Christian peasantry is of mostly muted, unassuming colors, and are made of cotton fabrics; here, the long pants worn by men are similar to Jodhpur trousers, tighter at the ankles than at the thighs and hips. This type of pants is usually worn with a figure hugging, tight shirt and a loose wrap of cloth known as a “shamma”.

Ethiopian and Eritrean clothing among the Muslims of the highlands, on the other hand, are in contrast to their Christian cohabitants: with more preference to vibrant colors instead of the dull, unimposing whites. Their trousers are shorter, too, and consist of a shawl-like wrap, and no wrap.

The women are fond of finely done dresses, also of many different colors, like red, purple, yellow etc. In the lower lands, bright cotton wraps are more in tradition; leather garments ornamented by colorful beads are also to be seen. The heat in the lower regions allows very little clothing, like light, cotton cloths.

Though for most festivals and traditional holidays, Ethiopians and Eritreans alike prefer their traditional garments, much of the culture in the Horn of Africa has also been influenced by western clothing and fashion design.

But even then, the Ethiopian and Eritrean identities are superimposed on their modern ways of dressing also. For example, custom baseball jerseys with Ethiopian flags emblazoned in the front and the back are widely popular in that country. Fashions in Ethiopian clothing and Eritrean clothing, which are widely similar, have been explored by modern fashion designers also, with the traditional borders, fabrics and colors have been incorporated into modern dresses worn by women in the Horn of Africa.

While the women have the chance of looking beautiful in the modern sense of the word, while remaining true to their traditional, indigenous styles, the men, too, don their modern suits of rich color and elegance, and let loose on a weekend in custom Ethiopian jerseys if they want to.