Both males and females can wear dashiki apparel. It has a variety of vivid colors and designs.
Generally, dashiki is a piece of clothing that covers the head and shoulders. It looks much better with the matching pants. You can traditionally style it with a Kufi, a spherical cap with no brim, and a short length worn over the head. Men in North Africa, Eastern Africa, Western Africa, and areas of South Asia wear kufis.
Do You Know The Origin Of Dashiki?
In 1962,Toon van de Manakker, a Vlisco textile designer created the Angelina pattern idea. Christian noblewomen in Ethiopia donned silk embroidered tunics. It had a significant influence on the design.
As a consequence of this design, Dashiki came into fashion. Vlisco’s signature design for decades was popular in the 1960s and 1970s and remains so now. During this time, it grew in popularity. Ghana, Nigeria, Togo, and Benin are just a few of the West African nations where the Angelina print is popular. When speaking to the DRC, a well-known South African singer, Miriam Makeba is commonly referenced.
In the late 1970s, the song “Angelina” by Sweet Talks and A.B. Crentsil, which featured Ghanaian vocalist Angelina, helped to popularise the name. In East Africa, it’s known as Kitenge, and the two most popular countries to play it are Tanzania and Kenya.
Do You Know Who Called It Dashiki?
The Yoruba language inherited the word dàk, which means “shirt” or “inner garment” in Hausa and is the origin of the phrase “dashiki.” The majority of Nigerians and people of neighboring countries speak one of the West African languages, Yoruba or Hausa.
In 1967, Jason Benning and Milton Clarke, Howard Davis, and William Smith coined the term “dashiki” for their clothing firm, New Breed Clothing Ltd., based in Harlem, New York. The same year, they launched the commercial manufacture of the company’s garment.
The Trend Of Dashiki:
Traditional African attire known as dashiki is worn by both men and women during weddings throughout Africa. Dashikis are worn by the groom and the other men at the wedding party. In West African nations, grey is regarded to be the traditional wedding color.
Groomsmen’s outfits are almost often white. Some couples, on the other hand, like non-traditional color schemes. It’s not uncommon to see non-traditional colors, like purple (associated with African monarchy) and blue (symbolizing love and peace) used in clothing and accessories.
Dashiki gained popularity in the United States during the civil rights and Black Power movements. Because of its appearances in films, like Uptight (1968) and Putney Swope (1969), Dashikis have developed through time to become an essential component of streetwear apparel.
JhenéAiko, Chris Brown, Beyonce, Rihanna, Wiz Khalifa, and ScHoolboy Q are just a few well-known African American celebrities that have been noticed proudly sporting shirts featuring African designs.
Concluding Lines:
As you can see that dashiki has been around for a long time, some people believe that it is a passing craze at the moment. It is a traditional African piece of clothing that allows Africans living outside the continent to remain in touch with their origins and preserve their African history.