Traditionally dressed Xhosa woman © Image courtesy Mike Barwood
Customary Dress in Modern Africa
One way that many people communicate about who they are is through their clothing. Clothing is a part of a “symbolic process whereby many people’s reality is produced, maintained repaired and transformed” (Martin, J. N. & Nakayama , 2013, p. 94). Clothes can be an indicator that one is from a certain religion. For example, if a man is wearing a yarmulke, the small hat that Jewish men often wear at religious ceremonies, one would know that he was Jewish. Clothes can also indicate somebody’s wealth or poverty, their status, affiliations, and their ethnicity, and is also dependent on how traditional one is in regard to their own personal culture. According to David Ramushu (2014), customary dress in modern Africa is also dependent on your beliefs and often the various ethnicities themselves that can be found in South Africa.
Many South Africans dress in modern Western clothing that are similar to the United States. However, during special occasions and holidays some “Afrikaners wear traditional clothing that is different for each gender. For example, the boys and men wear pants and vests. While the women often can be seen in “long dresses and bonnets for formal folk dancing called volkspele, while male folk dancing partners wear shirts with vests and long pants” (“Countries and Their Cultures”, 2014).
While the Xhosa culture, of which Nelson Mandela was a part, have a distinct clothing: "the hang of the hat, the colour of the dress, and the bibs, bracelets and beads suspended from their bodies. Few words need to be spoken to convey the status of a person in Xhosa society” (“Xhosa Traditional Dress”, 2014). Many outsiders of the Xhosa might not understand the meaning behind many of their clothing, which might appear just colorful. In Xhosa culture, “young unmarried women will wear ochre-coloured blankets, and the tribal elder will walk past wrapped in his blanket, his face covered in white clay; and a married woman will linger at the stall, carrying a large beaded bag and puffing on a long-stemmed wooden pipe” (“Xhosa Traditional Dress”, 2014). Xhosa traditional dress comes in various shades, shapes, sizes and hues – each with its own particular message that would not be clear to someone outside the culture. For example, if a lady’s head is covered it means that she is married. If her turban goes below eye level, it means she’s newly married. Status in the society can also be gleaned by the elaborateness of the headpiece as well as Xhosa beadwork. Xhosa ceremonies also require particular dress; for example goatskin leggings and a necklace of turquoise (which connects him with his ancestors) are worn at a man’s first sacrificial killing of a goat (“Xhosa Traditional Dress”, 2014).
Many of the various other religious, cultural, ethnic, and racial groups also have very particular ways of dressing for traditional ceremonies and occasions as well. Dress is an important way to communicate about one’s identity and is an essential part of shaping
one’s identity. Therefore, it is important as an intercultural communicator that one is sensitive to how certain groups dress and the meaning behind the clothing so one doesn’t offend someone without even realizing it, or so that the intercultural communicator may derive that meaning which is already-assumed to be understood by someone from the Xhosa culture.
Many South Africans dress in modern Western clothing that are similar to the United States. However, during special occasions and holidays some “Afrikaners wear traditional clothing that is different for each gender. For example, the boys and men wear pants and vests. While the women often can be seen in “long dresses and bonnets for formal folk dancing called volkspele, while male folk dancing partners wear shirts with vests and long pants” (“Countries and Their Cultures”, 2014).
While the Xhosa culture, of which Nelson Mandela was a part, have a distinct clothing: "the hang of the hat, the colour of the dress, and the bibs, bracelets and beads suspended from their bodies. Few words need to be spoken to convey the status of a person in Xhosa society” (“Xhosa Traditional Dress”, 2014). Many outsiders of the Xhosa might not understand the meaning behind many of their clothing, which might appear just colorful. In Xhosa culture, “young unmarried women will wear ochre-coloured blankets, and the tribal elder will walk past wrapped in his blanket, his face covered in white clay; and a married woman will linger at the stall, carrying a large beaded bag and puffing on a long-stemmed wooden pipe” (“Xhosa Traditional Dress”, 2014). Xhosa traditional dress comes in various shades, shapes, sizes and hues – each with its own particular message that would not be clear to someone outside the culture. For example, if a lady’s head is covered it means that she is married. If her turban goes below eye level, it means she’s newly married. Status in the society can also be gleaned by the elaborateness of the headpiece as well as Xhosa beadwork. Xhosa ceremonies also require particular dress; for example goatskin leggings and a necklace of turquoise (which connects him with his ancestors) are worn at a man’s first sacrificial killing of a goat (“Xhosa Traditional Dress”, 2014).
Many of the various other religious, cultural, ethnic, and racial groups also have very particular ways of dressing for traditional ceremonies and occasions as well. Dress is an important way to communicate about one’s identity and is an essential part of shaping
one’s identity. Therefore, it is important as an intercultural communicator that one is sensitive to how certain groups dress and the meaning behind the clothing so one doesn’t offend someone without even realizing it, or so that the intercultural communicator may derive that meaning which is already-assumed to be understood by someone from the Xhosa culture.