mercredi 20 mai 2009

The Art of African Headwraps...

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Dressing is an important part of every culture and often a way of
portraying ones culture visually -
.

.African women, especially those from sub-saharan Africa are very
well known for their extravagant head ties and
no wedding or party would be complete
without what is popularlly known as gele in Nigeria.
Head ties always perfectly match the outfit making the African woman
outstanding in any gathering.
With the head tie, the African woman portrays her culture with
dignity and integrity... .


"It is art because it transforms the functional into the elegant and mysterious.
A covering for the head becomes something much more,
a skyward looking arabesque of folds and patterns,where cloth undergoes
a metamorphosis into a salute to the head as metaphysical centre of the self,
as the matrix of direction for the body "

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African women are the only women in the world who wear head ties.
Caucasian women wear hats or veils (or rather, used to..!),
Muslim women and women from many Eastern cultures wear a headscarf,
while other women allow the full beauty of their long hair to show
by wearing it loose.
A big, colourful head-tie
(preferably in a colour different from the rest of the outfit!)
is an entirely African affair..!
..

See lots more gele on these photo galleries
here and here


I'd love to dress like this, so chic..!
What do you think..?

12 commentaires:

Kat Mortensen a dit…

I sometimes see young caucasian women wearing the big headwraps - you require quite a lot of weighty hair to pull the look off. I wish I could.

They really are beautiful works of art.

Kat

Here, There, Elsewhere... and more a dit…

I sooo agree with you - a true work of art..!
I'd love to be able to "parade" in one of these masterpieces around my neighbourhood - give the neighbours something to talk about..!!!!

Adaeze a dit…

I love the headties! I have some pieces at home that belongs with my other african dresses but I havnt quite mastered how to tie them yet!

posekyere a dit…

Here,There...you are, without argument, an Africam Woman at heart.
I really think the headgears are lovely. Nigerians ladies are unquestionably the pros.
As a man, my only concern is the length of time one has to wait for a wife put on that hardware!

Jazz a dit…

The wraps are stunning. Ic an't imagine walking around in a thing like that though, knowing my clumsy self it would be a shambles after 10 minutes.

Shashi Nayagam a dit…

The head wraps are beautiful. I often wonder how they manage to keep it up on their head without the folds falling apart. I guess that is an art too.

l'air du temps a dit…

wow! these are really beautiful. they touch the heart somehow. maybe it is the beauty and elegance of it all...

Yeye Akilimali Funua Olade a dit…

YOU DON'T NEED A LOT OF HAIR TO WEAR GELE. ALL YOU NEED IS TO LEARN HOW TO TIE IT.MOST AFRICAN WOMEN ARE EVEN WEARING THEIR HAIR IN BRAIDS UNDER IT!

Dutchbaby a dit…

These are like sculptures. Simply beautiful. I bet wearing these head ties ensures that you have perfect posture.

Cheka a dit…

So remarkably beautiful! So you have links to sites and video clips that can show how to wrap geles?

Yeye Akilimali funua Olade a dit…

YOU-TUBE AND AFRICAN SITES HAVE INFO ON HOW TO TIE HEADWRAPS.

Kim a dit…

Random little factiod - the married women wear the biggest headwear!