It’s Friday so time for Africana

 Today is Friday.  Last day of the week?  Yes.  A day to dream of when Monday comes?  Yes.  A day to watch Andy Murray in another Wimbledon semi? Yes. Casual Day – well kind of...

Here in Sierra Leone Friday is the day when the majority of people wear African Dress.  This means the office is a very colourful place as African fabrics could never be described as dull.  There are amazing takes on style as well with the use of contrasting fabrics, piping, pleating, frills and flounces.  In the main long but short seems to making some headway too.

During his presidency in Ghana, John Kufuor introduced national "Friday wear day" to encourage citizens to wear traditional clothes made using the jewel-coloured wax fabrics associated with African garments.  This was as a backlash against the second had clothes market that I’m going to discuss in my next post.  President Koroma introduced it here in Sierra Leone as a way for the country to show pride in its culture.

Never one to resist the chance to dress in a girly fashion I have had a couple to traditional outfits made.  These are two pieces with long skirt and top.   This first one uses a cotton that seems pretty traditional to me as is the style.  Not so sure about the whet geyl wearing it.

The next outfit was quite a hit at work as I posed with some colleagues who show men and women embrace the African Dress Day.

with Newman

with Aunty Bish

And just in case you were wondering this is where I spend my time Monday to Friday.

I have also used African fabric to copy a dress I bought in Debenhams as a last minute item.  It’s come out pretty well I think.

So shopping next time...