Africa Adorned!

Wow! How exotic!

When we are clothed in a certain way, we have high expectations.  That is to be accepted or treated in a manner that we desire and our clothing has the power to achieve that before we speak.   

So I re-visit my library for some inspiration. I love going back to history books that I have collected over the years and searching for a spark of ideas.  I found "Africa Adorned" by Angela Fisher.  It is such a useful book for any artist to have in their library collection. Well, it motivates me a lot.  Not only for inspiration but gives one a wealth of positive insight into what Africa is all about.  From Northern Africa all the way down to South.  It is fantastic!

The author wrote about her fascination with Africa during her first visit to Southern Africa in the early '70s. Of course, she did not stop there but traveled to my country Tanzania- in East Africa- where she encountered the famous African tribe- the Maasai warriors. 
Her curiosity made her travel deeper into the heart of Africa all the way to up North; she claimed it was like stepping into a completely different planet. Mhh!   She encountered more diverse tribes, lifestyles, and cultures with distinguished and striking customs (in terms of) outstanding tribal costumes, remarkable hair forms, body paintings, and all sorts of decorations that she had never seen before.

"I began to discover that all these exotic fashion - in jewelry, body art, even clothing - were not merely adopted for beauty.  Each Item was of individual significance and proffered a wealth of information about the wear"

Yes! In general, we are what we wear and body language has become a media of expression in its own right.  We call it 'The Language of Clothes' as in a book by: Alison Lurie.

We often identify or send messages by what and how we wear; this is exactly what Angela Fisher encountered so evidently and powerfully may I say, in Africa. 

In my earlier post about Khanga, a native Swahili garment in Tanzania, I referred to this as being the cloth that speaks a culture of silence. 

 The language of dress is an automatic one since the history of mankind.  Before the so called 'Fashion' or civilisations, people were geographically identified through the communication of their traditional costumes, hairstyles, body adornment, and body painting.

I have selected other stunning, breathtaking, and extremely stylish images from Africa taken by photographer Ken Hanmann and what have I got to say about these images.

Source: 

http://www.kenhermann.dk/personal/beauty-of-omo-valley/

Grace

Love, Security & Family

Sheer Elegance, Style & Pride

Youth, Beauty,& Pride

oozing with style & poise

Confidence

Innocence & Purity

Purity

Pride & Identity

.........and then there is of course what we call the 'High End Fashion Adorned'! 

http://iiiinspired.blogspot.co.uk/2011/08/that-thing.html

Christian Dior, Fall 1999, photos by Annie Leibovitz

Fashion throughout the decades has demonstrated to be an influential force in the establishment and expression of both cultural and personal identity.

Source

Africa Adorned: Angela Fisher

Photos courtesy of :  Ken Hanmann 

From Sisal to Fashion Apparel

Okay folks!  When you hear about sisal, naturally what comes to mind is agriculture, a commercial crop.  Perhaps your mind will wonder around industrial ropes, low cost, hardware .....well, anything BUT 'glamour'!

I was born and raised in the beautiful city of Dar-es-Salaam in Tanzania,  East of Africa.
As a little girl, I remember looking forward to holidays because it was travel time!  My parents took us on a vacation to Korogwe and Mheza, in Tanga region, my parent's birthplace, to visit our relatives.

 Tanga is located on the coastal strip of the Indian Ocean on the northeast of Tanzania.  It is beautiful!.

I remember starting the journey to Tanga from Dar in the family station wagon, at 6am and reaching Korogwe, a small town in Tanga by lunchtime.  The trip was such fun!
When approaching Korogwe, I was always fascinated to see huge plantations of sisal beautifully cultivated in endless rows. Dad always told us about the history of this cash crop and the use of sisal.

The plantation

Sisal cut and ready to go for processing

 In preparation for further process in the machine called  decorticatior.

Processed sisal hand to dry for exportation.

Visit this site for details.

http://www.lawnshotel.com/sisal.html 

   Little did I know that one day I would actually create something out of it.  If my Father was still alive today, I know he would have been amazed to see how sisal can actually be so versatile and produce something that is glamorous and wearable.

The Beauty

With my fascination with natural fibers and my love of creating, I dared myself to create something from this fiber.  I enjoy working with ropes, different yarns, and strings, so  I went to a hardware shop one day and deliberately searched for sisal rope.  I bought lots of it and decided to dye it in various colours.  Green off course to depict the original colour of the plant, as well as other variety of colours. I got creative and.........this is what I came up with.
Photographed by: Anna Prays

A lil je ne sais quoi !!!

The necless perhaps!

mmmh.... :)  Cape?

Simply Vogue It!!!

xx