Various African Clothing Styles for Men & Women

Nowadays, there are two types of African clothing. There are traditional African clothing and Modern African Clothing for men or women, which usually referred to as African Fashion.

Africa is a big continent, and it is made up of different countries, different kinds of people, cultures, languages, food, clothing, etc. We would cover only the fashionable African clothing for now. It seems most of the Traditional African attires we see and hear of today are from the Western part of Africa, such as Ghana and Nigeria.

Here I mention some of the Traditional and African luxury lifestyle clothing.

Aso oke:- It is usually referred to as aso oke, as it is called as the traditional Yoruba women's garments. It is consists of four parts:

• Buba- Yoruba Blouse 
• Iro- A wrap skirt
• Gele- Head tie 
• Iborun or Ipele- Shawl or Shoulder Sach
• Aso oke hat:- It is a traditional Yoruba Hat is made of handwoven African fabric.

Bubou or bubu:- It is known for a flowing wide-sleeved robe. This can be worn by both males and females. It also is known as kaftan, but this refers more to female boubou.

Kaba and slit:- This is a long wraparound skirt and matching blouse made from African wax print or cloth. Dresses usually have a pair of strings in the waist, which is drawn together to fit the waist, but standard zips could be used instead.

Dashiki:- The Dashiki is a colorful and beautiful garment for the men that cover the top half of the body. It has formal and informal versions and varies from simple draped clothing to fully tailored suits. Some also have beautiful embroidery around the neck area.

Kaftan/Caftan:- It is a loose-fitting pullover garment, with an ornate V-shaped or round collar, and tailored and embroidered neck and sleeve lines.

The Ghanaian Smock:- The Ghanaian smock is a plaid shirt that is similar to the dashiki, worn by the men in Ghana. The smock is also known as fugu or a batakari. It is made of hand-loomed strips of Kente fabric that are three to four inches in width.

Kufi or Kufi Cap:- It is west and southern African women's cloth used to tie the head as part of the African Outfit.

Kenthe Cloth:- The Kenthe Cloth is a type of silk and cotton fabric made up of interwoven cloth strips that originated from Ghana.

The wrapper is a colorful women's garment widely worn in West Africa. It has formal and informal versions, and it varies from simple draped clothing to fully tailored ensembles. The formality of the wrapper depends on the fabric used to create it. The wrapper is usually worn with a matching headscarf or a head tie that is called a gele.

 Here I mention some of the modern African Fashion or styles.

With time, African Fashion has been merged with European styles to make it an everyday attire. These types of African outfits could easily be worn to work, parties, even as casual everyday wear. These include African pencil dresses, African print skirts, trousers, jumpsuits, playsuits, etc. These African outfits are made using African wax prints or Ankara prints but in modern, stylish, comfortable wears.

African dresses: African dresses can be made using only African wax print or with a combination of other types of materials. There are long, maxi African print dresses, Short African print dresses, or midi dresses.

African trousers/ Jumpsuit/ playsuit

This is usually made solely with African wax print or a combination of other types of material. Jumpsuits and playsuits come in the form of trousers but are joined to the top, making a one-piece outfit.

You can shop African fashion online and find varieties of African outfits.