Story and photos by guest blogger Amy Hanna.
Before my recent trip to Dakar, Senegal, I read a lot about it being a bustling, brightly colored example of ‘cosmopolitan Africa.’ During my stay there, I found that nothing embodied this reputation more than women’s clothing.
Walking down the street, I would pass countless numbers of women wearing custom-made outfits and head wraps sewn by skilled tailors out of traditional fabrics.
The Senegalese also have a reputation for not liking to be photographed so I wasn’t able to get as many pictures as I would have liked, but I tried to snag a few.
The designs, colors, and patterns were amazing!
The market was full of fabric shops, which were literally stacked floor to ceiling with beautiful patterns and prints.
The most common type of fabric for sale was batik wax-resist printed, a technique where wax is applied to the cloth before patterns are dyed over it. The result is a beautiful, durable, brilliant fabric, which seemed to be most commonly used for women’s clothing in Dakar. For more about the complex history of this technique and the increasing popularity of this type of fabric in fashion, read this.
Needless to say I couldn’t resist buying a few brightly colored bolts of my own to bring home. I was able to limit myself to six different designs, but it was a difficult decision:
Now I just have to decide what to make with it!
-Amy
Amy has blogged here before, and is currently an English Language Fellow in Potchefstroom, South Africa. To see more of Amy's great photos, visit her Tumblr: Pedagogy in Potchefstroom.
Before my recent trip to Dakar, Senegal, I read a lot about it being a bustling, brightly colored example of ‘cosmopolitan Africa.’ During my stay there, I found that nothing embodied this reputation more than women’s clothing.
Walking down the street, I would pass countless numbers of women wearing custom-made outfits and head wraps sewn by skilled tailors out of traditional fabrics.
The Senegalese also have a reputation for not liking to be photographed so I wasn’t able to get as many pictures as I would have liked, but I tried to snag a few.
The designs, colors, and patterns were amazing!
The market was full of fabric shops, which were literally stacked floor to ceiling with beautiful patterns and prints.
The most common type of fabric for sale was batik wax-resist printed, a technique where wax is applied to the cloth before patterns are dyed over it. The result is a beautiful, durable, brilliant fabric, which seemed to be most commonly used for women’s clothing in Dakar. For more about the complex history of this technique and the increasing popularity of this type of fabric in fashion, read this.
Needless to say I couldn’t resist buying a few brightly colored bolts of my own to bring home. I was able to limit myself to six different designs, but it was a difficult decision:
Now I just have to decide what to make with it!
-Amy
Amy has blogged here before, and is currently an English Language Fellow in Potchefstroom, South Africa. To see more of Amy's great photos, visit her Tumblr: Pedagogy in Potchefstroom.
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