ANIMAL SKINS
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painted, or appliquéd onto the robe. Men wear the agbada alone with trousers or as a type of coat over a shirt. As Africans have had increased contact with other cultures, traditional methods of producing cloth have declined, and many modern agbada are made from imported cloth and worn with Western pants. A related garment, called the dashiki, became quite popular in the West during the rise of the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s and 1970s, which saw African Americans protesting to secure their rights. Wearing a dashiki was a way of making a political statement about the value of African heritage. FOR MORE INFORMATION
Blauer, Ettagale. African Elegance. New York: Rizzoli, 1999. Kennett, Frances, and Caroline MacDonaldHaig. Ethnic Dress. New York: Facts on File, 1994.
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A Nigerian man wearing a green agbada. This loose-fitting robe was often highly patterned.
Reproduced by permission of © Dave Bartruff/CORBIS.
Animal Skins
Animal hides have been a traditional clothing material used by many cultures in Africa, likely since the dawn of human history. Animal hide clothing was made most often from the skins of domesticated animals. Both farming and nomadic societies prized livestock, and they cared for their animals carefully. Their cattle, goats, sheep, and camels were sources of food and clothing, as well as great symbols of wealth. Other groups hunted wild animals for their meat and hides. To prepare an animal skin, Africans would scrape off all the fur or hair, beat the cleaned skin to soften it, and tan it, a process that softened the hide and turned it into leather. Finally, they would CLOTHING OF AFRICAN CULTURES
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