Following similar trends like other parts of the Continent, North Africa has its own unique style and influence on fashion. North Africa, which comprises Egypt, Libya, Tunisia and Morocco, is a hotbed of cultural influences intermingling with each other, as well as those from diverse tribes and European societies. Although the North Africans way of dress and style dates back to the rich history of its lands, it's hard not to feel and see its influences on fashion even to this very day. With their unmistakable patterns, palettes and fabrics, the unique designs have served as the perfect foil for trendsetters for fashion shows all around the world.
The Distinctive Patterns of North African Dresses.
One of the signatures of North African dresses is the patterns. With their pretty and distinctive designs, they may be assumed to be just that, designs; particular by people from other parts of the world. However, for the North Africans, the patterns are much more significant, as they are tools that symbolize messages, and of course, serve as beautification for the wearer. North African tribes use patterns to tell stories or convey messages of war, trade, religion, and environmental mishaps. While it is possible to find similar patterns across tribes and regions, you'll soon realize that visual similarities are all they have in common. They are known by different names and the underlying significance and message are not necessarily the same. The concerns the tribes seek to symbolize are nothing out of the ordinary. They typically border on protection against harm, evil and bad luck, and by extension, promoting good luck, health, fertility, wealth. All these are part of the thought-process that informs the patterning of customs and other artefacts throughout the regions.
The ‘evil eye’ is a well-known North Africa fashion design that symbolizes protection against bad luck. And are often apparent in the patterning applied to marriage custom in particular, and a host of other traditional functions in general. The popular bakhnuq, a marriage shawl from southern Tunisia is woven with a combination of wool and cotton. The dyeing technique used leaves a white cotton motif that is resistant to dye. The resulting patterns among other things also signify snakes' vertebrae and cloak pins that pierce the evil eye. Also, the different colours of the bakhnuq indicate the woman's status. With young, unmarried girls typically wearing white; women of child-bearing age, red; while older women of usually don black or blue.
Colours
Colours are very important elements in everything we see with the eyes. The preoccupations that inform the choice of the colour palette used to adorn the fabrics and what emotions they evoke in us conform to the science of colour psychology. Bold and bright hues like Red, Orange, and Yellow are used as an expression of passion, fertility, strength determination and youth. While less bold and more subtle options like Blue and its close shades connotes peace, tranquillity, harmony and maturity. The choice of colours is often an important medium for the North African tribes to extol specific qualities, attributes or simply pass a message.
Fabric Options
An article such as this would be very much incomplete without a section dedicated to North African fabric. The embroidery work is symbolic of North Africa's textile. It's a thing of pride for these people. With great dexterity and creativity, they create elaborate and beautiful designs that are usually hand-sewn by using a needle to apply thread or yarn. Apart from textile, you can equally see them incorporate embroidery with other materials such as pearls, beads, etc.
The traditional clothing style for the North African regions is the dress popularly known as the Djellaba. Generally, it's a long loose-fitting garment that is typically worn by both men and women with subtle variations of course. The Fabric used for the Djellaba is mostly dictated by the weather or season. During the winter or cold season months, the locals would normally wear clothing made from wool because it can help keep them warm. However, this kind of weather occurs only for a small part of the year as most of it is typically warm which is consistent to the African continent. Hence, you're more likely to find more of this piece is made from cotton and soft silk. There are also simple tunics worn by brides from various and diverse towns in the region. They are also made from cotton and soft silk in simple T-shaped designs. They are instead elaborately decorated with intricate designs using threads or yarn.