Dashiki meaning, history and evolved styles for men and women
Africa is one of the continents that strongly values its culture. It has stored the importance of the cultural value in food, clothes, music and cultural activities. Dashiki is one of the cultural representation of the continent's creativity and wealth. You might want to know more about the print.
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Dashiki is one of the most commonly pulled prints. The print takes pride in having been pulled in the continent and beyond. Some of the celebrities who have been spotted wearing the print include Beyonce, Rihanna and Jhene Aiko to mention a few. How else would the continent boast of the fabric if not outlining the origin and meaning of the print?
What is the history of the dashiki?
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Dashiki is one of the traditional African clothing that African culture finds pride in. The print has become so diverse in most African countries, and beyond. It has one of the most interesting histories. It has roots in the West African region. The term "Dashiki" has been derived from the term "dan ciki" which is the definition of 'shirt' in Hausa and Yoruba, which are West African tribes in Nigeria. It was commonly worn as light wear, especially since the West African region experienced high temperatures during the day. It was mainly won by men, especially to cultural events.
It has since then become one of the most common streetwear in this era. The print has been pulled by influential celebrities like Chris Brown. It also featured in the award-winning movie; 'Black Panther.'
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What do dashiki patterns mean?
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Dashiki pattern comes in different colours of the same print. Each one of the colours has a significance that it stands for. These are some of the colours and their meanings;
- Red - It represents blood.
- Blue - It represents the sky, meaning a harmonious living.
- White - It represents spirituality and purity.
- Gold - It symbolizes wealth and fertility.
- Green - It symbolizes prosperity and life.
More Dashiki patterns
Dashiki print is interestingly a repetitive pattern. The repetition occurs in the colours in the fabric, the shapes and the texture, which is dictated by the shapes of lines on the fabric. It is the pattern in the cloth that attracts most people to it. These are the main types of patterns in the fabric;
- Symbolic patterns: These are the human-made patterns which are symbolic since they represent specific artistic decorative images.
- Geometric patterns: These are the linear patterns that represent specific shapes.
The Dashiki fabric is cotton-made, hence it guarantees the best quality of clothes.
How to wear Dashiki
Dashiki is one of the most diversified African traditional attire. Regardless of your taste and preferences, this is one of the prints that you could comfortably pull with a whole lot of options. These combos bring out the beauty in the awesome African style;
Dashiki dresses
Even though Dashiki is a print whose history makes it a male outfit, there are several ways that a lady could wear it and look stunning, or even better than the way men look in the print. It is known for producing the most gorgeous African print dresses. These are some of the dresses that have done justice to the fabric;
1. The Purple Kaftan
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The kaftan is one very comfortable design that anyone can ever pull. It is versatile, especially since it can be worn by any body size. There is no better way than pulling a purple kaftan because that is the best way to define style and class. The symmetric arrangement in the patterns of the print speaks style and class into it.
2. The red cover-up
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Are you looking for casual African themed outfits? The red cover-up is the best of the African dresses design that you could try. The dress is perfect for summer wear. You could pair it with your bikini and head to the beach, or style it with your pair of jeans and top to add a little touch of colour and life to your outfit. This is one of the closet must-haves.
3. The black cover-up
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This is among the most effortless outfit that one could ever pull. You could wear it along with your jeans or pants. Besides that, you could wear it alongside a dress and look superb. Pairing it with a nice pair of heels would make it look more stunning.
4. Yellow mermaid Dashiki gown
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Yellow is a colour that never goes wrong when it comes to giving you the mellow glow. Imagine how prepossessing and stylish it would be in a dashiki print. You can never go wrong in your yellow gown.
5. The pink maxi dress
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Pink is a specially warm colour. Blending it in with bluish Dashiki print creates one of the best combos. This colour combination brings out wedding and summer vibes to the outfit.
Dashiki is one of the most common African traditional dress fabrics. It has been modified to bring out a combination of African and western design. It is impressive how this combination looks. This is one of the closet must-haves.
Dashiki shirts
Dashiki shirts were originally male outfits until when ladies tried them out and brought out the beauty in them, making them unisex outfits. They would in most cases be pulled by men to the 'Kwanzaa' celebrations. In this era, they form part of men casual wear. These are the different times that the print has been pulled and looked alluring;
6. The printed black hood shirt
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If you wish to give your outfit some touch of class, you could do the long-sleeved shirt. The hood gives it a unique style, unlike the plain shirts. This is the type of outfit that you would match with your loved one.
7. The red shirt
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Red is one of the colours that brings out the beauty and richness in African traditional clothes. The colour block that the blend in the colours in the print and the base colour brings out a captivating vibe. You could make it more stylish by doing a hood on the shirt.
8. The blue shirt
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The blue Dashiki shirt is one of the most common of the African clothes for men. The blend in the print on the fabric creates a cool masculine vibe. The best part about this shirt is that it is easy to blend in with different colours and look stunning.
Apart from the African shirts and dresses, there are other different ways that you could wear this awesome print and stand out. These are some of the ways that you could pull it;
9. Dashiki in Bohemian pants
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It is amazing how the print can be perfectly pulled in different designs and look stunning.
10. The colourful maxi skirts
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You could pull the print in a maxi skirt and bring out the modest lady vibe.
11. Colourful pants
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What better way to pull a summer look if not in these colourful pants?
12. The bold Dashiki outfit
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African print never goes wrong in any design.
Dashiki is one of the most diversified prints that Africa is glad to associate itself with. The print not only carries the continent's meaning but also speaks of its value. It is the kind of fabric that you would pull to any occasion and still look fashionable. It is a flawlessly beautiful closet-must-have.
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Source: Briefly News
