The dirac (see
Baati
Baati is a hard, unleavened bread cooked in most of areas of Rajasthan, and in some parts of Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat states of India. It is prized for its long shelf life and high nutritional content, and, in desert areas, for the minima ...
for the house dress) is a Somali garment worn by Somali women that is long, usually ankle length.
Types
Bacwayne/half bac/bacyare dirac, simply known as dirac is one most commonly worn during celebrations/special events such as weddings, parties, festivals etc. It is usually made out of either chiffon, silk (which are both usually the sheerest variation of dirac) or velvet (one of the least see-through), amongst many other materials. It is always accompanied with an ankle length underskirt called gorgorad/googarad and a wrap/shawl called garbasaar which is either worn loosely around the head or neatly on one shoulder. The dirac can also be wrapped in a
Guntiino style which is known as dirac guntiino.
The above style of dirac is not worn by Somali brides, instead they wear a variation known as a Bridal dirac, which is simply an embroidered dirac with a gold belt, along with an embroidered garbasaar.
Baati/dirac shiid is yet another variation traditionally worn as a house dress and is made of cotton. This version is very popular within the entirety of
East Africa
East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territories make up Eastern Africa:
Due to the historical ...
due to Somali trading within those countries and is seen as a staple clothing.
History
The Dirac originated from the coast of North-western Somalia, when it was created by a group of Somali women around the 1700-1800's but was popularised in the early/mid 1900's in Northern Somalia/Djibouti, with bacwayne, translating to "big baggy", being popularised in Djibouti in the 1950s to 1970's.
It then gradually spread to the rest of the Somali regions, slowly replacing the usage of a much older, traditional layered article of clothing called
Sadex Qayd and it's single-layered offshoot
Guntiino. It was made with colourful fabric, mainly locally made but some imported. The dirac was then adopted by neighbouring countries such as parts of
Kenya
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Yemen
Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...
and
Ethiopia
Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...
, as well as
Tanzania
Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...
,
Zanzibar
Zanzibar (; ; ) is an insular semi-autonomous province which united with Tanganyika in 1964 to form the United Republic of Tanzania. It is an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of many small islands ...
and
Oman
Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and spans the mouth of t ...
due to Somali traders/merchants and the general diaspora that migrated to these regions.
The dirac set (dirac, gorgarad and garbasaar) is most likely a flashy derivative of the older traditional Somali style of dress called Sadex qayd due to the similarities of layering between the two.
See also
•
Guntiino
References
African clothing
Somali culture
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