The dashiki is a colorful garment that covers the top half of the body, worn mostly in

West Africa West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali ...

. It is also known as a Kitenge in East Africa and is a common item of clothing in Tanzania and Kenya. It has formal and informal versions and varies from simple draped clothing to fully tailored suits. A common form is a loose-fitting pullover garment, with an ornate V-shaped collar, and tailored and embroidered neck and sleeve lines. It is frequently worn with a brimless

kufi A kufi or kufi cap is a brimless, short, and rounded cap worn by men in many populations in North Africa, East Africa, West Africa, and South Asia. It is also worn by men throughout the African diaspora. It is also commonly called a "topi" or ...

cap (which is worn in Islamic communities in Africa and the African diaspora) and pants. It has been popularized and claimed by communities in the African diaspora, especially African Americans. The now trademark dashiki design was born from the "Angelina print," a wax print pattern by Dutch designer Toon van de Mannaker for Netherlands-based Vlisco, whose designs are "inspired by Africa". The exact inspiration for the Angelina print pattern was traditional silk embroidered tunics worn by Ethiopian women. The Angelina print's popularity coincided with the release of Ghanaian high-life hit song "Angelina", a name the West African market would begin to call the wax print pattern. In Congo it would be called "Ya Mamado!" and later "Miriam Makeba", the former being song lyrics of a hit song by a local band that helped popularise the pattern and the latter being a legendary South African musician who often wore wax prints. The word "dashiki" comes from , a Yoruba loanword from the

Hausa Hausa may refer to: * Hausa people, an ethnic group of West Africa * Hausa language, spoken in West Africa * Hausa Kingdoms, a historical collection of Hausa city-states * Hausa (horse) or Dongola horse, an African breed of riding horse See also ...

, literally meaning 'shirt' or 'inner garment' (as compared to the outer garment, '' babban riga'').

Versions

The informal version of the dashiki is a traditional print or embroidered dashiki. Three formal versions exist. The first type consists of a dashiki, ''sokoto'' (drawstring trousers), and a matching

. This style is called a ''dashiki suit'' or ''dashiki trouser set'' and it is the attire worn by most grooms during wedding ceremonies. The second version consists of an ankle-length shirt, matching kufi, and sokoto and is called a

Senegalese kaftan A Senegalese kaftan is a pullover men's robe with long bell sleeves. In the Wolof language, this robe is called a ''mbubb'' or ''xaftaan'' and in French it is called a ''boubou''. The Senegalese caftan is an ankle length garment. It is worn with ...

. The third type consists of a dashiki and matching trousers. A flowing gown is worn over these. This type is called a grand boubou or an agbada. There are several different styles of dashiki suits available from clothing stores. The type of shirt included in the set determines the name. The ''traditional'' dashiki suit includes a thigh-length shirt. The short sleeve, traditional style is preferred by purists. A ''long'' dashiki suit includes a shirt that is knee-length or longer. However, if the shirt reaches the ankles, it is a

. Finally, the ''lace'' dashiki suit includes a shirt made of lace. A hybrid of the dashiki and caftan worn by females is a traditional male dashiki with a western skirt.

Wedding colors

Grey is the traditional color for some West African weddings. Some grooms wear white dashiki suits during wedding ceremonies. Some couples wear non-traditional colors. The most common non-traditional colors are purple and blue. * Purple and lavender: the color of African royalty. * Blue: blue is the color of love, peace, and harmony.

Funeral colors

Black and red are the traditional colors of

mourning Mourning is the expression of an experience that is the consequence of an event in life involving loss, causing grief, occurring as a result of someone's death, specifically someone who was loved although loss from death is not exclusively ...

In the United States

The dashiki found a market in America during the

Civil Rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life o ...

and Black Power movements. The term ''dashiki'' began appearing in print at least as early as 1967. Reporting on the

1967 Newark riots The 1967 Newark riots were an episode of violent, armed conflict in the streets of Newark, New Jersey, United States. Taking place over a four-day period (between July 12 and July 17, 1967), the Newark riots resulted in at least 26 deaths and ...

in the '' Amsterdam News'' on July 22, 1967, George Barner refers to a new African garment called a "''dan''shiki". An article by Faith Berry in ''

The New York Times Magazine ''The New York Times Magazine'' is an American Sunday magazine supplement included with the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times''. It features articles longer than those typically in the newspaper and has attracted many notable contributors. ...

'' includes it on July 7, 1968. ''Dashiki'' formally appeared in the ''

Webster's New World Dictionary ''Webster's New World Dictionary of the American Language'' is an American dictionary first published in 1951 and since 2022 published by Harper Collins Publishers. Overview The first edition was published by the World Publishing Company of Cl ...

'', 1st College Edition of 1970/72. It cites J. Benning with the first written usage of the word in 1967. J. Benning, M. Clarke, H. Davis and W. Smith were founders of New Breed of

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater Ha ...

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, the first manufacturer of the garment in the United States. The dashiki was featured in the movies '' Uptight'' (1968), ''

Putney Swope ''Putney Swope'' is a 1969 American satirical comedy film written and directed by Robert Downey Sr., and starring Arnold Johnson as the title character, a black advertising executive. The film satirizes the advertising world, the portrayal of ...

'' (1969), and the weekly television series '' Soul Train'' (1971). The '' Sanford and Son'' episode "Lamont Goes African" features Sanford's son Lamont wearing a dashiki as part of his attempt to return to his African roots. Jim Brown,

Wilt Chamberlain Wilton Norman Chamberlain (; August 21, 1936 – October 12, 1999) was an American professional basketball player who played as a center. Standing at tall, he played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for 14 years and is widely reg ...

Sammy Davis Jr. Samuel George Davis Jr. (December 8, 1925 – May 16, 1990) was an American singer, dancer, actor, comedian, film producer and television director. At age three, Davis began his career in vaudeville with his father Sammy Davis Sr. and the ...

, and

Bill Russell William Felton Russell (February 12, 1934 – July 31, 2022) was an American professional basketball player who played as a center for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1956 to 1969. A five-time NBA Most Va ...

were among the well-known

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...

athletes and entertainers who wore the dashiki on talk shows. Hippies also adopted dashikis into their wardrobe as a means to express

counterculture A counterculture is a culture whose values and norms of behavior differ substantially from those of mainstream society, sometimes diametrically opposed to mainstream cultural mores.Eric Donald Hirsch. ''The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy''. Hou ...

values. Former

District of Columbia ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

mayor and council member

Marion Barry Marion Shepilov Barry (born Marion Barry Jr.; March 6, 1936 – November 23, 2014) was an American politician who served as the second and fourth mayor of the District of Columbia from 1979 to 1991 and 1995 to 1999. A Democrat, Barry had served ...

was known for wearing a dashiki leading up to elections. Dashikis have been seen on many musicians, rappers and singers, mostly African Americans, including Beyoncé, Rihanna, Chris Brown,

Wiz Khalifa Cameron Jibril Thomaz (born September 8, 1987), better known by his stage name Wiz Khalifa, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and actor. He released his debut album, ''Show and Prove'', in 2006 and signed to Warner Bros. Records in 20 ...

ScHoolboy Q Quincy Matthew Hanley (born October 26, 1986), better known by his stage name Schoolboy Q (stylized as ScHoolboy Q), is an American rapper. In 2009, Hanley signed to Carson-based independent record label Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE) and in late ...

, Q-Tip, and many others.

Fred Hampton Fredrick Allen Hampton Sr. (August 30, 1948 – December 4, 1969) was an American activist. He came to prominence in Chicago as deputy chairman of the national Black Panther Party and chair of the Illinois chapter. As a progressive African Ame ...

of the Black Panther Party made note of black business owners wearing dashikis in his 1969 speech "Power Anywhere Where There's People": " ybody who comes into the community to make profit off the people by exploiting them can be defined as a capitalist. And we don't care how many programs they have, how long a dashiki they have. Because political power does not flow from the sleeve of a dashiki; political power flows from the barrel of a gun.""Power Anywhere Where There's People"
Historyisaweapon.com. Retrieved on 2020-02-21.

References

External links

* {{Folk costume Tops (clothing) 1960s fashion History of fashion Nigerian clothing