Traditional Clothing Styles of Sierra Leone

By: Aaron Jourdan, Ciara Graham, Cliffton Jacques, Frank Martin, and Adaorah Odogwu

Traditional Clothing Styles of Sierra Leone

Types of Clothing

Business Clothing

"Street Style Clothing"

Food & Clothing

Facts & Figures (conti)

Facts & Figures:

• Second hand clothes-“junks”-very resourceful

• Politically connected “red for apc (political party affiliation)

• Clothing represents the people’s choices or quickly changing culture

Kola Nuts

• Used in greetings, religious events, & other important ceremonies

• Also used as a clothing dye

From the someone in the culture (Emic)

• “Not too revealing”, “the way you dress reciprocates respect at a public function”, “people make assumptions about your lifestyle based on the way you dress. If you dress sexually-referred to as a prostitute”

From someone outside of culture (Etic)

• “Casual comfortable clothing, mainly slacks and an african shirt”.
• Large muslim presence; muslim clothing is common but people higher up in government or business will wear more western suits

Clothes, Rituals, & Crafts

Main Exports

• Diamonds, Rutile, Cocoa, coffee, fish

Imports

• Machinery/Equipment, Fuels

Government

Unicameral legislature

Currency

Leone

Climate

• Tropical, hot, humid
• Summer rainy season (May to Dec.)
• Winter dry season (Dec. to April)

Geography

• Capital-Freetown
• Coastal belt of mangrove swamps,

mountains in east

Population

6.092 million

Marriage

• Money & fine cloth is given to the bride's

family

Birth

• Brightly colored cloth or yappa are often used with infant care and placed on the baby’s back

Crafts

• Create their own clothing; garas

*Traditional tie-dyed clothes

Ceremonial Clothing

Origin of "Sierra Leone"

Western Influence

• High muslim influence“boubou” common west african traditional clothing Boubou

• Female version called wrapper

* kaftans and headscarves as well

• “Sierra Lyoa” meaning Lion Mountains

• Name dates back to 1492 when Portuguese explorer sailed down the coast

*Coast resembled lion’s teeth

*The thunderstorms over the area sounded

like a lion’s roar

• English explorers called it "Sierra Leoa"; later becoming Sierra Leone in 1787

• Western influence is a sign of high social class

• How does the clothing style affect the modern culture of Sierra Leone?

*Materialist society

• Those who speak English, wear Western clothing, and drive fancy cars are thought of as high class.

Clothing

Resources

http://www.everyculture.com/Sa-Th/Sierra-Leone.html

http://www.intercultures.ca/cil-cai/ci-ic-eng.asp?iso=sl

http://www.answers.com/Q/How_do_people_of_sierra_Leone_dress

This video exhibits the importance of traditional clothing in Sierra Leone because even in the more modernized clothing fashions and styles, designers still incorporate traditional aspects like the traditional patterns, designs, and colors associated with the traditional Sierra Leonean culture.