Zimbabweans prefer to wear colorful dresses. Wraparounds and headdresses are quite popular garments among the women. For men, a breastplate made from animal skin is very popular. The elderly people of the country are known to wear the traditional native dress, which forms the basis of Zimbabwe Clothing. The tribal clothes of the people of the country include a headdress that is meant to cover the head. Headdresses are worn by both men and women. The national dress of the country is a wraparound cloth, head wrap, and earrings and necklaces. The traditional Zimbabwe Clothing is worn on some special occasions like the Independence Day or Hero’s Day.
For the female Zimbabweans, it is believed that the traditional dresses for the women of the country are decked up with beautiful beads. Large sized ornaments form integral part of the traditional clothing of the women. For rituals and ceremonies, Ndebele men wear ornaments(Iporiyana) made for them by their wives. This is made of animal skin. The animal skin that is used to make Iporiyana differs among tribes. The skin of hyena and civet is commonly used.
However, most of the people of the republic do not wear the traditional Zimbabwe Clothing any more. The modern style clothes have long been adopted by the Zimbabweans. They put on European and western apparels freely. The young generation wears casual T-shirts, jeans, and shorts.
Women take great pride in their dress. Their traditional dress is colourful and bright and is decorated with a lot of beautiful bead work. A woman’s traditional dress shows her age and status in the community. Isn’t that interesting? You’re addressed as you are dressed. A married woman traditionally wears a blanket over her shoulders with a lot of thick beaded hoops of twisted grass, called “isigolwani” around her neck and legs. She also wears copper and brass rings or “Idzilla” around her arms, neck and legs. The blanket or “nguba” is usually one with stripes of green, red, blue, yellow and brown. So colourful!
Married women also wear some form of head covering as a sign of respect for their husbands. These range from a beaded headband or a knitted cap to fancy beaded headdresses called “amacubi”.
Little girls wear beaded aprons or beaded skirts, while older girls who undergo initiation wear many thick “isigolwani” around their necks, arms, legs and waist. They also wear “isiphephetu”, a beaded apron given to them by their mothers as a symbol of entering into womanhood.
For the men, the main part of the male attires of Zimbabwe is the breastplate, which is also known as “Iporiyana”. It is worn around the neck. Men also wear animal skin head bands and ankle bands. To keep warm, they wear an animal skin ‘“karos” around their shoulders. Animal skin traditionally played an important role in men’s dress because each Ndebele group is associated with a different animal.
The “iporiyana” is a symbol of manhood and is given to a young boy by his father after he has undergone initiation. Ndebele men also wear animal skin head bands and ankle bands. To keep warm, they wear an animal skin ‘“karos” around their shoulders. The appearance of Zimbabweans in their traditional attire is definitely a detailed, colourful and amazing one. The African beauty is indeed unique in itself!
