Clothing here in West Africa is vibrant and colorful in stark contrast to the orange earth tones of the street and buildings. Both men and women have their clothes made out of these colorful fabrics. Blouses, skirts, dresses and even head wraps adorn the women and the men wear shirts and sometimes matching pants out of lappa. I've noticed that you don't mix lappas, you pick one pattern and create an outfit with ruffles and frills all out of the same busy pattern. And it works. It's beautiful and fun. On a given day, driving or walking down the street, I would say about 50% of the people are wearing traditional cloth.
Lappa is not the name of the fabric, rather it's the name of the measurement. One lappa is 2 meters of the colorful cloth. It's typically sold as 3 lappas for $10 USD. Needless to say, you can see that shopping for lappa is going to be an addiction for me! Shops tend to sell only lappa - no thread or other sewing supplies. I've already had a skirt made and sewed curtains for my kitchen. On one window shopping trip I bought a lappa that I hadn't seen before and really liked. Of course at church on Sunday a little boy was wearing a full shorts outfit out of that exact same fabric!
The patterns on the fabric are interesting as well. Everything from flowers, bird, geometric patterns and swirls to cell phones, usb adapters and cameras are used. I've even seen a fertility pattern with embryos and eggs. I might just have to get some of that one for memories sake!
Lappa will definitely be my excuse to go wander the market on a Sat. morning.
No comments:
Post a Comment